Open data, workplace relations law compliance, and digital regulation

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities in accessing data to improve workplace relations law enforcement, with reference to minimum employment standards such as wages and working hours regulation. Our paper highlights some innovative examples of government and trade union efforts to collect and use data to improve the detection of noncompliance. These examples reveal the potential of data science as a compliance tool but also suggest the importance of realizing a data ecosystem that is capable of being utilized by machine learning applications. The effectiveness of using data and data science tools to improve workplace law enforcement is impacted by the ability of regulatory actors to access useful data they do not collect or hold themselves. Under “open data” principles, government data is increasingly made available to the public so that it can be combined with nongovernment data to generate value. Through mapping and analysis of the Australian workplace relations data ecosystem, we show that data availability relevant to workplace law compliance falls well short of open data principles. However, we argue that with the right protocols in place, improved data collection and sharing will assist regulatory actors in the effective enforcement of workplace laws.