As the proprietor of a small business, you’re most likely going to find yourself with innumerable responsibilities. You may be lucky enough to have employees under your tutelage or with a large portfolio of business contacts via which your business distributes and receives goods. You may be in the process of releasing cutting-edge services or goods that are under a new patent. In any case, you’ve seen your company grow through sweat, hard work and a drive to succeed. You’re proud of what you’ve done, and as such your knowledge of business must include the regulations and rules that apply to running them.
It’s important to understand that small businesses often run into many of the same guidelines as corporate enterprises. If you’re in charge of the release of a unique product, for instance, your company should be aware of intellectual privacy laws that protect your endeavor from theft by the competitive enterprise. Further, those aforementioned employees have rights under employment and labor laws, and as such it’s vital your company understands how best to follow these regulations.
The truth of the situation is that, for the functioning of both your business and the economy as a whole, legislation has been passed to ensure everyone – either employee or owner – operates fairly under the law with the help of legal assistants. Business laws – like most others – can be quite entangled and complicated; this is where help from firms such as that of Arthur Duke Law Firm play a very important role. Here at Wswinteracive, we will break down a few of the things you should know if you’re going to successfully adapt your company to small business law.
Businesses Have Legal Status
This one does not really apply if you’re already in business but is quite helpful if you’re on your way to starting one. Depending on what your enterprise is planning to do, most likely you’ll need to inform your local government you’re planning to commence activity. There may be a license involved, and your enterprise may need to take place on specialized properties zoned for the purposes inherent in your business type.
Employment Laws
This legislation controls how much you need to pay employees, how often/much they can work and how you’ll have to keep track of who’s on your roster. Despite media calling attention to minimum wages and hours as the primary facet of employment law businesses should be interested in, the fact of the matter is this aspect of business law remains one of the most complicated features of operating a business, and it’s, therefore, critical you understand its primary functions. A couple of the things you should know prior to hiring anyone:
1. Many times, you cannot simply hire and fire someone at will – in the United States, for instance, most states operate under “at-will’ working, where dismissal can happen via the employer’s express consent –except in illegal circumstances. It’s important to review why and how someone can be dismissed before terminating a contract.
2. Family, medical leave and worker’s compensation – your business will be required to have insurance to cover you and your employees in case of the accident on the job. Further, an employee’s acquired or pre-existing conditions may entitle him or her to paid leave or remuneration under current legislation.
Tax Laws
Whereas we all know we have to – and should want to – pay our taxes, we often question what the correct amount of tax should be. Typically, the government institutions in your State are complex and don’t seamlessly overlap with local legislation – which is often separate. As a proprietor, it’s vital you review your liability under both to ensure you save the correct amount to remit every year; otherwise, the business may be penalized with interest-accruing charges.
Along with the big three above, there are a number of growing branches of small-business law that are becoming increasingly applicable to small business, such as privacy law, data protection, intellectual property, and general finance law (in cases, for instance, wherein your business needs to be dissolved). Despite the drudgery of reviewing dry legislation, you’re going to need to have a working knowledge of these characteristics of owning a business. To not know where the chinks in your business’s armor are, you’re putting your hard work – and your employees’ livelihoods – at unnecessary risk.