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Need help with employment regulations?

11 April 2008

The burden of employment law on small businesses is now so great that nearly a third (32%) of businesses with no employees have chosen not to employ anyone at all rather than expose themselves to its complexities.

This is one finding of a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which found that dismissal and grievance rules are seen as the most problematic area of legislation, cited by 65% of respondents. Parental, paternity and maternity pay (52%) and leave (34%) are the two next most unpopular areas, followed by redundancy (31%) and working time regulations (27%).

According to the FSB, the growth over the last decade in EU and UK employment legislation is a cause for concern. As it says, "The FSB strongly supports a mutually ethical relationship between employer and employee, but has concerns that if the legislative pendulum swings too far in favour of the employee, that same legislation will cause the opposite effect of what it set out to achieve."

Many small businesses, however, find that the ongoing support of our specialist employment lawyers eases the burden significantly.