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British businesses could save up to £1 billion a year as the Government confirms plans to remove unnecessary and outdated bureaucracy following our exit from the EU.
The Government has announced amendments to several retained EU laws to ensure UK regulations are brought up to date and tailored to the needs of businesses, freeing up firms to refocus their time and money elsewhere to help create jobs.
The reforms will see the reduction of time-consuming reporting requirements and the simplifying of annual leave and holiday pay calculations under the Working Time Regulations as well as the streamlining of regulations that apply when a business transfers to a new owner.
These proposals don’t change existing workers’ rights in the UK, which remain some of the best in the world, and instead remove unnecessary bureaucracy in the way those rights operate, allowing business to benefit from the additional freedoms we have through Brexit.
Business Minister, Kevin Hollinrake said: These reforms ensure our employment regulations are fit for purpose while maintaining our strong record on workers’ rights, which are some of the highest in the world.
Seizing these benefits of Brexit, including a saving of £1 billion for businesses, will support the private sector and workers alike and are vital to stimulating economic growth, innovation and job creation.
The reforms confirmed today follow both consultations and will address concerns from businesses by helping to simplify the calculation of holiday entitlement for employers and make entitlement clearer for all irregular hours and part-year workers.
FSB National Chair Martin McTague said: We welcome these sensible changes, striking a balance for workers while offering clarity for employers. It’s good to see the Government cutting through excessive burdens without losing the benefits of regulations.
We’re eager to see a system that’s clear-cut, cost-effective and easy for small businesses to roll out, so these announcements are a crucial step forward.
Umbrella company compliance specialist, PayePass, welcomed the news that the government will make ‘rolled-up holiday pay’ lawful for the UK’s 1.6m temporary workers – in turn, handing irregular-hour workers and part-year workers an earnings boost worth thousands.
By not rolling up holiday pay, thousands of temporary workers have their holiday pay unfairly withheld – meaning they lose out on potentially thousands of pounds every year.
PayePass CEO, Julia Kermode, commented: “This is huge news. By allowing rolled up holiday pay, the UK’s growing number of temps and irregular-hour workers will receive what’s legally theirs, which could be worth thousands for every worker.
“Temporary workers who qualify will receive holiday pay when they’re paid their wages, which means they’re guaranteed to receive it. All too often, these workers don’t claim holiday – partly due to the fact that they don’t know they’re entitled to it and partly due to the holiday pay being unfairly withheld from them. It’s no exaggeration to say that hundreds of millions of pounds of holiday pay have been left unclaimed over the years.
“But now there are no excuses for temps to receive what’s lawfully theirs. Rolled up holiday pay will help hundreds of thousands of workers pay their bills at a very difficult time. It goes without saying that the move to make this lawful will also stop those dodgy businesses from deliberately withholding it from their workers.
“The government has stopped short of announcing a timeline for the introduction of rolled up holiday pay – but it’s all eyes on the Budget this month, where we hope that the Chancellor will set a date in stone.”
