A law firm has warned that the new government's employment law changes may have 'huge ramifications' for companies across the UK.

The King’s Speech before parliament highlighted that Labour would introduce the Employment Rights Bill in their first 100 days of being in power.

Joanne Stronach, is head of Employment Law and HR at Cartmell Shepherd, and is urging businesses to be aware of the changes as the new proposals are set to significantly enhance employees' rights.

Cartmell Shepherd has seven offices at Rosehill Carlisle, Carlisle city centre, Brampton, Haltwhistle, Hexham, Penrith and Cockermouth, with the firm’s full range of legal services available from all of its offices, delivered by its team of more than 40 solicitors.

She said: "It is clear that Labour’s New Deal is going to benefit a lot of employees and improve their rights, but is it going to be a good deal for employers?

"Businesses really need to think about all their current contract terms, policies and procedures, and keep an eye out for the proposed changes in the Employment Rights Bill to make sure that they will fall in line with new employment legislation.

“If employers are unaware of the new measures introduced they could easily, unwittingly, breach the law and land themselves in trouble.”

Businesses specialising in hospitality, tourism, and retail should particularly prepare for changes affecting zero-hour contracts.

Ms Stronach said: “It’s understandable that the Government doesn’t want businesses to exploit workers by abusing zero hour contracts with purely one-sided flexibility, but this can lead to problems for certain industries who use zero hour contracts correctly for large fluctuations in work during certain times of the year.

“If you consider a typical hospitality business in the Lake District as an example, a lot of their trade is during the tourist season so they bring in extra staff to cover when they and the surrounding local area and businesses are busier."

She fears smaller businesses may choose not to employ seasonal workers if they can't guarantee regular hours.

She added: “This could mean fewer jobs will be created in the local area and some businesses may feel they will have to restrict bookings instead with the resultant impact on their generation of income.

"This could have a huge impact on the number of visitors to areas such as the Lakes and Northumberland whose economies are largely dependent on tourism.”