The Institute of Directors has computed the recurrent annual cost of employment regulations introduced in the past five years to be £6bn, and says that the cost will go on rising as new regulations come on stream. The computation is based strictly on Government figures. It omits regulations for which such figures are unavailable, so the IoD estimates the full cost as higher. Business has also had to contend with a host of new non-employment regulations, particularly on environmental matters.
Richard Baron, Deputy Head of the Policy Unit at the IoD, said: “It is small wonder that, with the regulatory and National Insurance burdens on employers rising, more and more business people would rather not expand their businesses and take on employees. Regulation is holding back the thriving economy which we all need.”
What do you think of recent employment legislation? Absolutely necessary? Ideally welcome, but practically ruinous? Unnecessarily interfering? Post your comments below.
One Response
The impact of employment legislation
Remember the introduction on the minimum wage was supposed to be the death knell of the British economy? I note that that the CBI and IOD are now rather quiet on this, and I believe the CBI support the concept.
Most small employers can claim back costs associated with regulation ie SMP, and can get lots of free advice and help from the Small Business Service.
Ultimately, the employers who moan about it do themselves a disservice. They are advertsing the fact that they have no interest in their employees as people and in a boyuant labour market why would anyone want to work for them.
There is also this assumption that small employers are constant victims. We have loads of small employers on our Good Employer database, who know that their future is totally dependent on how they treat their people.
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