No business wants to think about themselves getting into legal issues, but it can be difficult to avoid all complications the longer you’re up and running. By understanding some of the most common legal issues you could end up facing, you’ll be able to prepare in advance and tackle problems more efficiently – or avoid them altogether. Make sure you work closely with an employment law solicitor to get everything right the first time around.
Discrimination
Discrimination in the workplace can take many forms and can be subtle or more obvious. For example, lots of women end up being paid less than the men who do the same jobs as them. While businesses might not have set out to do this, sometimes heads of departments can display sexism and favouritism that goes unnoticed. For legal issues like this, it’s best to hire equal pay lawyers to help you resolve conflicts. However, discrimination can also involve poor treatment of employees of other races or those with disabilities.
Ensure your HR department is well-equipped to deal with this type of behavior at work to avoid escalation. For additional legal issues, you can follow some steps to legally protect your business.
Health and Safety
While you might be trying to do everything you can to keep your employees safe at work, accidents do happen. If an employee is seriously injured by something you could have prevented, you could end up having to pay a significant amount of money. Make sure you’re always taking health and safety into consideration and fill out a risk assessment for just about every activity your employees undertake. It’s important not to forget that even office workers can be at risk of injury, particularly if you fail to provide them with the right equipment to do their job. Back problems and repetitive strain injuries are also health and safety legal issues, so put in some time and make sure everyone has a desk assessment in the office.
Data Protection
How safe is the data of your customers, clients, and staff? A data breach where employee or customer data is stolen could have detrimental consequences for your business. Not only will the people impacted potentially lose money or have their identities stolen, but they will no longer trust your company to keep their details safe. Alienating a large part of your customer base like this can cause a loss in sales, but if their data was lost or misused due to negligence, you may also have to answer to the court.
Unfair Dismissals
If you’re thinking about making an employee redundant, you have to be very careful that you follow regulations to the letter. There are lots of conditions you have to meet where redundancies are concerned and dismissing someone unfairly can result in them taking you to court. Be careful that employees aren’t being dismissed in a discriminatory way either, for example, someone who is pregnant shouldn’t be dismissed because of this. Consulting an employment lawyer every step of the way can help you to avoid mistakes and keep your company safe.
