Taking Care of Business

Taking Care of Business

The Early Childhood Council congratulates the Small Business Advisory Group on their forward thinking recommendations to hasten economic growth detailed in their annual report released yesterday.

"New Zealand businesses are being swamped by regulatory change and the compliance burden has been particularly difficult in the early childhood sector, where half of the businesses are owned by community groups and managed by voluntary committees," said Sue Thorne, CEO of the Early Childhood Council.

Whilst large enterprises may have the human resources needed to deal with frequent regulatory change at short notice, SMEs are stretched to keep abreast of their ever increasing obligations.

The recommendation for a minimum three month consultation period and further three month implementation lead in time for new legislation affecting SMEs is particularly welcomed.

"Every new regulation brings with it a raft of additional record-keeping which consumes time and money and detracts from the focus of the business. Many of the recent changes have shown a deep lack of understanding about the practicalities of running a business," said Mrs Thorne.

More timely consultation with business owners could have avoided some of the burdensome implementation problems arising from recent legislation such as the ERA, HSEA and Holidays Act.

The Early Childhood Council supports any moves towards a regulatory environment that allows businesses to growth rather than hinders them.

"If the Government is serious about its commitment to growing a strong NZ economy it should act immediately to implement the recommendations in this excellent report," said Mrs Thorne.

The Early Childhood Council represents the interests of over 800 early childhood centres nationwide, of which 90% are classified as SMEs.

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