Act now: bosses urged to meet Human Rights deadline

One of the principle effects of the Act will be on companies who have a policy of monitoring their employees' use of email, internet and the telephone. With the RIP Bill in place these companies will be required to gain staff consent to intercept communications, except within narrowly defined circumstances.

Ian Kirby, partner at legal firm Arnold & Porter, said: "Contracts and terms of employment should be altered to take into account the Human Rights Act, but on a case by case basis. The wording of the Act is so broad that it is difficult at the moment to work out exactly what it will mean in practice."

Linky Trott, assistant in employment law at Edwin Coe, agreed with Kirby but added that test cases will gradually define the law. "It is inevitable we will see a spate of litigation for the next year or so - although courts won't entertain spurious claims," she said.

However, Jonathan Hobday, managing director at network monitoring company Netsiren, argued that few businesses could afford to be one of those test cases and that it is the government's responsibility to clarify the implications of the Act before it reaches that point.

"It is appalling that no advice about working with the Act is coming from the government. There should be a best practice team and guidelines to advise companies on what they should do," he said.

Hobday added: "A lot of the middle-sized companies have a head in the sand approach to this."

Other areas that will need addressing include company policy towards freedom of religion, expression and dress code.