More people are expressing concerns over employment law and their fears of redundancy, a survey has found.

Home insurer LV= has seen a 21 per cent rise in people seeking guidance and estimated that up to one million people have had to take legal advice on employment issues.

"The issues are far ranging, covering redundancies, a reduction in hours and pay, or changes in employment contracts," noted John O’Roarke, managing director of LV= home insurance.

Many of the people polled named the recession as the main source of their problems, which may also encourage them to seek debt management advice.

The latest statistics reveal that the rate of unemployment in the UK during the first three months of the year stood at 7.1 per cent, up by 0.8 per cent on the previous quarter.

They also showed that the number of unemployed people increased by 244,000 over the first quarter of 2009 and by 592,000 over the course of the year.

Such quarterly increases in the level of unemployment are believed to be the highest since 1981.