It’s far too easy to get in trouble with the law as a business owner. You may think that you’re running your company in a fair, ethical and legal way but that might not be entirely true. Here are just a few of the ways that you could be getting on the wrong side of the law when running your business. If you are, you need to rectify the situation as quickly as possible before it leads to an expensive lawsuit.

Premises Liability

One of the main problems with the law that business owners often face is premises liability. When you run, operate or own a business you are held under premises liability. This means that if any accident, injury or emotional issue occurs on your property, you can be held accountable. That could be anything from a ladder falling and crushing someone to a loose wire or even a case of emotional distress. Now, it’s important to realize that usually, something like this won’t lead to a criminal investigation. Instead, it will result in a work tribunal. But this can still lead to expensive amounts of damages that must be paid. As such, you need to be prepared.

To do this, it’s best to appoint health and safety officers. They will regularly check and monitor your business standards and ensure there are no hazards that could cause an incident.

You can also think about hiring an HR team. They will regularly monitor your staff and all your employees. As such, they can make sure that they are not becoming to the victim to emotional issues. Don’t forget, it’s not just a legal issue that you need to contend with here. You could also experience low levels of productivity due to a problem like this in the office.

Fair Pay

Are you paying your employees the right legal amount? Undercutting employees on pay is a dangerous game to play, and you must make sure that you are not paying lower than the national minimum wage. Be aware that this does change and it is expected to rise to nine pound in the UK by 2020. As such, if you are paying your employees less than this by then, you will be breaking the law. You will also develop a poor business reputation, and you might even end up on a name and shame list. Several major journalism organizations have started to name and shame employers paying underneath the minimum wage.

Hygiene Standards

Careful about hygiene standards too. You might think it’s the employee’s responsibility to keep their personal hygiene levels high in the office. To a certain extent, this is true, but you have to make sure the facilities are available for them to do this. Otherwise, they can complain that you are not providing a quality place for them to work. Again, this can leave you open to lawsuits, liability claims, and heavy fines.

As you can see then, there are issues with the law for businesses. You must make sure that you are not falling on the wrong side of it.