Recent industrial action across the nursing and aviation industries has raised questions about the effectiveness of Fair Work laws and their power over small business.

Traditionally, unions are viewed to be more closely associated with big business as opposed to SMEs; however, as small business often relies heavily on the labour services of union members, it pays for small business to be wary of the increasing presence of unions in business, particularly among operations and staffing.

According to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), there is much obscurity surrounding the impact of fair work laws on small to medium businesses.

For example, a highly publicised dispute such as that between Qantas and its unions spawned far-reaching consequences in terms of airline grounding and industrial action, but it is often unclear how much of this is relevant to small businesses and this may even take attention away from existing workplace issues facing SMEs.

The chamber added that the continued industry disputes point to laws that are insufficient in providing balance between employees and employers, creating increased trade union power and turbulent conditions within an economy already undergoing a period of intense transition.

According to ACCI chief executive Peter Anderson, despite having varied impacts across sectors, fair work laws "increased trade union power, impeded business efficiency, and imposed higher costs and red tape on small business."

This view has led the ACCI to suggest a review of the workplace laws to focus them more closely on small business.

While the idea stands to benefit the workforce, it raises several issues for small businesses such as recruitment, employer obligations, employee entitlements, skills development and training, as well as their ability to provide these incentives.

Currently, the Fair Work Act only specifically applies to small business through the Small Business Dismissal Code. This code was introduced as a subset of the Act to ensure all employees are given the opportunity to receive representation at any discussion which may lead to a dismissal, and are further able to choose the union as their bargaining representative in the event of a dismissal.

The Business Council of Australia has also made the push for a review. While recognising increasing concerns over financial security among Australians, the Council has stated that an over-regulation of jobs hinders productivity and competition, ultimately restricting opportunities within the Australian workforce.

Both bodies have requested changes to the Act to focus on four primary areas: improved business productivity, further clarification of the definition of bargaining content, the reduction of regulation prescription within the Act and the combating of decreases in flexibility and increases in costs of employing people.

But what does this all really mean for small businesses? According to Dun & Bradstreet's latest Business Expectations Survey, businesses are more confident in trading conditions in the New Year with talks of a possible interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank, with employment expected to increase by seven points in the first quarter of 2012.

With employment expectations at their highest in the past 12 months, this is expected to provide a surge in employment in all industries across both big and small business.

As a result, the employment prospects come in line with the aims of a review, and are collectively expected to ease off heavy regulations and provide greater flexibility for small businesses- particularly across recruitment- to promote growth, competition and increased productivity across operations.