SME issuesThe Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has vowed to take forward the recruitment industry’s concerns over current regulatory burdens in upcoming meetings with the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS).

The announcement comes after recent conversations with the Employment Relations Minister Ed Davey who also pledged a commitment from the Government to reviewing unnecessary regulations within the recruitment sector.

An initial meeting is due to take place with BIS next week and senior BIS officials have agreed to take part in the REC’s Employment Policy Committee meeting in September, which will provide them with an opportunity to talk directly with REC members.

Discussing some of the opportunities for the industry, Tom Hadley, REC Director of Policy and Professional Services, says:

“We will have a great opportunity over the next few weeks to put forward examples of current regulations that can be streamlined.  We are pleased that BIS officials have agreed to discuss regulatory issues directly with our members, this will raise awareness of the administrative challenges agencies face and will provide practical feedback from the coal face of our industry.

“As well as limiting the impact of forthcoming regulations such as AWR and pensions, our priority is to drive a proactive campaign on reviewing the existing regulatory landscape for recruiters. The input and feedback of members will be at the core of this campaign and will ensure that we make real progress on streamlining rather than systematically ‘supersizing’ the regulatory burden on our industry.”

While the move will certainly be welcomed by freelancers and small businesses as a prime opportunity to let ministers know about the “real” problems faced by SMEs it remains to be seen if the Government will actually come through on its numerous promises to make life easier for small firms – a recent survey showed that SMEs are struggling more with regulatory burden than ever before.

Photo by Rutger van Waveren - CC