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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.
Dismissing employees or making them redundant can be difficult at the best of times. But it gets worse if you are taken to an employment tribunal to face a claim of unfair or wrongful dismissal. Following the right procedures helps protect your business and minimise the risk of a legal dispute.
Employees with two years' continuous service who are sacked without a fair reason and reasonable treatment can claim unfair dismissal. Fair grounds for dismissal include the conduct of the employee, their ability or qualifications, and redundancy. You must follow a fair and reasonable dismissal procedure. Employees adopting employee-shareholder status do not benefit from "ordinary" unfair dismissal protection.
A dismissal is automatically unfair if it is for one of a number of prescribed reasons, including whistleblowing (also known as protected disclosure), health and safety activities or illegal discrimination. This applies to all workers, no matter how short their period of employment.
An employee who has been unfairly dismissed can ask the employment tribunal to order re-employment or award compensation for unfair dismissal. The basic award is £14,670 (depending on age and length of service) and compensation for financial loss is capped up to a maximum of either £80,541 or one year's gross pay and the fees which must be paid when an employment tribunal case is presented - whichever is the lower. Compensation can be unlimited if the employee has suffered from illegal discrimination.
You should always seek professional advice before dismissing any employee with sufficient service to make an unfair dismissal claim a possibility.
If an employee's contract of employment does not specify a notice period, they are entitled to a reasonable period of notice if you dismiss them. In any case, the employee is entitled to at least the statutory minimum notice period of one week after one month's employment. After this, entitlement increases at the rate of one extra week per year, to a maximum of 12 weeks after 12 years' employment.
If you dismiss an employee without the right notice, this is wrongful dismissal. The employee is usually entitled to compensation equal to their normal remuneration (both salary and benefits) during the notice period. There are exceptions, for example if the employee is dismissed for gross misconduct that justified immediate dismissal.
If an employer breaches the contract in a way that goes to the root of the contract, the employee may resign immediately and claim constructive dismissal. For example, an employee can claim constructive dismissal if you reduce their pay without agreement, or tell the employee to resign.
Employees who are made redundant are not entitled to claim redundancy pay until they have over two years' service. Tax is not payable in respect of statutory redundancy pay.
Avoid claims that a redundancy is unfair dismissal by ensuring that it is genuine. In general terms this means that the job must have disappeared. Also, the employer must select employees for redundancy on a fair and objective basis, after reasonable consultation and with adequate notice and a fair appeals procedure.