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Setting up a business involves complying with a range of legal requirements. Find out which ones apply to you and your new enterprise.

What particular regulations do specific types of business (such as a hotel, or a printer, or a taxi firm) need to follow? We explain some of the key legal issues to consider for 200 types of business.

While poor governance can bring serious legal consequences, the law can also protect business owners and managers and help to prevent conflict.

Whether you want to raise finance, join forces with someone else, buy or sell a business, it pays to be aware of the legal implications.

From pay, hours and time off to discipline, grievance and hiring and firing employees, find out about your legal responsibilities as an employer.

Marketing matters. Marketing drives sales for businesses of all sizes by ensuring that customers think of their brand when they want to buy.

Commercial disputes can prove time-consuming, stressful and expensive, but having robust legal agreements can help to prevent them from occurring.

Whether your business owns or rents premises, your legal liabilities can be substantial. Commercial property law is complex, but you can avoid common pitfalls.

With information and sound advice, living up to your legal responsibilities to safeguard your employees, customers and visitors need not be difficult or costly.

As information technology continues to evolve, legislation must also change. It affects everything from data protection and online selling to internet policies for employees.

Intellectual property (IP) isn't solely relevant to larger businesses or those involved in developing innovative new products: all products have IP.

Knowing how and when you plan to sell or relinquish control of your business can help you to make better decisions and achieve the best possible outcome.

From bereavement, wills, inheritance, separation and divorce to selling a house, personal injury and traffic offences, learn more about your personal legal rights.

Seven in ten workers unaware of new flexible working law

2 April 2024

Research by Acas has found that most employees don't know about new laws that will make it easier to request flexible working.

From 6 April 2024, new laws will give UK employees the right to ask their employers if they can work flexibly from the first day of their employment (previously only allowed after 26 weeks of continuous employment). Additionally, employees can make two flexible working requests every 12 months (up from once a year).

However, research conducted by YouGov for Acas has found that 70% of employees and 43% of employers are unaware of the law change.

Flexible working is a broad term that covers when, where and how someone works. It includes part-time working, home working, hybrid working, flexitime, job sharing, compressed hours, annualised hours, term-time working and team-based rostering.

Acas has produced a revised code of practice on requests for flexible working to support employers and employees through this change and other reforms, which will be introduced on 6 April 2024 when the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 comes into force.

"Our new findings reveal that most employees and more than two in five employers are unaware of the new upcoming law changes to flexible working. Flexible working can bring many benefits in workplaces and the starting position should be to consider what may be possible. Acas has prepared a new statutory Code of Practice that will come into effect on 6 April, which addresses the changes and sets out good practice on flexible working requests." Susan Clews, chief executive, Acas.

The Acas code of practice on requests for flexible working includes information on:

  • Who should be allowed to accompany an employee at meetings to discuss a flexible working request;
  • The need for transparency about reasons for rejecting a request, making it clear that employers should proactively offer an appeal where a request has been rejected.

Demand for flexible working is high

A new study by Currys has found that four in ten Brits (43%) say that they won't even apply for a job role that's not flexible. Nearly half (49%) of desk workers say their desire for a flexible role has increased since the pandemic. However, according to Timewise Flexible Jobs Index, only 31% of job advertisements included a mention of part-time or flexible working options in 2023.

The Currys study has identified the employment sectors where remote working is most common:

  • IT, where 29% of jobs are remote;
  • Financial services (21%);
  • Sales (16%);
  • Marketing and media (10%);
  • Engineering (9%);
  • Legal (6%);
  • Administration (4).

Written by Rachel Miller.

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