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Enrolling Non-State Actors to Improve Compliance with Minimum Employment Standards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Tess Hardy
Tess Hardy*
Affiliation:
Melbourne Law School
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Abstract

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While the extent of employer non-compliance with minimum employment standards has yet to be decisively determined in Australia, there is evidence to suggest that it is both prevalent and persistent. This article draws on the scholarship emerging from the regulatory studies field to explore the underlying impulses and issues that may have led to this compliance gap. It considers how a more pluralistic and decentred understanding of regulation may improve compliance. This understanding is then applied to examine the various ways in which the federal labour inspectorate — the Fair Work Ombudsman — has sought to supplement and strengthen its existing compliance and enforcement mechanisms by harnessing or ‘enrolling’ non-state stakeholders, such as employer associations, trade unions, top-level firms and key individuals.

Keywords

J81J88L59Labour regulationenforcement strategiesFair Work Ombudsmantrade unionsemployer associations
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 22 , Issue 3: Australia's Transfer and Tax System Under Review , November 2011 , pp. 117 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2011

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