Some teachers have complained they are not given the 10% of preparation and marking time they have been entitled to since 2005 under a workload deal.
Schools and councils which failed to allow staff to have such time would now face penalties, the government said.
And school support staff are about to get their own pay negotiating body, to strengthen their position.
The number of teaching assistants in England's schools has expanded in recent years - in part because they are increasingly used to cover for teachers' time out of the classroom.
It has been warmly welcomed by unions who say pay and conditions of school support staff varies markedly from place to place because until now it has been considered as part of negotiations for local government workers in general.
In terms of safeguarding teachers' rights to a balanced workload, the government is bringing in tighter regulations to make schools and councils adhere to guidelines brought in following a key "workload agreement" made in January 2003 and phased in.
A key change - which came in from September 2005 - was that teachers were entitled to at least 10% of their timetabled teaching time for planning and pupil assessment.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls said: "The reforms to the school workforce are all about freeing up teachers to do what they do best - teach.
