More than half of UK businesses, including umbrella companies, are concerned that changes to employment law will damage their business, according to a new survey conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce.
Changes to the regulations governing paternity leave are of concern to 52% of companies and 34% believe this will be extremely detrimental to the running of their business. 21% also think the government’s decision to scrap the Default Retirement Age will harm their business.
As from the 3rd of April, fathers are entitled to take the unused portion of a mother’s maternity leave if she decides to return to work early. This new ruling is applicable to fathers of children born on or after April 3rd. The government has also started to phase out the Default Retirement Age.
The Director General of the BCC, David Frost, said the government had promised to listen to the concerns of business and reduce bureaucracy but these new pieces of employment legislation will hit companies hard. Employers now have to cope with more changes in employment law instead of getting on with running their company.
The FSB is also concerned that micro firms are going to be hit badly by EU regulations. Although the government has put a 3 year moratorium in place on new domestic regulations for micro firms, they will still have to comply with the laws drawn up in Brussels such as the AWR.
Leading recruiter Hays, says the coalition needs to provide more clarity on the implementation of employment law changes and take more steps to consult with UK firms on future legislation.
The government plans to let all employees request the right to flexible working but Geoff Fawcett from Hays says small businesses will suffer most from this because they do not have the same HR resources as larger companies.
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