The Albanese government is planning to delay its long-promised review into small business exemptions from workplace laws until after the election, upsetting employers who had been hoping for urgent relief.

Labor had agreed to review the suitability of the Fair Work Act’s small business definition, currently set at fewer than 15 employees, in return for crossbench senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie’s support for the second tranche of its industrial relations laws in February.