A Jargon Busting Guide to the Law and Your Business September 1, 2014My BusinessOff

In the midst of starting your own business, you did not realize that you would be bound to so many laws and rules. Of course, you are an entrepreneur, not a lawyer. So, when you are faced with a plethora of business laws, it can be tough to know where to start. What you need is a jargon busting, no-nonsense guide.

Many people feel that they are burdened with excessive laws and regulations. Sadly, whatever your feelings on the matter, they do need to be adhered to. The changes in the law can be disheartening for those who are attempting to run a small venture. But, it is important that you comply.

The Law and Your Business
Contract law, health and safety and employment laws are the three main areas of law that your business should focus on. This is because there are the main three that affect people within the company and your clients. Protecting yourself, your clients and employees are imperative to your success…

Let’s take a look at the three main areas in more detail.

Contract Law
Contract law principally involves your relationship and legal obligations to your clients. Contract law covers the contracts that you take out with your customers. This is to ensure that both parties do not break any terms that are involved within the contract. This can include costs, the term length and payment schedules. This is a difficult area. Some more research, beyond the scope of this article, will be required. Take a look at contract law books from Lexis Nexis. This will ensure that you have an active working relationship with anyone within your company.

Healthy and Safety Laws
In order to keep employees safe within your business, you will need to comply with the health and safety laws. These are industry specific, so you will need to ensure that you are complying in the right areas. Risk assessments are part and parcel of working life. You need to make sure that you have restricted areas if you have own factory. Within the office, it may mean that you implement screen protection for computer work. You may also have to ensure that you have ergonomic equipment. PAT testing of electrical equipment is critical. Health and safety widely differs between industries. So, you will need to make sure that you are compliant.

Employment Law
There are some things that you are legally obliged to do. This is to provide an employee with the basic work contract and the right to work without harassment. You cannot unfairly dismiss someone, and you cannot fire someone because you don’t like them. There are plethoras of employment laws that you need to become au fait with. Contracts are the biggest area of employment law. You need to ensure that as a basic minimum you are issuing all employees with a contract. You will also have to adopt an equal opportunities basis within your establishment.

Laws are not a hindrance to companies; they protect all involved. This includes you as a business owner. Comply, and you will have a successful venture.

Photo by Jakub Zak | Shutterstock

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