Running a business requires loads of hard work and commitment. As such, it’s important that all of your hard work doesn’t come undone easily. One quick way for a business to crumble is by getting into legal trouble. So, this article will show you some key laws and how you can protect your business from them.
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Business Laws
First thing’s first, avoid breaking simple business laws by registering your company. You have a few options available when doing this, you can register as a sole proprietor, a corporation, or an LLC. The option you choose will have a bearing on liability issues and tax payments. So, it’s crucial that you make this decision wisely. As an example, if you register as a corporation, then you have to pay two types of tax; corporation tax and personal income tax. However, as a sole proprietor, your business income is classed as personal income, meaning you only pay one form of tax. So, if you register as a corporation and forget to pay both taxes, then you’ll end up in trouble. Plus, as a sole proprietor, you’re wholly responsible for any issues that occur within your business. But, with other options, you aren’t personally liable.
Health & Safety Laws
By law, every business must provide a safe environment for its employees and customers. If there are any issues within your business that could provide potential problems, then they need to be taken care of either by removing the problems or warning people about them. Your business needs to put together a health & safety program to inform your employees about the workplace. It should include all the information they need to ensure they’re safe at work. Writing one of these programs can take some time, but it needs to be done. You should look at all the equipment in your office and the things you use and ensure everyone knows about the risks associated with them. Think about conducting an MSDS online search to find safety data sheets that tell you about certain things in your business such as chemicals, equipment, etc. These sheets can form part of your program. All things considered, just make sure you have a proper health & safety program or your business will be in serious legal trouble.
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Employment Laws
There are so many different employment laws that your business needs to follow or else you’ll run into lots of legal trouble. Primarily, paying people the minimum wage is the biggest employment law to adhere too. Then, there are all sorts of laws regarding mistreatment of employees, violation of rights, sexual harassment, racism, etc. If your business breaches any of these, you’ll be in all sorts of legal trouble.
Why should you care about legal problems? It’s simple, they can come and bite your business on the backside, tarnishing your reputation and harming your financial situation. Consequently, you need to protect your company from any of these issues. Ensure you follow all the laws correctly and don’t breach anything. As long as you’re doing things by the book, you can’t be blamed for any problems, and you’ll stay well clear of legal predicaments.
