Business leaders said some of the regulations could end up costing firms billions of pounds, as allowances are phased out and tax rates increased.
The government has established April 6 - and October 1 - as `common commencement dates' when new business regulations take effect.
One of the most prominent, the Corporate Manslaughter Act, was today described by lawyer Adrian Bevor, of Manchester firm Addleshaw Goddard, as the most significant change to health and safety law for over 30 years.
It places greater responsibilities on firms to ensure they have stringent health and safety procedures, because failure to do so means they could be fined up to 10 times their turnover should a death occur in a rail crash or workplace incident as a result of management failure, in addition to being named and shamed.
However, it does not go as far as some demanded because there is no new offence or penalty for individual directors.
Mr Bevor said the law was source of anxiety for many large companies.
Tom Sheffield, of risk adviser and insurance broker Aon, warned that prosecutors may be eager to put their new powers to the test, adding: "This really serves as a wake-up call to business."
Stephen Robinson, a partner at Manchester law firm Davies Arnold Cooper, urged bosses to ensure they are proactive with regards to the new law.
"Industries such as construction should pay particlar heed," he said.
The Knutsford-based Forum of Private Business said haulage firms and those which provide staff with company cars were most at risk of under the act.
Awareness remains a potential problem - a poll by Peninsula, a Manchester firm which advises SMEs on employment law matters, discovered last month that only 55 per cent of employers were aware of the new act. It is currently receiving 200 calls a day from bosses regarding the legislation.
Other laws coming into force include a reduction in higher rates of corporation tax but an increase for lower bands, extended maternity rights, the imposition of full business rates for owners of properties which lie empty for three months or more, employment rules protecting agency workers, a crackdown on aggressive or misleading sales activities and a requirement for firms with 50 or more staff to communicate with their employees about major issues affecting their business.
Damian Waters, regional director of the CBI North West, said the government claimed to have enterprise at its heart yet bosses would not be convinced that this was really the case.
He said: "Small companies will see a five per cent increase in corporation tax, empty property relief changes will cost business £950m, industrial buildings allowance being phased out will cost £675m over the next three years, and the reform of tax allowances for investment in plant and machinery will cost business £1.5bn this year alone.
"On top of this are the changes to capital gains tax. It seems that, rather than enterprise, the government has the Treasury's coffers in mind."
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