Member

If we come to a point where an employee on day 1 has the same rights as someone who has been there for some considerable time, there is a large risk, particularly for a small or micro business, that in taking on one individual you get a square peg in a round hole. That does happen; let us face it. If you have only half a dozen employees, you are in serious trouble. I accept that in this day and age we do not need a two-year waiting phase—in my experience, the biggest offender of using that system was the Civil Service—but, as we go through the Bill, there has to be some recognition that small employers have to be taken into account.