Announcement: our CEO Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol joins the Fair Work Agency advisory board

The Work Rights Centre is pleased to announce that our CEO, Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, has been appointed to the Board of the Fair Work Agency. 

This new government body, launching April 2026, will act as a single, unified enforcement agency for employment rights, with a remit to investigate cases involving National Minimum Wage breaches, holiday pay, Statutory Sick Pay, and modern slavery.

We have long highlighted the limitations of the UK’s previously fragmented labour enforcement ecosystem, and are hopeful that the Fair Work Agency will have the teeth, the collaborative mindset, and the resources to properly address worker exploitation.

This appointment is a significant opportunity to bring the voices and experiences of our clients directly to the heart of policy-making. We would like to emphasise that the charity remains a fully independent organisation. We will never share data or case files that can identify our clients with the Fair Work Agency. There will always be a firewall between our charitable work and any external government agencies.

Around one in five workers in the UK were born overseas, according to Migration Observatory analysis of HMRC data. We believe that having a dedicated advocate for migrant and low-paid workers within the Fair Work Agency is a step towards a more equitable labour market for everyone.

Commenting on the appointment, Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol said: 

“I wanted a seat on the board to make sure the Fair Work Agency understands and responds to the full spectrum of workers’ issues, including the challenges faced by migrant workers, non-unionised workers, and those experiencing intersecting disadvantages of low-income, immigration status insecurity, and lack of advice.

“I am excited to get to work with Matthew Taylor and the rest of the board, to make the Fair Work Agency as effective as possible at diagnosing and dismantling the root causes of precarious work.”