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Maternity leave has been extended to nine months in UK
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Businesses in UK claim reforms ofmaternity leavewhich came into force yesterday will saddle them with a ￡2billion bill.
The period of paid leave to which new mothers are entitled has been extended from six to nine months.
Lobbyists say this is good for working women - but bad for business. The￡2billion cost will come from recruiting and training workers to cover new mothers' longer absences.
Family groups, however, welcomed Labour's extension of maternity leave, which they say will encourage women to stay home with their children for longer.
The Forum of Private Business said it was worried about the changes. Chief Executive Nick Goulding said: 'The extension of maternity leave is a major concern for many small businesses.
"It would appear that little thought has been given to the financial impact for businesses who can't easily find a replacement for the absent worker."
Small firms which employ fewer than 49 people account for 99 per cent of all UK businesses. Mr Goulding said these companies will struggle the most.
The average cost of filling a job vacancy is ￡10,000, according to recruitment consultancy Angela Mortimer.
This includes the 'hard' costs, such as placing a job advert, and the 'hidden' costs, such as time spent conducting interviews.
Ashley Williams, a director of Angela Mortimer, warned: "Business leaders are frequently unaware of the true costs involved in recruiting new people.
"Intangible costs such as time spentsifting throughCVs need to be taken into accounton top ofthe more obvious expenses."
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(Daily Mail)
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英國產(chǎn)假改革方案于昨日生效，各企業(yè)叫苦不迭，稱這一改革會讓他們背上20億英鎊的負(fù)擔(dān)。
英國女員工的產(chǎn)假從之前的半年延長到了九個月。
游說人士稱，這一新規(guī)定對女員工有利，但對企業(yè)不利。由于產(chǎn)假的延長，企業(yè)將在招聘及培訓(xùn)“補缺”員工上花費20億英鎊的成本。
然而，一些家庭組織則對工黨的此項改革表示歡迎，他們認(rèn)為這將使女性能有更多的時間在家照顧孩子。
私營企業(yè)論壇則對這一改革表示擔(dān)憂。論壇首席執(zhí)行官尼克·高爾丁說：“產(chǎn)假的延長成為很多小企業(yè)的一大擔(dān)憂?！?/font>
“這似乎沒有考慮到產(chǎn)假的延長將給那些難以找到替代者的企業(yè)所造成的經(jīng)濟(jì)影響?！?/font>
雇傭人數(shù)少于49人的小企業(yè)占英國所有企業(yè)的99%。高爾丁先生說，這些企業(yè)受到的影響將會最大。
據(jù)Angela Mortimer招聘咨詢公司介紹，填補一個職位空缺的平均成本為1萬英鎊。
其中包括投放招聘廣告等“硬成本”，以及花在面試上的時間等“隱形成本”。
Angela Mortimer公司的一位主管艾什莉·威廉姆斯發(fā)出警告：“企業(yè)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)常常意識不到招聘新員工所要花費的實際成本?！?/font>
“除了那些能看得見的成本外，花在篩選簡歷上的時間等無形成本也需要考慮在內(nèi)?！?/font>
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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