Record number of employers contact legal advice line

Insurance group Allianz has reported record numbers of calls from employers to their legal hotline asking for advice regarding redundancy issues.

The helpline, Lawphone, is receiving 70 to 80 calls a day from employers seeking advice on what they can legally do to cut costs in the current economic climate.

"Some 60% of calls during the three months to the end of September were about employment issues - mainly from employers seeking advice on how to make staff redundant. This is three times the level of 12 months ago," said David Vine, business development manager at Allianz.