Employment rights for all the family

The Work and Families Act 2006 came into force on 1 October 2006. Among other things, it makes provisions for maternity pay and leave.

These provisions apply to an employee whose expected week of childbirth begins on or after 1 April 2007. Such an employee will be entitled to take a whole year's maternity leave, and to return to her job at the end of the year. The size of the company she works for is irrelevant. Also irrelevant is how long she had worked there in the first place. Before this law, one year's maternity leave was only granted if the employee had been working for that firm for roughly six months. Under the new laws, even if an employee were hired while pregnant, she would still be entitled to a year off, and to return to her post, or a similar one.

This law will be welcomed by many, but it will most likely hit small firms hard. Many of them will not be able to hold open an employee's post for a year. Before the new law, small firms with fewer than five employees were exempt from that requirement. Now they must all comply.

While family-friendly employment laws are desirable, surely some regard must be paid to their impact on small business? A CBI report published today shows that new employment laws have cost UK businesses up to £37bn in the last nine years. Perhaps it is time that someone took into account the concerns of small businesses. There seems to be a mentality among this Government that business is a bad thing, and therefore to be regulated with a heavy hand. They should however note that it will be in nobody's interests if businesses close because they cannot cope with the legal and regulatory burdens imposed by the Government. Not only would the Exchequer suffer through lost taxes, such a situation would also imperil the prospects of these employees about whom the Government claim to care.