Small Business and Unfair Dismissal

Abstract

The Coalition has said that exempting small business from unfair dismissal provisions in the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WRA) will create 53 000 new jobs in the small business sector. The purpose of this research note is to evaluate small business access to and use of unfair dismissal provision in the WRA. In doing so, the small business job-generating potential is examined, as is the evidence that the unfair dismissal provisions inhibit small business employment growth. In conclusion, suggestions for further research on the link between unfair dismissal and small business are made in order to ensure policy is grounded in evidence rather than ideology.