Why do employers breach minimum wage laws? Investigating the contribution of regulatory complexity

Abstract

As employer non-compliance with minimum wage laws emerged in recent years as a significant problem, many blamed the complexity of Australia’s industrial relations system. Employers, their representatives and governments claimed that deliberate ‘wage thieves’ are a minority, while most non-compliant employers are innocent victims of Australia’s complex award system. Existing scholarship sheds little light, suffering from two main limitations: 1) the paucity of research utilising data obtained from employers, and 2) it’s focus on deliberate non-compliance. In contrast, my research is based on in-depth interviews with owners and managers of hospitality and retail businesses, including those which are compliant and both deliberately and inadvertently non-compliant. Through the insights gained directly from these employers, I seek to explain employer non-compliance, with particular reference to the role of regulatory complexity.

Speaker

Stephen Clibborn is an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School and Co-Director of the Sydney Employment Relations Research Group (SERRG). Stephen’s research focuses on regulation of labour standards, seeking to explain and address compliance gaps between the content of laws and their practical application. His research has been published in leading academic journals and he is a key research-based contributor to public debates and policy formation about regulation of work.