The chief executive of the Mining Remediation Authority has been named as the head of the government’s new Fair Work Agency.
Lisa Pinney, who has headed up the MRA since 2018, will take over leadership of the new body in April.
The agency’s creation was set out in the Employment Rights Act, which received royal assent in December, along with a number of other policies to strengthen workers’ rights including the introduction of more day-one rights at work, such as sick pay and unfair dismissal.
It brings together the functions of three existing enforcement bodies: the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Unit.
Announcing the appointment, the Department for Business and Trade said Pinney had transformed the MRA to a “robust 24/7 emergency responder”, expanded its services and worked with public and private partners to “support safe growth and development in coalfield areas”.
Previously, she spent more than two decades at the Environment Agency, including as West Midlands director and national spokesperson.
Employment rights minister Kate Dearden said Pinney “will be a great addition to the Fair Work Agency, bringing a strong track record of leading large enforcement organisations and tackling rule breakers head on”.
Pinney joins Matthew Taylor, who was appointed as the organisation’s chair in October. Taylor, a former political adviser to Tony Blair, has been chief executive of the NHS Confederation since 2021. He is currently interim chief executive of the new body being created from the merger of NHS Providers and NHS Confederation, a role he will leave at the end of this month when he moves to the FWA.
Pinney said she was “thrilled to be joining the Fair Work Agency at such an exciting moment”.
“I look forward to working with Matthew, the advisory board, our colleagues and partners to develop the opportunity of the new organisation to support workers, simplify compliance for businesses and ensure fair and lawful treatment for all,” she said.
Dearden added: “Under Lisa and Matthew’s leadership, the Fair Work Agency will play a vital role in delivering our Plan to Make Work Pay – ensuring workers get the rights and protections they are entitled to, while creating a simpler, fairer system and source of advice for employers.”