law

Employment Law: An Introduction for Small Businesses

Employment Law: An Introduction for Small Businesses

September 21, 2015 Law

Whilst employment law may seem like a complex and daunting topic, the issues are actually fairly simple for business looking to employee its first employee. As a business who is new to employment issues, you are only likely to run into a few specific areas in the early stages. This article covers the basics of employment law from the point of view of a beginner. We cover all the areas of law you are likely to encounter including contracts of employment, discrimination issues, sickness and sick pay and how to dismiss employees safely. If you need more information, see our employment law section, which includes in-depth articles on all of the topics we touch on here and much more. What do I need to know about employment contracts? Employment contracts are the agreement between you and the em... »

Small Businesses May Fall Foul of Cookie Laws

June 24, 2011 News

Small firms may fall foul of new EU rules governing the use of cookies on their websites, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has warned. The majority of businesses in the UK use cookies to analyse online consumer behaviour, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the body responsible for enforcing the law. Under the new law, which was introduced on 26th May 2011, it is now illegal for businesses to use cookies without seeking user consent first. Cookies allow websites to remember visitors and store their preferences such as log-in details, browsing history and ordering information, by installing a small piece of code on a user’s computer. The FPB urged businesses to make any necessary changes to their website as soon as possible, or risk facing a fine of up t... »

Flexible Working

Flexible Working Delays?

October 20, 2008 News

The government is apparently considering a delay to the planned expansion to flexible working laws in order to help struggling small businesses. After an independent review on flexible working in November 2007 the government had decided to extend the law on flexible working to be extended to cover parents of children up to the age of 16. However, worsening economic conditions and news that the UK may already be in recession, coupled with slow growth targets may have prompted a rethink on the introduction of the rights to extend these flexible working laws. This reflects the concerns of nearly half of small businesses who believed, in a recent survey, that having more staff work flexibly could be disruptive to their commercial operations. The cost to employers and the increase in red tape a... »