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.
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates how your business processes personal information about living individuals. All businesses are required to comply with the data protection principles.
Making sure that you understand and comply with data protection regulations helps protect your business against regulatory action.
To comply with the data protection principles set out in the GDPR, you must only process personal information (for example, that of a customer or employee) when you have a fair and lawful reason. You must do this in a transparent manner (ie by keeping the data subject informed of what you are doing with their data, how long you will keep it, and with whom it will be shared, if anyone).
'Processing' covers practically anything that can be done with information - obtaining it, collecting it, sorting it, analysing it, discussing it, destroying it or even just filing it, whether through your business' IT systems, via CCTV or in a manual filing system.
You must limit your processing of personal information: only collecting the information you need, using it for specified purposes and deleting it when you no longer need it for those purposes.
You must also keep information up to date and hold it securely. There are restrictions on transferring personal data overseas, and you must take particular care with sensitive information (for example, details of an individual's ethnic origins or their health records).
Individuals have a range of rights under the GDPR:
Under the Data Protection Act, businesses that processed personal information were required to register with the Information Commissioner (subject to exemptions) and to pay a fee.
There is no longer a requirement to register with the Information Commissioner but a fee remains payable (£40 for very small organisations, £60 for SMEs and £2,900 for large organisations with more than 250 staff and a turnover exceeding £36 million).
Unless your business is exempt, your business must pay a data protection fee to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018 if you process personal data.
Use the online data notification self-assessment tool on the Information Commissioner’s Office website to work out whether your business is exempt.
Register and pay the notification fee online using the online notification form on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.