Many small businesses will reach the point where they need to think about recruitment. This might be, for example, due to increased workload or a lack of knowledge requiring outside expertise. The problem, though, is that the business is often not bringing in the income required to pay for that additional staff member.

Knowing when is the right time to recruit is, therefore, very difficult, especially in these uncertain economic times when revenues are changing dramatically for many businesses. I know a company who was due to interview for their first member of staff and the day before the interview lost one of their major contracts. In a way they were lucky it happened before they had taken on the employee, but it does show how decisions made one day can be forced to change another. Employing staff is a huge commitment, and businesses need to understand all aspects of the contract between themselves and the employee, and that includes how they can potentially dismiss them.

This is one sure to rouse strong opinions - following maternity leave nearly two-thirds of employers don't expect female employees to return to their job with many citing previous experience as the reason for their viewpoint. While this is clearly the case in some circumstances, from my experience most women do return to work within eighteen months of giving birth and many return far earlier than that.

Business need to be careful about making assumptions otherwise they could end up facing claims for discrimination. Employers also need to think about their return to work policy - or lack there of. Important issues such as working hours will need to be discussed and company policy made clear from the outset to avoid issues between employer and employee when it comes to returning to work.

If your answer is yes then you are not alone as a recent British Chamber of Commerce survey highlighted the various concerns raised by sole traders when it comes to employing staff. Issues raised that have been putting sole traders off hiring included dismissal processes, sickness absences, equality legislation, statutory payments and flexible working. Some were worried about National Insurance Contributions, while unaware of the National Insurance 'holiday' for startups, highlighting the need by businesses to fully investigate the assistance that is on offer from the government. For example, did you know about the exemption to micro businesses to new domestic legislation for three years from April of this year?

Clearly the issues revolve not just around the actual hiring, but also the long-term costs and management of the staff and not surprisingly many sole traders have been turning to freelancers to fill the gap. It seems yet again the burden of red tape is preventing many small businesses from taking the next step to growing their businesses. Will the Red Tape Challenge bring any benefit to this area of legislation we wonder?

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