The last thing you need when you’re starting a business is legal trouble. And that’s why you shouldn’t underestimate the task of making sure you’re compliant with the law! Unfortunately, a lot of new business owners make these sorts of mistakes. We’re going to go through some of the most common.
Incorrect legal form
Before you operate as a business, you need to decide what kind of legal form you will be operating as. This is also known as deciding your legal entity type, or your business legal structure. It’s absolutely vital that you get this correct. This isn’t always a safeguard that prevents you from filing your company incorrectly. If you’ve filed as a partnership when you, in fact, operate as a corporation, for example? Then you could find yourself in big legal trouble. Make sure you pick the legal form that works best for your business and keeps you on the right side of the law!
Dealing with diversity incorrectly
Okay, so you probably know that discriminating against job candidates is against the law. Unfortunately, what a lot of modern employers are doing is trading one form of discrimination for another. In an attempt to increase diversity, many employers are reducing the amount of white males they’re hiring. The end, of course, is a more diverse workplace. A good thing in theory, right? But hold on – what you just did was discrimination! You should be hiring people based on merit alone.
Not treating safety as a priority
You may be under the impression that there are a million other things to be more concerned about than employee safety. Wrong: employee health and safety is your top priority. After all, employees are basically compelled to work for you by their need to pay their bills. They have to spend hours in the building you’ve arranged to do business in. And if that workplace puts them at risk, then you’ve messed up pretty bad! Law firms such as Strom and Associates take special aim at those who violate employment law. So make sure your workplace is safe.
Misclassifying workers
How do you misclassify a worker? Well, put broadly, there are two types of workers. There are employees. They work for you either part-time or full-time. They’re on your payroll and must be paid minimum wage. They have more laws protecting them. The other kind are contractors or freelancers. They don’t have to be paid minimum wage and don’t have as much legal protection. Some business owners may classify an employee as a contractor. Sometimes, this is a simple mistake. Other times, however, employers have done this in order to get away with paying someone less.
Neglecting data protection
Data is a pretty big thing in business these days. The average modern company has an absurd amount of data on both employees and customers. Of course, you need to make sure that data is protected. If your security negligence results in a data breach that releases private information to others? Then you could be in a world of legal hurt! Ensure that your business is properly secured from such threats.
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