Extra employment burdens to cost local business sector more than £750m

Proposed employment regulations and taxes could cost businesses across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as much as £753m over the next four years.

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce has analysed national figures to calculate the local impact of a swingeing raft of fresh employment burdens planned by the Government and the EU.

With unemployment at high levels, the sheer weight of this additional red tape could have a serious adverse impact on both future job creation and economic growth.    

The potential bill facing employers in Nottinghamshire over the next four years stands at almost £400m while, in Derbyshire, firms could be looking at a collective additional cost of up to £353m.  

Nationally, proposed new legislation for introduction between April 2010 and April 2014 will cost businesses a massive £26.5bn. This staggering sum does not include anything a new Government may wish to legislate for in this period. Nor does it include any potential burdens associated with the controversial Workplace Parking Levy in Nottingham.

The 2011 tax year will see no less than eight new major changes to the current tax regime, including a 1% increase in employers' National Insurance contributions, which will hit UK businesses to the tune of around £14bn. The local impact will come to £220m in Nottinghamshire and a further £194m in Derbyshire. 

Some of the other costly regulations in the pipeline include:

  • The Equality Bill, which this year is estimated to add one-off costs of almost £3m to Nottinghamshire-based business and nearly £2.65m to those based in Derbyshire
  • The Agency Workers Directive, set for introduction in 2011, is expected to add a further £23m annual recurring cost to Nottinghamshire firms and £21m to Derbyshire employers
  • Pensions Reforms in 2012 will add an annual recurring cost of more than £75m to Nottinghamshire businesses and almost £67m to those in Derbyshire

Commenting on the figures, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber president Richard Wilkins said: "The cost of employing people must be reduced if Government is serious about giving businesses the freedom to create jobs and drive our economic recovery. Scrapping the planned increase in National Insurance in 2011 - a tax on jobs which will hinder recovery - would be a good place to start.

"Reducing financial and administrative burdens is one of the Chamber's key lobbying priorities and with the British Chambers' of Commerce, we will be campaigning for a three-year moratorium on EU employment directives and new employment laws in the UK.

"Businesses will have to implement this raft of new legislation and need confidence about future employment costs. A moratorium of new employment laws will promote job creation and help drive economic recovery."

 


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