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.
A long lease can be an attractive choice for a business property tenant, providing a degree of certainty and stability. But the rent review provisions of a typical lease can present a major headache if you suddenly find yourself faced with a substantial rent increase.
A detailed understanding of the rental review terms in your lease and the local commercial property market can put you in a strong position to negotiate a more favourable lease rent.
Typically, a long lease will provide for the rent to be reviewed every three to five years. The lease will also set out the procedures to be followed. Often, the landlord must give notice of the new rent by a set date; as tenant, unless you respond by a given deadline you have accepted it.
The lease will specify the basis for the new rent. In some cases, the new level of rent may be set (for example, at £10,000 per year) or based on an index (such as the retail price index). But more commonly, the new rent is based on the open market rental value - the rent charged for similar properties on similar leases. The lease may also include terms such as an 'upwards only' rent review, allowing the rent to increase but not fall.
Keeping an eye on local rental levels gives you a guide to open market values. The landlord will typically base the proposed rent increase on rents being asked for the most appealing similar properties to yours, but there is usually scope for negotiation.
Headline rents being asked for other properties may overstate local rental levels: for example, new tenants may be offered incentives to attract them and may actually pay lower rents than those advertised. Detailed comparisons of the size, location and condition of different properties may justify a lower open market rent for your premises. Differences in lease terms such as restrictions on use and the length of unexpired lease can also be factors.
A local chartered surveyor may be able to help you, providing evidence to support a lower rental level and handling the rent review negotiations. The reduction in rent increase can substantially outweigh the costs and some surveyors may offer success-related fees.
Negotiation is usually the best way to handle a rent review, but if the landlord is being unreasonable you may not be able to reach agreement. The lease typically sets out how disputes can be handled: generally by arbitration or using an independent expert. Alternatively, if you both agree, you may be able to resolve the dispute using non-binding mediation.
Disputes can be drawn out and expensive. If you are disputing a rent review, you must still continue to abide by the terms of the lease, including paying rent at the existing level.