• Small businesses are concentrated in wholesale and retail. • The predominant industrial instruments used in small businesses are Federal awards. • Small businesses are likely to be recently established. • Small businesses tend to work within normal operating hours. • There are no differences between small businesses and other establishments, with respect to the usual weekly hours of full-time employees. • Weekly hours varied according to largest occupational group and small business status. • Small business workplaces are less likely to use non-standard forms of employment compared with other workplaces. • There are very low rates of unionisation in small business workplaces. • Delegates are less likely to be present in unionised small business workplaces. • Small business workplaces are poor providers of training for employees. • Fewer small businesses recruited in the last 12 months, and a greater number have had difficulties in finding suitable applicants. • Small businesses had lower levels of turnover compared with other workplaces. • There are no differences between small businesses and larger workplaces with respect to workforce reductions. • Small business are less likely to introduce innovative payment systems, compared with larger workplaces. • Fewer small businesses pay out accrued holiday leave or accrued sick leave, or use a compressed work week or banking of hours. • Small business are less likely to pay weekend penalty rates, shift allowances and annual leave loadings. • Many HRM practices have been taken up by a minority of small businesses. • There are similar provisions of maternity leave by small business, compared with other workplaces; however, paid or unpaid paternity leave is less prevalent. • Small business workplaces have lower rates of absenteeism. • Unfair dismissal claims and harassment claims were no different for small businesses, compared with other workplaces. Manufacturing and Wholesale and Retail Trade Small Businesses: A Comparison • Federal awards are the dominant form of industrial instrument used in manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade, although one in three businesses in wholesale and retail trade rely on ‘their own arrangements’. Small Business in Victoria The State of Working Victoria Project, Information Paper No. 3 Executive Summary• There is no difference between manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade, with respect to union density. • The majority of manufacturing small businesses were established 20 or more years ago, compared with the majority of wholesale and retail trade small businesses, which were established between 10 and 20 years ago. • The majority of small businesses in the manufacturing industry operate their business below 40 hours per week, compared with the majority of businesses in wholesale and retail trade, where the majority of these businesses operate between 41 and 60 hours. • The usual weekly hours of full-time employees do not vary substantially between small businesses in manufacturing and those in wholesale and retail trade. • Manufacturing small businesses are more likely to use such non-standard forms of employment as fixed-term contractors, agency workers and contractors, whereas wholesale and retail trade small businesses tend to utilise casuals. • There is no difference between small businesses in manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade with respect to the provision of formal training and its regularity, although a marginally higher proportion of manufacturing small businesses provide formal skill-based training for employees. • Small businesses in manufacturing were less likely to have attempted to recruit, and had fewer difficulties in finding suitable applicants. A substantial proportion of businesses in both industries intend to recruit in the next 12 months. • Wholesale and retail small businesses had higher dismissal rates, more resignations and fewer retirements than small business in manufacturing. • Whilst annualised salaries are more common in manufacturing small businesses, a higher proportion of small businesses in the wholesale and retail trade have bonus schemes, profit or share ownership and salary packaging. • Small businesses in manufacturing are more likely to pay out accrued holiday and sick leave and have a compressed working week, compared with small businesses in wholesale and retail trade. • A substantially higher proportion of manufacturing small businesses pay higher rates for overtime, weekend penalty rates, annual leave loadings and shift allowances, compared with wholesale and retail trade. • A higher proportion of small businesses in manufacturing have formal grievance handling processes, job rotation, formal disciplinary procedures, EAPs and formal performance assessment, compared with small business in wholesale and retail trade. The proportions of small business in the manufacturing industry and wholesale trade are similar, with respect to policy on internet use and whether there is a self-service HR system. • There are no discernible differences between small businesses in manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade, with respect to the provision of paid maternity leave, paid or unpaid paternity leave and paid time off for personal matters. • Three out of every four small businesses in wholesale and retail trade had zero absences on any given day, compared with two out of every three small businesses in manufacturing. The greatest proportion of small businesses in wholesale and retail trade offer grouped workplace minimum hourly rates of pay at between $12.50 and $18. Whilst this was the most common rate for manufacturing, a substantial proportion were in the low-pay (under $12.50) and high-pay ($18 or more) categories. The State of Working Victoria Project, Information Paper No. 3, 2005 Authorised by the Victorian Government, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000