Almost 80% of insurance brokers think their businesses are weighed down by too much red tape, a new survey shows.
But, over 65% are optimistic that there will be no economic recession in 2002, saying the threat has been blown out of proportion. Almost 30% think there will be a recession but that it will be short lived.
These finding come from a survey of 509 brokers that was conducted between 5 November and 17 December 2001, by employment law firm Peninsula.
Peninsula managing director Peter Done said many employers were concerned that red tape had actually escalated over the past three years.
"In fact, one employer that I spoke to explained that he spends at least half of his productivity time dealing with HR issues," Done said.
"Brokers and especially the smallest of businesses find it very difficult to cope with all these changes in red tape simply because they cannot afford the resources to deal with them."
Done added that brokers were not against extending employee rights but most wanted more time to introduce new laws.
However, the Peninsula survey also showed that if faced with a recession, 69% of brokers would consider redundancies as a cost cutting option for their businesses.
Done said many brokers, over the past six to eight months, had been getting themselves into trouble by not implementing the correct redundancy procedures.
"If brokers are considering any form of redundancy they need to be careful and plan ahead," he said.
Peninsula is the largest employment law firm in the UK. It is currently in discussion with the Department of Trade and Industry about how to reduce the number of employment tribunal claims and the amount of red tape around workplace laws.
