Workers' rights agency could be a 'dead duck' at launch - unions

The government has asked its new employment rights watchdog to reduce the regulatory burden on business, it has emerged, a request that worker advocates said risks turning the agency into “a dead duck”.

- Emiliano Mellino

The Fair Work Agency (FWA), which is being launched tomorrow, is a cornerstone of Labour's Employment Rights Act. It will bring together several existing labour enforcement bodies and its responsibilities will include policing the minimum wage, holiday pay and modern slavery.

At a meeting with civil society groups, Matthew Taylor, its incoming chair, listed the five priorities the Department for Business and Trade had laid out for the FWA. These included “thought leadership” and “reducing regulatory burdens”.

But experts say that, rather than reducing regulation, a more robust approach and greater funding for inspections is needed.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite trade union, which represents more than 1 million workers, said the priorities showed the agency was “in danger of being a dead duck”.