Press

Press

April 2 2007

Issued by Mattison Public Relations

Red tape day–businesses need to absorb 73 new statutes and statutory instruments

  • Research by Sweet & Maxwell

Over 70 new statutes and statutory instruments that impact on businesses come into force on Red Tape Day, April 6th says Sweet & Maxwell the legal information providers.

Alina Lourie Director of Legal Online Sweet & Maxwell, comments: “Despite the fact that we are now in the last months of the Blair government, his administration seems to have lost none of its appetite for bringing in further regulations and legal changes.”.

In the week commencing April 2 there will be a total of 81 new statutes and statutory instruments that will impact on businesses compared to 80 last year.

Major changes that businesses will have to deal with that week include:

  • The introduction of a smoking ban in Wales - April 2
  • Extension of the right to request flexible working to carers of disabled adults – April 6
  • New health, safety regulation in the construction industry – April 6
  • Extension of paid maternity leave to nine months for women or adopters – April 6
  • New gender equality duties – for public sector employers and outsourcers – April 6
  • FSA takes over regulation of personal pension schemes and SIPPs – April 6

The table below, has been created using data from Sweet & Maxwell’s Lawtel online Legislative Calendar and shows the dramatic jump in statutory instruments and statutes effecting areas of commercial law, implemented around “Red Tape Day”.

Table shows statutory instruments and statutes effecting areas of commercial law

Sweet & Maxwell, a Thomson business (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC), designed the Lawtel Legislation Calendar to allow the user to track the progress of all parliamentary bills and statutory instruments, view the exact dates on which individual sections of an Act come into force and then click to view the actual legislation and its evolution.

The service allows lawyers to refine the calendar to see just those legislative changes that will affect a particular practice area, for example employment or banking, then with a click of their mouse add the details into their own Microsoft Outlook Calendar.