Regulatory enforcement regimes



Some important employment rights are enforced by statutory regulators. Regulators have the power to impose penalties such as fines and enforcement notices, and sometimes “name and shame” offending employers. Key regulators important to the employment relationship include:



• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC): responsible for enforcing the national minimum wage and for collecting tax and national insurance (see Chapter 4);



• Ministry of Justice enforcement officers: responsible, since April 2016, for enforcing the payment of tribunal awards and collecting fines on behalf of the Treasury (see Chapter 13);


• Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI): responsible for enforcing standards to be met by employment agencies and businesses (see Chapter 2);


• Information Commissioner: responsible for enforcing data protection laws (see Chapter 4);


• Health and safety inspectors employed by the Health and Safety Executive (see LRD’s annual guide Health and safety law); 



• Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA): operates a labour licensing system in some sectors, and has powers to investigate allegations of labour abuse across the labour market (see Chapter 3); 



• Anti-Slavery Commissioner (see Chapter 3);



• Director of Labour Market Enforcement: this is a new appointment. The first Director was appointed in January 2017, to work with the Anti-Slavery Commissioner and supervise the operations of the GLAA, EASI and the HMRC national minimum wage enforcement team; and


• UK Visas and Immigration: part of the Home Office, responsible for border control and immigration.