Nye Cominetti, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: "What concerns me is that employer national insurance increases, like the minimum wage and employment rights changes, disproportionately impact low-paid workers.
Many businesses had warned this would happen, saying that rising national insurance costs and the increase in the NLW would leave them with no choice but to raise prices.
"We've had to take some fairly radical decisions, reducing our opening hours, making a senior staff member redundant because of rising business costs, including business rates and national insurance," he added.
Budget changes will mean business rates relief will drop from 75% to 45% for retail, leisure, and hospitality businesses, significantly increasing his costs.
He urged the government to phase in the tax changes rather than implement them in full in April, warning that otherwise, businesses would be forced to cut jobs or reduce working hours.
