Budget

Business commentators have expressed their concern over the Government having not done enough with the new budget to sufficiently release the pressure that employment regulations have on businesses. Simon Walker, the Director General of the Institute of Directors specifically commented about the Chancellor's lack of action saying "Businesses dearly want the opportunity to invest, create and build, but George Osborne must go much further if he wants to fire up the engines of the economy."

The view of the businesses man is perhaps always going to be to ask for deregulation of the employment market, whereas those who work for employee rights will always have an opposing opinion. Mike Emmot of the CIPD, for example, stresses that deregulation of employment law is not the way to boost growth. The Government definitely do not seem to agree with the latter opinion after having numerous consultations and discussions on how best to alleviate the burdens of employment regulations on businesses, in particular, smaller ones, all with the aim of increasing employment figures. Rather, Emmot believes that the Government need to take steps to create a more energised work force, that is how we will achieve economic growth he purports. He argues that what the Government deem to be reducing the burden on employers is actually a dumbing down of management practice to the level of the least competent. "Fairness, trust and respect are the basis for successful employment relationships." And in turn, successful employment relationships are key to a successful economy.

In his announcement, Osborne mentioned that there would be relaxed trading hours on a Sunday for the duration of the Olympics and Paralympics from 22 July 2012 to 9 September 2012 inclusive. Employment Partner at DLA Piper, Jonathan Exten-Wright, has described the potential difficulties this could have on employers. With such a short time between now and the games, it is likely that many employees have already booked their annual leave in order to watch the games. Employers could have difficulty finding staff to work the extra hours. He also stressed his concerns in particular for shop workers saying "a shop worker who has opted out of Sunday working cannot be treated unfavourably for refusing to work on a Sunday, and it is automatically unfair to dismiss them if they refuse to do so." Furthermore he suggested that the Government might use this as an opportunity to gauge whether such a scheme would work in the long run and therefore " relax the rules permanently."

Osborne also confirmed that protected conversations are on their way pending a consultation period later this year. There are also plans to "scrap or improve" 84% of Health & Safety legislation. One such piece of legislation is that of 'strict liability' provisions for employers. Strict Liability exists where an employer has done everything that is reasonably practicable and foreseeable to protect their employees. The legislation relating to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations will also be amended along with the introduction of guidance to help employers better understand when it is necessary to report such injuries.

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