Where to complain about an employer or agency: the Fair Work Agency replaces the old inspectorate

If an agency has underpaid you, an employer has not paid the minimum wage, or the shifts never end, there is somewhere free to complain. But the address has changed: the former Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate has been replaced by a new body, the Fair Work Agency.

What is the Fair Work Agency?

It is an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Its purpose is stated plainly: to protect workers, support fair competition and ensure employers comply with the law.

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What does it cover?

Pay and work rights, serious abuse and exploitation at work, and the licensing of labour providers — handling applications, managing licences and checking them.

One figure shows this is not paperwork: in September 2026 nearly 660 employers were named as having failed to pay the minimum wage.

Where does a complaint actually go?

You submit it through a single service — Complain about pay and work rights on GOV.UK — and it is then directed to the right body. It helps to know which is which.

HMRC handles National Minimum Wage. The Fair Work Agency handles employment agency legislation, and agency workers in agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and related processing and packaging. The Health and Safety Executive handles working time, including maximum weekly hours. The Agricultural Wages Team at the Rural Payments Agency handles agricultural wages.

Can you complain for someone else?

Yes. The service expressly allows a complaint about your own employer or employment agency, and a complaint made on behalf of someone else. That matters where the worker is afraid to complain or does not speak English.

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How do you contact the agency directly?

Email contact@fairworkagency.gov.uk or call 0345 161 6000. The postal address is Fair Work Agency, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. Separate guidance covers reporting serious abuse or exploitation at work.

What must an employment agency give you?

A key information document for agency workers. Guidance on it was published on 7 April 2026, separately for employment businesses and for workers paid through umbrella companies. If you work through an agency and never received one, that is the first question to ask.

Where do you get advice first?

Acas provides free advice on employment matters through its own helpline. The sensible order is to establish exactly what the breach is, then complain to the right place — so the case does not spend months being passed between bodies.

Checked against GOV.UK on 27 October 2026.