A recent survey has revealed sole proprietors are worried abut the additional cost of hiring new employees.
Of more than 500 sole traders who took part in the Intuit survey, one-third stated they have no recruitment plans in the pipeline.
Increasing the employee base comes with its own set of obligations and formalities and entrepreneurs are not willing to take on the hassles associated with employment legalities.
A quarter of the survey respondents admitted that they would feel burdened by the administrative duties involved with hiring staff, and cited this as being a major factor for pulling the plug on recruitment.
One third of them, however, said that they would feel encouraged to hire staff in the coming months if they had some sort of legal assistance with health and safety, and employment documents.
The slew of human resource issues were also stated as deterrents. The present employment legislation for small businesses is intimidating, and discourages small business owners from adding to their burdens.
Critical issues like unfair dismissal, discrimination laws and maternity leave, which need the right addressal, may be a bit much for sole traders to handle. A combination of all these factors is discouraging entrepreneurs from developing recruitment plans.
And, as they admit in the survey, they would love to hire staff for their business. This is understandable given that entrepreneurs would want to expand their business and share responsibilities wherever there is an opportunity.
If entrepreneurs can get the legal and HR assistance they need, they could be more willing to enhance their employee base.