The Forum of Private Business’s legal helpline has seen employment law queries dwarf other concerns, says a study published by the trade organisation.

Over a five-week period during September and October, 65% of calls to the company’s helpline concerned employment law, with ‘general business enquiries’ making up 14% of calls, and questions about the terms and conditions of business contracts 10%

The FPB’s chief executive, Phil Orford, says: “As with much of the legislation affecting small businesses, employment law can be a huge minefield and one of the main problems is that it is constantly changing, with new regulations coming in all the time.

“For example, some of the biggest recent changes came with the Agency Workers Regulations Act, which came into force in October along with a raft of other legal developments. The Act effectively gives temporary workers the same rights as permanent staff, significantly changing the requirements of business owners who rely on the flexible labour market.”

The FPB has produced a new Employment Guidebook taking into account recent changes in the law.