What’s the difference between HSE enforcement and Fair Work Agency enforcement? A 2026 guide for UK employers

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Fair Work Agency (FWA) are both UK regulators with the power to inspect your business, issue notices, and impose penalties. However, the two regulators enforce completely different areas of law: the HSE covers workplace health and safety, and the FWA covers workers’ rights.

For you as an employer, that means you can face visits from both regulators. They investigate different things, issue different notices, and can impose penalties entirely independently of one another. A visit from one regulator doesn’t cancel out your exposure to the other.

Key takeaways

Question	Answer
What is the HSE?	The Health and Safety Executive, the UK’s independent regulator for workplace health and safety, operating under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
What is the Fair Work Agency?	An executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade, established on 7 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025
What does the HSE enforce?	Health and safety law, including risk assessments, dangerous machinery, COSHH, RIDDOR, asbestos, work at height, manual handling
What does the FWA enforce?	Core employment rights, including National Minimum Wage, holiday pay, Statutory Sick Pay, agency worker rules, written statements, modern slavery in the workplace
What enforcement notices can the HSE issue?	Improvement Notices, Prohibition Notices, Notifications of Contravention
What enforcement notices can the FWA issue?	Notices of Underpayment, Labour Market Enforcement Undertakings
Can HSE and FWA both inspect my business?	Yes, on separate matters, at separate times
Does Fee for Intervention apply to FWA inspections?	No. Fee for Intervention (FFI) is an HSE-only cost recovery scheme
Did the FWA replace HMRC for NMW enforcement?	HMRC continues to deliver National Minimum Wage (NMW) casework under a contract with the FWA throughout 2026/27, with full transfer expected in April 2027

What are the HSE and the Fair Work Agency?

The HSE and the Fair Work Agency are two regulators that employers are accountable to in the UK. The HSE has enforced workplace health and safety law since 1974, and the Fair Work Agency launched on 7 April 2026 to enforce workers’ rights.

One important territorial difference between the HSE and FWA is that the HSE covers Great Britain only, with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) handling health and safety enforcement in Northern Ireland, whereas FWA enforces labour market legislation across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland (subject to the jurisdictional arrangements and prosecutorial frameworks that apply in each nation). If you’re based in Northern Ireland, the FWA applies to you, but the HSENI enforces health and safety law rather than the HSE.

What is the HSE?

The Health and Safety Executive is the UK’s independent regulator for workplace health and safety. It has operated since the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 came into force. The HSE inspects workplaces, investigates accidents, issues enforcement notices, and prosecutes employers who break health and safety law. It operates across Great Britain only. Northern Ireland has a separate body: the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI).

What is the Fair Work Agency?

The Fair Work Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade that the government established on 7 April 2026. The FWA took over enforcement responsibilities that previously sat with HMRC’s National Minimum Wage team, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI), and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

What’s the main difference between HSE and Fair Work Agency enforcement?

The main split between the HSE and the Fair Work Agency is that the HSE enforces the physical safety of your workplace, whereas the FWA enforces whether you pay and treat your workers correctly.

For example, an HSE inspector who shows up after a forklift accident is checking whether you assessed the risk, if your safety systems were adequate, and whether you followed the relevant regulations.

In contrast, an FWA officer reviewing your payroll is checking whether you paid at least the National Minimum Wage, if you calculated holiday pay correctly, and whether your agency workers are getting equal treatment (after 12 weeks).

Comparison table: HSE vs Fair Work Agency enforcement

Area	HSE	Fair Work Agency
Enforces under	Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and associated regulations	Employment Rights Act 2025 and Schedule 7 legislation (including National Minimum Wage Act 1998, Working Time Regulations 1998, and SSP provisions)
Investigates issues like	Risk assessments, dangerous machinery, COSHH, asbestos, RIDDOR, work at height, and manual handling	National Minimum Wage, holiday pay, Statutory Sick Pay, agency worker rules, and modern slavery in the workplace
Inspection triggers include	Proactive programme, accident or incident, or complaint	Proactive investigation, complaint from worker, or intelligence from predecessor bodies
Main enforcement notices issued	Improvement Notice, Prohibition Notice, and Notification of Contravention	Notice of Underpayment and Labour Market Enforcement Undertaking
Cost recovery	Fee for Intervention at £188/hr from 1 April 2026 (per HSE’s published rates)	Not yet in place, but coming. Section 143 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 gives the government the power to introduce FWA cost recovery charges, similar to FFI.
Criminal penalties	Unlimited fine and/or up to two years’ imprisonment	Unlimited fine on conviction, and directors, responsible managers, and shareholders can face personal liability
Cases are heard in	Magistrates’ Court; Crown Court for serious offences	Employment Tribunal (FWA can bring claims on workers’ behalf); Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court for criminal offences
Territorial scope	Great Britain only	England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
Areas covered	Health & Safety	Pay & Leave

What does the HSE enforce?

The HSE enforces the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it. Its remit covers:

Risk assessments and safety management systems
Dangerous machinery and equipment
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)
Work at height
Asbestos management
Manual handling
Noise and vibration at work
Construction site safety
Radiation and chemical hazards in specific industries

If you employ five or more people, you must have a written health and safety policy. The HSE can check if that policy exists, if you implement it, and if your risk assessments are adequate.

Citation’s own enforcement data gives a sense of where the HSE is currently focusing its attention. According to David Taylor, Citation’s advice team manager, COSHH accounted for around 35% of all enforcements Citation saw in 2025, followed by machinery guarding and working at height. “It suggests that COSHH controls haven’t always been given the attention they need. The HSE is clearly focused on the health side of health and safety, and businesses need to be too,” he says.

What does the Fair Work Agency enforce?

The FWA’s enforcement remit is set out in Schedule 7 of the Employment Rights Act 2025. It covers:

National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage: currently delivered by HMRC under a contract with the FWA throughout 2026/27, with full transfer to the FWA in April 2027
Holiday pay: the FWA will have the power to enforce holiday pay. It’s one of the first powers the government plans to bring in, but it’s not confirmed the start date yet.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): enforcement transferred from HMRC to the FWA on 7 April 2026
Agency worker rights under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (formerly enforced by EASI)
Gangmaster licensing in sectors covered by the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 (formerly enforced by GLAA)
Labour exploitation and modern slavery in the workplace (formerly enforced by the GLAA)
Employment agency standards (formerly enforced by EASI)

The FWA also has the power to bring Employment Tribunal proceedings on behalf of workers, and that power isn’t limited to the rights listed above. It could bring an unfair dismissal or discrimination claim on a worker’s behalf, for example.

What triggers an HSE or Fair Work Agency inspection?

An inspection is where enforcement begins. Both the HSE and the Fair Work Agency can visit your premises, review your records, and interview your staff. What follows depends entirely on what they find: if you’re compliant, they’ll leave without taking action. If they’re not satisfied, that’s when notices, penalties, and prosecutions come into play. The more you understand about what triggers a visit, the better placed you are to make sure it ends without incident.

What triggers an HSE inspection?

The HSE operates proactive inspection programmes targeting higher-risk industries and workplaces. Beyond that, an HSE inspection can be triggered by:

A workplace accident or dangerous occurrence reportable under RIDDOR
A complaint from a worker, union, or member of the public about unsafe conditions
An anonymous tip-off to the HSE
A follow-up visit after a previous enforcement notice
Intelligence gathered from other inspections in your sector

Under Section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, HSE inspectors have the right to enter any workplace without giving notice. Whether you receive any notice before an inspection is completely at the inspector’s discretion.

What triggers a Fair Work Agency inspection?

The FWA can open an investigation proactively, which is a significant change from the previous HMRC-led model for National Minimum Wage enforcement, which the Low Pay Commission described as primarily “complaint-driven” (meaning HMRC’s first priority was always to respond to worker complaints rather than proactively targeting employers).

Some of the actions that can trigger an FWA inspection include:

A complaint from a worker about unpaid wages, holiday pay, or Statutory Sick Pay
A referral from another body, including former EASI or GLAA intelligence
Proactive targeting of sectors with known non-compliance
A tip-off or media report about a specific employer
A follow-up from a previous investigation or undertaking

The government has backed the FWA with £60.1 million in funding, to allow the agency to run proactive enforcement campaigns, not just respond to complaints.

What penalties can the HSE and Fair Work Agency impose?

HSE penalties

The outcome of an HSE inspection depends entirely on what they find. A compliant workplace means no action. A material breach means a notice and Fee for Intervention charges. Push it further, and the HSE can prosecute. Courts can impose fines, custodial sentences, and remedial orders requiring you to take specific steps:

An unlimited fine or up to six months in prison, or both (in the Magistrates’ Court)
An unlimited fine or up to two years’ imprisonment, or both (in the Crown Court)
Fines scale with the size of the business and the severity of the offence. Large companies (turnover above £50 million) can face fines starting at six figures.
On top of fines, if the HSE identifies a material breach, you pay Fee for Intervention at £188 per hour for every hour the HSE spends investigating and rectifying the breach, including time spent after they leave your premises.
The HSE can also apply for remedial orders requiring businesses to take specific steps.

“They’ll charge you an hourly rate for fee for intervention, but that isn’t the time that they’re on site. That is the time they spend on your case. So if they do anything where they’re researching, where they’re sending emails, where they’re doing anything, it adds up quite quickly.”

David Taylor — Citation’s Advice Team Manager, on Fee for Intervention with HSE. Speaking on our podcast “Not Another Safety Talk”

Fair Work Agency penalties

The FWA doesn’t just investigate and walk away. Where it finds non-compliance, it has a range of financial and criminal penalties at its disposal, and they stack up quickly:

If the FWA issues a Notice of Underpayment, you must repay the underpaid amount to each worker within 28 days.
A financial penalty of 200% of the underpayment per worker applies automatically, capped at £20,000 per worker, with a minimum of £100. (The penalty reduces from 200% of the underpayment to 100% if you pay within 14 days.)
The FWA can publicly name non-compliant businesses.
For criminal offences (false records, failure to keep holiday records), the penalty is potentially an unlimited fine.
Directors, responsible managers, and shareholders can be held personally liable if they knowingly or negligently allowed the breach.

The FWA doesn’t yet have a cost recovery scheme like the HSE’s Fee for Intervention, but section 143 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 gives the government the power to introduce one. When those regulations arrive, you could be paying enforcement cost charges on top of any Notice of Underpayment and 200% penalty.

What does HSE or Fair Work Agency enforcement look like in practice?

Consider a small warehouse business employing 30 people, including agency workers.

HSE enforcement action

A forklift strikes a pallet racking unit. No one is injured, but the incident is reportable under RIDDOR. An HSE inspector visits within a week.

During the visit, the inspector identifies that the forklift driver’s training records are out of date and that the risk assessment for forklift operations hasn’t been reviewed since 2022. The inspector issues an Improvement Notice requiring updated training records and a revised risk assessment within 28 days. Because a material breach was identified, a Notification of Contravention is also issued, and the business starts accruing Fee for Intervention charges at £188 per hour (from 1 April 2026, per HSE’s published rates) for the inspector’s time on site and subsequent office work.

FWA enforcement action

Some time later, and independently of the HSE, the FWA opens a proactive review of the business’s payroll. Its officers find that holiday pay for workers with variable hours has been calculated incorrectly, because overtime and commission payments haven’t been included in the calculations. The FWA issues a Notice of Underpayment covering the 12 affected workers, requiring repayment within 28 days. A 200% penalty applies, capped at £20,000 per worker, on top of the arrears owed.

Neither regulator had to wait for a complaint, and neither investigation triggered the other. Both enforcement actions ran entirely independently.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Fair Work Agency cover health and safety?: No. The Fair Work Agency enforces employment rights (pay, leave, and worker treatment) under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Health and safety enforcement remains entirely with the Health and Safety Executive. The FWA has no powers under health and safety legislation.
Does the HSE enforce holiday pay or the National Minimum Wage?: No. The HSE's remit doesn't extend to pay or employment rights. Holiday pay enforcement is a new FWA power from 7 April 2026.
Which is more serious: an HSE Prohibition Notice or a Fair Work Agency Notice of Underpayment?: An HSE Prohibition Notice and a Fair Work Agency Notice of Underpayment are serious in different ways. An HSE Prohibition Notice stops a work activity immediately because there's a risk of serious personal injury. Ignoring it can lead to prosecution, an unlimited fine, and up to two years' imprisonment in the Crown Court. A Notice of Underpayment requires you to repay workers within 28 days and carries an automatic 200% financial penalty, capped at £20,000 per worker. Both carry criminal consequences if you fail to comply.
Can the Fair Work Agency turn up unannounced like an HSE inspector?: Yes. The FWA can open investigations proactively without a worker complaint and can conduct unannounced workplace visits. This is a significant change from the previous HMRC-led model for NMW enforcement, which was primarily complaint-driven.
Can both regulators take my business to court?: Yes. The HSE prosecutes health and safety offences in the Magistrates' Court and Crown Court. The FWA can bring Employment Tribunal proceedings on behalf of workers, and can also refer criminal matters (such as failure to keep holiday records or producing false documents) to the courts.
Does Fee for Intervention apply to Fair Work Agency inspections?: No. The HSE runs the Fee for Intervention scheme under the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012, and it only applies to HSE inspections. The FWA doesn't currently charge for its time, but section 143 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 gives the government the power to introduce a similar cost recovery scheme for the FWA. Those regulations haven't arrived yet, but when they do, you could be paying enforcement cost charges on top of a Notice of Underpayment and a 200% penalty.
Did the Fair Work Agency replace HMRC for National Minimum Wage enforcement?: Formally yes. NMW enforcement responsibility transferred to the FWA on 7 April 2026. In practice, HMRC continues to deliver NMW casework under a contracting arrangement with the FWA throughout 2026/27. According to the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) and GOV.UK's strategic steer for the FWA, the full operational transfer of NMW staff and functions to the FWA is planned for April 2027. During 2026, NMW audit notices and correspondence may still carry the HMRC name.
Do small businesses get treated differently by the HSE or the Fair Work Agency?: Both regulators apply the same legal standards regardless of business size. However, penalties scale with the size of your business. Under the Sentencing Council's Health and Safety Offences Definitive Guideline, court fines for the same offence are substantially lower for businesses with a turnover under £2 million than for large companies with a turnover above £50 million. For FWA penalties, the 200% penalty on a Notice of Underpayment is calculated on the actual amount underpaid, so smaller underpayments produce smaller penalties, though the minimum penalty is £100 per worker even if the underpayment is small.

Get help with HSE and Fair Work Agency enforcement

If an HSE inspector or FWA officer has contacted you, or you want to make sure you’re ready before they do, Citation can help. Our clients are 47 times less likely to face an HSE enforcement notice, and if something does go wrong, we’ll help you defend it.

Talk to Citation today to find out how we keep you covered on health and safety and employment law.