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

Search

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.

Government accused of imposing "stealth tax" on sole traders

2 November 2021

A new tax measure included in the small print of last week's Budget could cost self-employed workers more than £1.7 billion, according to the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

The government has announced plans to reform the "basis period" rules which determine how trading income for unincorporated businesses (such as self-employed sole traders and partnerships) is allocated to tax years.

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) says this measure will raise an extra £1.715bn for the Exchequer and warns that more than 500,000 self-employed workers could be affected.

The CIOT explains that "the proposal is to change the allocation so that it will be based on the profits or losses arising in the actual tax year, rather than (as now) in accordance with the accounting period ending in the tax year. The new 'tax year basis' will apply from the tax year 2024-25, in anticipation of the start of Making Tax Digital for income tax self-assessment in April 2024, with a transition to the new regime in the tax year 2023/24. The measure will only affect businesses which draw up annual accounts to a date other than 31 March or 5 April."

Labour's shadow Treasury minister Pat McFadden told MPs in the House of Commons: "As well as all the tax rises on income and business the chancellor has announced in the past six months, buried in the Budget red book is a plan for a stealth tax on the self-employed of £1.7bn over the next five years … why are the self-employed being hit with this extra tax rise which the chancellor didn't even mention in his Budget last week?"

Chancellor Rishi Sunak responded by saying that "there were no extra taxes for the self-employed in last week's Budget" and declaring that the increase was simply a result of "a timing difference".

Pete Miller, chair of the CIOT's Owner Managed Business Committee, said: "This change will mean that affected businesses will pay tax on profits for more than a 12-month period in the tax year 2023 to 2024 as they transition into the new 'tax year basis'.

"Businesses that don't already have an accounting period end of either 31 March or 5 April will need to weigh up the costs and benefits of keeping their existing accounting date … The impact assessment published today recognises that there will be one-off costs for businesses including familiarisation with the rules, updating software, and deciding whether to change their accounting date to 31 March or 5 April. However, the estimated cost of this is considered to be negligible, which we think is unrealistic."

Written by Rachel Miller.

Stay up-to-date with business advice and news

Sign up to this lively and colourful newsletter for new and more established small businesses.