Federation of Small Businesses - FSB Weekly Brief 26

In this week’s issue: paternity problems, public sector contracts, bank holidays, minimum wage, business improvement districts, continuity management, German TV opportunity, awards for women in business, PAYE developments.

1. FSB slams new rules on paternity leave
The FSB this week warned that new employment laws, which will extend the maternity leave from six to nine months and allow part of it to be transferred to the father, will be a administrative torment for small businesses and has called on the Government to apply a soft touch in implementing them. Alan Tyrrell, FSB Employment Chairman, told the Financial Times on Monday: “Large firms with their human resources departments may well be able to handle this law more easily, but for small firms employing 13 million people – over half the private sector workforce – this will be a nightmare.” The Daily Telegraph and the Independent on Sunday also covered the FSB’s views.

2. Government launches portal for public sector contracts
The FSB this week gave a cautious welcome to the Government’s new website for public sector contracts, which should improve small business access to them. However, the FSB warned that it would only work if government departments and local authorities used it fully. Clive Davenport, FSB Trade and Industry Chairman, told the Financial Times: “Small businesses have been left out in the cold when it comes to getting work from public sector bodies. With preparations for the Olympics gathering pace, there will be opportunities for small businesses to contribute.”

3. The politics of bank holidays
The Department of Trade and Industry is inviting responses from business owners on plans to prevent employers from counting bank holidays as part of workers’ annual leave. The Financial Times this week reported the FSB’s view that small businesses should be able to negotiate these issues with their employees without government interference.

4. Low Pay Commission to consider small firms burden
The Low Pay Commission, the body decides the level of the minimum wage, has been told to consider the impact on small firms of future increases. The FSB welcomed the news, pointing out in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday that inflation-busting increases are beginning to affect businesses in certain areas and in certain sectors.

5. Business Improvement Districts
The FSB’s Local Government Policy Committee is interested to hear about any experiences with BIDs in your local area, whether positive or negative. Please email laura.davies@fsb.org.uk with your views.

6. What if it all goes wrong?
A report was published recently by the Chartered Management Institute about business continuity management (BCM) for when the [beep] hits the fan. The news is that BCM is considerably more widespread in large organisations - just 40% of small organisations (under 50 employees) have business continuity plans, compared with 62% of larger organisations (over 1000 employees). We're looking for case studies of members who have business continuity plans in place and can talk about how this has worked to the benefit of their business. Please contact rosina.robson@fsb.org.uk with any information. Link to the report here: www.pfe.gov.uk/business/bcm2006.pdf.

7. Auditions for a German TV station
A German TV station (believe it or not) is interested in hearing about our experiences of the minimum wage (the German government are considering introducing something similar). DW-TV’s Katrin Boettger would like to interview a small business owner and his/her staff about their experiences of the minimum wage in the next couple of weeks. She can be contacted at kboettger@btinternet.com.

8. Notifications about PAYE via email
Employers who have signed up for online filing can get notifications of filing dates and possible changes to tax codes via email. HM Revenue & Customs are encouraging employers to check their email accounts regularly and provide email addresses as a way of knowing when they have notices to view. It is important to note that by registering for online filing, employers may be getting email notifications automatically without realising it and that they will not receive any notifications through the post. More info here: www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/email-alerts.htm