Just a fortnight after chancellor George Osborne promised to ease the regulatory burden on small firms, over 50 pieces of employment legislation have been introduced at once.
New rules governing the treatment of new fathers, minority groups and employees aged 65 and over are among the regulations which have come into force, and some critics claim the new rules will deter small firms from hiring new staff.
One of the most controversial new rules concerns paternity leave; the regulations allow new parents to split post-natal leave between them, so a father can take up to 26 weeks off once their baby is born.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has been particularly critical of the new paternity law. Spokesperson Andrew Cave told Growing Business:
“Parental leave is already the most complex area of employment law, and now it’s getting even more confusing. It will make small businesses think twice about taking on staff."
Meanwhile the rules governing the treatment of older workers has been transformed; the default retirement age has been scrapped, so employees will no longer have to take compulsory retirement as soon as they reach 65.
The new retirement rules have also caused controversy among commercial groups; a fifth of the 1,300 business owners recently surveyed by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said they were worried about the new regulations.
Cave added that: “The default retirement age will make life considerably more difficult for small businesses because they employ a disproportionate number of older people compared to larger businesses. It could certainly create some awkward decisions for small business bosses.”
While employers will no longer be able to relieve an employee of their duties on grounds of age, they are now able to recruit an employee on grounds of race, gender, or sexual orientation.
From today, entrepreneurs have the right to use ‘positive action’ in the recruitment process – selecting between two candidates of equal merit in favour of the applicant with protected characteristics.
Critics of the rule change say that applicants who lose out in the recruitment process will now have grounds to take the recruiting employer to tribunal, leading to further complications for entrepreneurs.
Summing up the overall effect of the new legislation, Cave concluded that they “contribute to what is a shifting landscape in regards to employment law. Thanks to the new rules, it’s going to be very difficult for a small business to think six months to a year down the line.”