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Companies that are considering taking on more staff this spring will require government help to incentivise employment, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has claimed.
The Voice of Small Business Index revealed that a balance of 4.8 per cent of micro firms had to lay off staff in the three months to December last year, while a net balance of 6.5 per cent plan to let go of more workers in the first quarter of 2012 - despite the financial climate generally looking better than it did when the banking crisis first struck.
In response to the findings, the FSB is calling for micro firms to be made exempt from the extension of the right to request flexible working for all.
It also wants the government to carry out a complete and simplified reform of maternity and paternity leave in the future when the economic climate is more positive.
FSB chair John Walker commented: "The beginning of 2012 is beginning to look bleak, with confidence incredibly low and businesses looking to shed staff.
"However, things do not need to be so negative. If the government makes the right choices and puts action into words we can turn this around. The government has a good chance to make a real difference to the livelihoods of small firms when it reports on the Modern Workplaces consultation," he posited.
"Tinkering and increasing existing employment laws will only serve to worsen this situation. But by putting simple measures in place, such as excluding micro firms from the right to request flexible working for all, will help free businesses from the shackle of red tape so they can grow, innovate and take on new staff."
Companies that have been keeping the details of candidates who apply for vacancies in lever arch files might find that these changes spur them on to create new roles.