The new employment laws in the UK could see a hire and fire culture develop in the country, as employment lawyers predict a difficult time for workers.

In a new survey conducted by solicitor finding service Contact Law, three out of five lawyers said that they felt there could be high turnover of staff for many small companies over the coming months and years as a result.

73 per cent believe that the reforms will not see small businesses encouraged to bring in more staff. Meanwhile, 67 per cent do not even believe that the reforms are workable at all.

At the end of November, cabinet minister Vince Cable said that the new employment laws may mean that companies which have less than ten members of staff are exempt from the regulations.

Therese Wallin, legal expert at Contact Law, says: “The general feeling seems to be that rather than assisting small businesses, these reforms could actually have an adverse impact."

Posted by Alex Donnell