The head of the British Chamber of Commerce has warned the Government that the latest corporate pension laws could seriously damage employment prospects in the UK
David Frost, Director General of the BCC, says the new laws, that were passed by the Labour government at the beginning of the year, make for a -complex web of regulations- that bear little resemblance to the original proposals announced in 2006.
Furthermore, Frost claimed that, in the face of so many on-going changes to employment law in Britain, many employers would hold back from recruiting more staff unless the legislation became simpler to understand.
As part of the new legislation, from 2010, employers will have to automatically enrol their staff onto a workplace pension scheme, and be re-enrolled every three years, unless the employee specifically opts-out of it.
In a report published this week by the BCC responding to a Government review, Mr Frost said: -There is a whole raft of changes and employment legislation coming through between now and 2014. At a time when we’re trying to grow the economy, this could dampen demand for jobs in the UK.
-Employers are worried about getting it wrong and then ending up in an employment tribunal.-
The BCC report makes a number of recommendations to the Government in order to simplify the new regulations. For example, the report suggests that employees should not be enrolled onto automatic pension schemes until after their 13th week of employment.
Mr Frost said: -It is absolutely right that we encourage people to save more for retirement. But doing so after 13 weeks would allow for staff turnover or any other changes that go on during the first few months.-
For more information visit employment solicitors http://www.trethowans.com/business_services/employment_hr.asp
Ref: TEL-HS-06910