Fair Work Agency study reveals businesses are failing to comply with laws such as paying workers the NMW or providing them with payslips or contracts
11 May 2026
At least 5.4 million people, or 14 per cent of workers, have experienced a clear breach of their basic employment rights in the past two years, a study published by the Fair Work Agency (FWA) has revealed.
The FWA was created in April this year to consolidate the enforcement of employment rights into a single regulator. It will have the power to inspect, investigate and penalise businesses that fail to uphold workers’ rights.
The study, led by University College London (UCL) researchers and commissioned by the former Office of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, found that these workers experienced rights violations such as being paid less than the national minimum wage (NMW), being charged illicit work-finding fees and not being provided with legally required payslips, contracts or key information documents.
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These illegal violations harmed workers throughout the UK and across all employment sectors, according to the survey of more than 4,000 UK workers.
Particularly vulnerable employees were the worst affected, with more than a quarter (25.6 per cent) of ‘precarious workers’ experiencing a breach of their employment rights. The term refers to those facing a combination of at least...
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