New employment laws slam business with £23bn bill
The British Chamber of Commerce has calculated that new employment laws planned to be rolled out between 2011 and 2015 will cost UK businesses almost £23billion over the next four years. They warn that the resulting red tape which the Government pledged to reduce will be detrimental to job creation.
Despite a pledge from the Government to tackle the burden of red tape, the BCC’s Employment Timeline, published on Tuesday, shows a raft of new employment legislation set to come into force between April 2011 and April 2015.
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There are seven major changes planned for 2011 alone, the BCC is urging the Government to match its rhetoric with reality – by starting the deregulation process and scrapping costly employment laws which are a burden on business, particularly smaller firms. They also warn against tinkering with “regulations” as implementing such changes are costly in themselves.
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David Frost, Director General of the BCC said
“The Government claims business growth is top of the agenda, yet UK firms will be hit with huge costs once these new regulations come into force. Companies cannot generate growth and create jobs when they are facing a £23bn bill, just to implement new employment legislation. Unless the Government reduces this kind of red tape, we will continue to have high levels of unemployment and could end up derailing the recovery.
Some of the most costly regulations in the pipeline are:
• 2011: Right to Request Time off to Train will have an annual recurring cost to business of £174.96m
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• 2011: Agency Workers Directive will have an annual recurring cost to business of £1,548m
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• 2012: Pensions Reform will have an annual recurring cost to business of £4,526m
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