A survey of small businesses undertaken by B2BUSINESS in conjunction with the Centre for Policy Studies has found strong support for many of the proposals for reform of employment regulation made by Dominic Raab MP in Escaping the Strait Jacket – ten regulatory reforms to create jobs.
When small businesses were asked whether they should be exempt from any current regulations, the survey showed:
- 63% of small businesses thought they should be exempt from managing staff pension arrangements.
- 34% thought they should be exempt from workers being able to request flexible working.
- 29% thought they should be exempt for minimum wage legislation for under 21s.
- 20% thought they should be exempt from the right for workers to request time off for training
The full results can be downloaded from here.
There was also huge support for changes to Employment Tribunal rules to make it more difficult for staff to make claims. 59% supported or strongly supported moves in this direction, 30% were undecided and 11% opposed/strongly opposed.
Finally, there was little support for upcoming strike action. 55% of small businesses supported a fifty per cent quota of eligible voters for strike action in the emergency or transport sectors, with just 22% opposed to the move, showing wide business support for the policy advocated by Raab. Furthermore, 61% of small businesses were opposed or strongly opposed to public sector strikes over pension reform compared to 13% in support or strongly supporting the strikes.
These findings comes on the day when the Government announces that it intends to implement some of the proposals (by streamlining the employment tribunal process, consulting on the use of ‘protected conversations’, consulting on action to implement TUPE regulations and making it easier for firms to sack underperforming staff).
Commenting on today’s announcements, Raab said: “This survey highlights the business case for an overhaul of the regulatory burden, with particularly strong support for safeguards to check frivolous employment claims and spurious strike action in the emergency services and transport sectors. The government’s plans to help employers manage the abolition of the default retirement age and reduce the limbo period during the redundancy process are timely. But, we need to be bolder, both to drive UK competitiveness during a tough climate and to encourage firms to hire – reducing unemployment ought to be our top economic and social priority.”
Date Added: Wednesday 23rd November 2011
