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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.
Sickness can be a tricky issue to manage. While sick employees need to be treated fairly, you want to ensure that 'sickness' is not being used as cover for unauthorised absence. Taking disciplinary action against sick employees presents particular legal risks. You also need to ensure that you respect employees’ entitlement to statutory sick pay (SSP) or other contractual sick pay.
Well-considered sickness policies can help reduce absence, by discouraging employees from taking 'sick' days as a form of extra holiday. For example, you might require employees to phone in sick (rather than taking the easier approach of sending an email or text). You might also ask to speak to them on their return and require completion of a self-certification sick note explaining the reason for their absence.
Monitoring patterns of sickness absence can help you detect problems. For example, high levels of sick leave on a Friday or Monday might raise suspicions.
Reviewing the reasons for sickness can also be important, for example, complaints of back ache may reveal genuine problems with workstations or work practices you should address as part of your health and safety responsibilities.
Unless you have clear proof, taking disciplinary action against an employee you suspect of abusing sick leave requires care.
Repeated absence can be grounds for disciplinary action or even dismissal where an employee’s frequent sick leave affects their ability to do their job. However, you could face a claim of unfair discrimination if an employee’s long-term illness amounts to a disability. Do not take action against an employee whose illness is pregnancy-related.
Almost all employees are entitled to SSP if they are unable to work for more than a few days in a row because of illness. Employees on very low earnings do not qualify.
SSP is payable at a flat rate for up to 28 weeks in any period of sickness. You may be able to reclaim part or all of their SSP payments from HM Revenue & Customs, depending on the amount of SSP paid. SSP establishes a minimum level of sick pay, but your employees’ employment contracts can offer a more generous level of contractual sick pay.
Where an employee has been, or expects to be, off work for four weeks or more, you can refer them to the Government's Fit for Work scheme. It can help your employee return to work by providing them with impartial, free health advice.