More than 65% of small businesses are unaware that from 1st of April all full time employees are legally entitled to an extra four days holiday a year, taking the total minimum holiday entitlement to 28 days a year.

According to a survey by online storage firm Humyo.com, two-thirds of the small firms surveyed want no change in the holiday set-up because of the economic crisis and almost 50% said freezing the current entitlement would help them survive the recession.

This is the second increase in minimum holiday entitlements in two years and based on the minimum wage - currently £5.73 an hour - the extra cost for the lowest paid works out at £172 a year or £1.9bn when spread across the whole economy.

"Now is not the time to be saddling start-ups and small businesses with unnecessary regulatory burden," said Dan Conlon, founder and managing director of Humyo.com.