Easy Offices has partnered with Contact Law, a Thomson Reuters Company, to provide some Blog Articles relating to the legal aspects of starting and running your own business. The first of several articles is below and to start the series off we are going to look at the legal aspects of Business Structure and buying or renting Commercial Property.
Developing a small business is an exciting and rewarding experience. It is important to be aware of the legal implications of your business decisions. We examine the legal side of some core issues faced by small businesses.
Employing staff
Employment law is very highly regulated and you have many obligations towards employees.
Some obligations relate to employees’ entitlements to things like the minimum wage; paternity and maternity leave; and to protection under the Working Time Regulations. In addition, you must follow certain processes when dealing with staff, for example when taking disciplinary action or considering complaints made by employees.
It is important to understand your obligations as an employer. Breaching your employees’ rights could result in their bringing costly legal action against you through the Employment Tribunal.
Complying with regulations
Almost all aspects of your business are subject to “red tape”. Some examples include taxes, health and safety, insurance, export controls, disability access, data protection, the environment, and Immigration Law.
Understanding and complying with regulations is very important as you could be given harsh fines or even prevented from operating your business otherwise. Some solicitors will provide a regulatory “health check” service where they do a comprehensive analysis of the regulations applying to your business and advise you on how to ensure you are compliant.
Running your business on a sound legal basis is crucial. Taking advice from corporate lawyers and other legal specialists is strongly advisable.
Dominic received a Law degree from the University College London in 2005. Dominic has previously worked as a legal adviser in the UK and South Africa and currently works for Contact Law, a company which helps match clients with solicitors. If you are looking to start you own business, you may need to seek advice from a Corporate Lawyer for legal clarification on business issues. Visit Contact Law to find out more.