New Notification of Vacancy fee is another unwelcome business stealth tax

Today the Government has raised departmental fees for the Department of Employment with most items rising £1 or £2 per administrative form. More notably there has been a brand new charge implemented for opening a Notification of Vacancy. A Notification of Vacancy is a form which every employer needs to submit to be able fill in any position within their company. Before today this was free but has now been raised to £17 per submission.

On the new fee structure GSD spokesperson Orlando Yeats said;

“The Notification of Vacancy fee implementation is scandalous, employers are essentially being taxed for creating jobs. An administrative service that was free last week will now cost businesses £17 for every vacancy they need to fill. All businesses will be affected but more so those that operate in high staff turnover sectors with fees potentially running into £1000’s per year.

The £17 additional fee will also add to previously set penalty fees, these were set at £16 or £31 and will now shoot up to £32 and £47. These penalty fees are unfair in nature and are based around not having  vacancies open for 10 days, there are many unforeseen circumstances that force an employer to replace or add employees immediately and this is inexplicably punished by the ETB.

These increases are yet another example of the government mercilessly hammering the business sector, businesses who need a fluid and flexible framework that reflects modern working life to operate in. Instead we have a maze of complex rules and penalty fees which are catching out unsuspecting businesses and fleecing them of their money.

Its been a rough couple of years for the business sector with Brexit uncertainties to contend with, recent trade licensing and social insurance rises have made things difficult. The implementation of this new fee is another unwelcome addition to businesses overheads. There is a concerning pattern emerging and it seems like the government is targeting the private sector in desperation to find money to pay off the huge debt.

It really is a sad state of affairs when the Government of the day feels they have to tax employers for placing a job advert.

We also fully support the GFSB’s request of Government to reconsider this new fee as it will have a negative effect on both employers and potential employees.”