Male small business owners in the dark on legislation

Date: 24th February 2010

Men who own small businesses are less informed about current employment legislation than their female counterparts, according to a new report.

A recent survey, conducted by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS), has revealed that more than a quarter of male small business owners do not keep up to date with the regulations.

By way of comparison just 21 per cent of women said they struggle to keep on top of changes in the law.

The findings were revealed as part of a DBIS study of 300 small businesses, which revealed that 34 per cent of the respondents felt that employment law obligations are "not relevant" to their operations.

Petra Wilton, director of policy and research at the Chartered Management Institute said: "These findings show that small business bosses take very different approaches to the ways in which they manage their obligations, what really matters is for business leaders to realise that managing employment law is a key responsibility of theirs.

"No one is asking them to be an expert, but it is essential that they seek out and use appropriate information so that informed decisions can be reached."