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Practical employment law information to support your business, from Clover HR

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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.

Every business needs to be aware of its obligations under minimum wage and equal pay laws, as well as recent pensions auto-enrolment changes.

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.

You must comply with legal restrictions on employees' working hours and time off, or risk claims, enforcement action and even prosecution.

The right employment policies are an essential part of effective staff management. Make sure any policy is clear and well communicated to employees.

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.

While sick employees need to be treated fairly, you need to ensure that 'sickness' is not being used as cover for unauthorised absence.

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

Most pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave and maternity pay, while new fathers are entitled to paternity leave and paternity pay.

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

As well as undermining morale, illegal discrimination can lead to workplace grievances. Employee discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010.

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

Home, remote and lone workers are becoming increasingly commonplace. Key issues include communication and how to manage and motivate people remotely.

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

The right approach to consulting with and providing information to your employees can improve employee motivation and performance.

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

Disciplinary and grievance issues can be a major burden to employers. Putting in place and following the right procedures is essential.

Following the right dismissal and redundancy procedures helps protect your business and minimise the risk of a legal dispute at tribunal.

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

Employment tribunal claims are a worrying prospect for any employer. A tribunal case is a no-win situation – even if the claim is unjustified.

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.

Also in the news this week - 29 January 2016

29 January 2016

New role for UKTI in push to boost exports

A new approach to boosting British exports is to be delivered through a transformed UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the Government has announced. To meet its target of increasing the value of exports to £1 trillion and achieving 100,000 new exporters by 2020, the UKTI is to focus on priority markets and sectors. Business secretary Sajid Javid said: "By putting a refocused UKTI at the centre of a co-ordinated cross-government approach, relevant departments will share expertise to get UK businesses exporting."

Pay has fallen in UK cities despite jobs growth, says report

Almost a million new jobs were created in UK cities between 2010 and 2014; however, pay for city dwellers dropped by 5% in the same period according to new research by think tank Centre for Cities. It has found that 29 of the 63 UK cities studied qualify as "low-wage, high-welfare" economies. Just 14 British cities are achieving "high-wage, low-welfare" economies, with the top three being London, Reading and Aldershot. Eight of these 14 cities are in the South East.

Convenience driving mobile commerce

Consumers are increasingly comfortable using mobile devices to shop, with nearly three quarters (69%) now browsing or buying on their devices - an increase of 10% since 2013 according to BuzzCity. One in five (19%) expect more than 50% of their overall spend to be via a mobile device. Dr KF Lai, ceo of BuzzCity, said: "Key to continuing the appetite for mobile commerce is the user experience. Brands need to perfect fast and secure payment platforms and personalised customer relationship management in order to benefit from the increasing number of shoppers who use the mobile channel."

Have we reached peak iPhone?

With Ikea's Steve Howard suggesting that we have reached "peak stuff", now Apple has warned that sales of its iPhone are likely to fall this year. Apple has reported the slowest growth in iPhone sales since the product's 2007 launch and warned sales will fall for the first time later this year.

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