A ‘Good Employer’ Perceptions and Practice in Small Enterprises

Abstract

The research explored the concept of a ‘good employer’ pertaining to employment relations and occupational health and safety (OHS) in small enterprises (SE’s). How perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of a ‘good employer’ were implemented in practice, were surveyed in a sample of SE’s using a framework developed from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) socially Decent Work Index (DWI). The study retained the DWI’s key dimensions: employment security, voice security, income security, skill reproduction security, and work security. However, measures of the key dimensions were broadened to capture the predominantly individualistic nature of employment relations in SE’s. The employers’ perceptions generally corresponded with the two dimensions of the ‘good employer’ prioritized by the ILO: employee voice and income security. In practice, there were instances of employees having input beyond operational matters. Nevertheless employers unilaterally determined pay and other terms and conditions of work. As for work security, the level of formal and informal policies and practices varied but employers who operated in higher OHS risk trade industries generally implemented comprehensive formal OHS management systems. It is argued that all it takes to be a ‘good employer’ is compliance with statutory employment minima. The employers in this study generally fulfilled this basic standard with some employers demonstrating higher levels of the characteristics that fitted with the dimensions associated with some large enterprises and the concept of a ‘good employer’ developed in the public sector. To accommodate space limitations, only brief summaries of the employer’ perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of a ‘good employer’ and Work Security are provided. This paper focuses on the results concerning voice and income security.