Between vulnerable compliance and confident ignorance: Small employers, regulatory discovery practices and external support networks

Abstract

This article investigates how, under what circumstances and with what consequences small employers take action to discover their regulatory obligations to employees. It complements and builds on existing research by switching the focus from substantive adaptations by employers to employment law to the prior issue of discovering regulatory requirements. This article contributes to the literature on small firms and regulation in several ways. First, employer discovery of regulatory obligations is profoundly shaped through social interaction with external support networks. Family and friends with human resource management (HRM)/legal expertise often play a crucial role in regulatory discovery. Second, regulatory discovery practices are influenced by the broader business contexts and, in particular, the incidence of HRM problems that leave employers exposed to the risk of litigation if handled badly. Third, the burden of discovering regulation is a dynamic phenomenon, fluctuating over time, rather than a stable, permanent condition.