As the dust settles on the Budget announcement, Guru would like to applaud the chancellor's efforts to make life easier for small businesses. However, there is an elephant in the room - and it's in the shape of an unsightly dinosaur.

Being small-minded, George Osborne quickly grasped the nettle that is the thorny problem of how to promote growth in a stagnating economy and concluded that kicking the only-just-employed where it hurts, ie, in their employment rights, would be a good start.

Of course, Yours Truly understands that small businesses have been clamouring for an 'end to red tape' and bleating for 'less legislation', as treating workers equally from day one, or extending them the right to 'ask' for a bit of extra time off when they have children, and such like, are clearly unjust and unfair to unscrupulous bosses everywhere who want to make a fast buck and ship out no questions asked.

Now, free from the shackles of any kind of responsibility, businesses will be able to set up, crash out, set up, fold five minutes later, set up, declare bankruptcy, set up, ditch all their workers unceremoniously, etc, etc. The circle of business life, as it were. As it were in the 1980s that is.

Guru predicts this return to an 'enterprise culture' - as defined by the newly formed and Margaret Thatcher-fixated Sons And Daughters For Unsung Commerce Kings Everywhere Rejoice Society (write your own acronym here .............) - will undoubtedly shake things up a bit across the UK.

Sadly, he predicts that it's more likely to reawaken the ambitions of the more left-leaning union dinosaurs who have slumbered their way through the past decade. And what with the students and public sector workers already revolting, Yours Predicts a serious winter of discontent... and it's not even summer yet.

Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/personneltoday/gurublog/~3/BdRv83wx-pQ/budget-for-growth-sows-seeds-o.html

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Posted 25 Mar 2011 8:28 AM by Guru | Report Abuse

Filed under: equality, discrimination, trade unions, human resources, employee relations, employment law, flexible working, unions, dinosaurs, george osborne, budget, employment rights, thatcher