FMB: Employee protection measures are a hindrance

It has been claimed measures designed to protect employees are having the opposite effect.

Phil McCabe, spokesperson for the Forum of Private Business (FPB), made the claim following the government’s approval of an increase to the minimum wage to £5.80 from October.

He said the increase is happening at exactly the wrong time thanks to credit restrictions and spiralling costs.

As a result, the FPB urged the government to freeze the minimum wage in the Budget, but its recommendation fell on deaf ears.

Get our essential daily HR news and updates. Facebook This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Email Weekday HR updates. Unsubscribe anytime. This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_form This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_date Year Month Day This field is hidden when viewing the form Batch_Newsletter

"The danger is that these measures designed to protect employees – which heap more costs onto small businesses are actually acting as a barrier to employment and also the retention of staff," the representative added.

Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce recently argued for a moratorium on any new employment law to help give businesses a chance to safely ride the global economic storm.