Cable to cut employment red tape

News Article - 18 June 2010
Category: Regulatory

Business secretary Vince Cable recently outlined plans to cut back employee regulation and reduce the burden on British businesses, which is seen as stifling growth. The plans, to be driven by a dedicated Reducing Regulation Committee, will be chaired by Mr Cable and form a major part of the new Government's commitment to reduce excessive regulation seen to harm the prospects of UK companies, particularly SMEs.

In addition, an immediate review of all imminent regulation has been called for, most of which was formulated by the previous Government. Objections have been raised regarding the cost of implementing this regulation, which amounts to £5bn annually before April 2011 and £19.1bn per annum afterwards. Reviewing this regulation will be first on the agenda for the Reducing Regulation Committee.

The business secretary also outlined a new approach designed to prevent new regulations piling additional pressure on businesses. The 'one-in, one-out' approach would help ensure new regulations are only implemented when burdens on businesses brought about by existing regulations are reduced.

The announcements have been well-supported by the business community. David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), says new employment regulations would add an additional burden of £11bn over four years on the business community. The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has been calling for an independent red tape review for some time after research found smaller businesses spent more on employment law than both health and safety administration and tax.

Companies should be optimistic regarding future opportunities brought about by a reduction in employment regulation - such as the chance to diversify and recruit key talent. However, internal recruitment and workforce management procedures must also be robust enough to make the most of regulation reductions brought in by the new Government.

Access business software can strengthen HR infrastructure, allowing management to pro-actively drive recruitment practices and ensure key talent is identified as early as possible. Recruitment and vacancy records management provides powerful tools to plan, manage and execute recruitment campaigns whether recruitment is handled exclusively by HR or devolved to management. With the ability to automatically upload vacancies to corporate websites, companies can get the word out quickly and accelerate the recruitment process, saving time and money.

For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.

Article keywords: Vince Cable, employee regulation, Reducing Regulation Committee, UK companies, SMEs, David Frost, British Chambers of Commerce, BCC, employment regulations, Forum of Private Business, FPB, red tape review, employment law, recruitment, workforce management, Access business software, HR software solutions, recruitment and vacancy records management

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