A new workers’ rights watchdog backed by Angela Rayner will be granted surveillance powers typically associated with police and intelligence services.
Enforcement officers at the Fair Work Agency (FWA), which began operating this week, will be able to access communications data to track patterns of contact when investigating suspected breaches of employment law.
The powers, enabled under the Investigatory Powers Act, allow authorised officials to obtain records showing who suspects have communicated with and when.
They are intended to support probes into serious labour market offences, including exploitation.
The agency was already expected to have police-style powers of arrest and seizure, but new documents confirm it can also enter premises, seize evidence and secure warrants to carry out searches and arrests.
The use of the legislation, which critics called a “snooper’s charter," is typically reserved for police forces, the National Crime Agency and intelligence services.
Government guidance said FWA use of the powers would be limited to targeted investigations and only where “necessary and proportionate”.