With the UK economy and housing market teetering and consumer confidence plunging, many UK businesses are facing tough times ahead Business owners will have to ride out the coming storm, and ensuring that their companies have no legal or operational vulnerabilities will be a crucial part of this

There’s no denying it – buying a business creates a real buzz of excitement The key is to make sure this keenness doesn’t cloud your judgement and leave you with a business you don’t want, or don’t know the full history of

Every employer, at some point or another, will have to fire one of their employees It isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t fun, but whether it is because of economic cutbacks or a poorly performing employee, sooner or later it is going to happen

Each year, October is usually the month when a wide variety of changes to employment, company and trading law are rolled out Many of these of are small changes, and many more will not be applicable to your particular business, but be careful – getting caught out by the changes could lead to a serious legal headache

Contracts of employment come in all shapes and sizes, but if you’re in full time employment and not a freelancer there are certain guarantees you should be entitled to If your contract doesn’t contain these things, your employer is breaking the lawy – and if you’re the employer, well – you could be leaving yourself open to costly legal battles should your employees feel litigious

So you’ve had enough of your start-up business, and want to sell it while the going’s good and move on to better things (or simply retire on the profit you make)

It sounds like an obvious cliché to say it, but like many clichés there’s truth in it: happy employees are more productive And yet it’s amazing how often you hear of companies suffering from massive turnover, instability and a failure to live up to their full potential by ignoring this

Employment contracts are some of the most important UK business documents you will ever sign in your working life, and yet they are written in a deliberately convoluted and confusing manner, which often makes it difficult to get the clear points of what you’re signing up for Take your time, and read and re-read every contract, but pay special attention to the clauses, to ensure you understand them

In today’s business world, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements are becoming increasingly important for businesses looking to protect themselves from damaging leaks Most employee contracts will contain some kind of confidentiality agreement as standard, but these kinds of agreements are very important if you share information with another company for any reason, or if you hire outside contractors to work for your business

If you are the owner of a Small to Medium Enterprise, it’s likely that the last thing you want to do is worry about the fine details of legal documents, contracts, business agreements, and similar pieces of paperwork You may want to get on with the running of your business, but if you don’t have the correct legal documents in certain situations you pay a high price, whether it is in legal fees, settlement costs or simply lost business

If you’ve been self-employed for a while, you may wonder what the next step on the path to becoming the next Coca Cola or Nike is Although that stage is a long way off (and will remain so for most businesses), the next step to becoming a respectable household name is to form a limited company

Last week, Harriet Harman announced new equality laws to tackle widespread discrimination Under these new plans, age discrimination would be removed from all aspects of society, and further changes would be made to prevent workplaces from discriminating against minorities

Getting that initial contract of employment template ready can be a real hassle, and it’s tempting to get a professional to draft it up, but even at that stage, it’s important to know what you’re promising your employee, and to make sure that there are no loopholes that can be exploited by less scrupulous employees

Flexible working is becoming popular in the 21st century workplace, as an increasing number of people seek to combine an active family life with full-time employment Employers have become more aware of the benefits that flexible working can bring to their business: these can include greater staff retention and better morale along with increased efficiency and productivity

Nobody imagines their office will suffer from a fire… and to be honest, the level of preparation often reflects this Previously in the UK, fire certificates were handed out by the fire services, but as of 2006, businesses are required to carry out their own fire risk assessment

Poor staff performance and ‘problem workers’ are some of the trickiest things to be dealt with in the office It’s difficult to balance morale and productivity in the optimum way for office success, and as a result I often hear of managers turning a blind eye to poor staff performance, fearing that drawing attention to it will cause problems in the atmosphere and work environment

It makes for depressing reading for the government, that Britain is losing £100 billion per year on sick days, but small business owners should be even more concerned if they see a ‘sick leave culture’ forming in their own office While the government can deal with such losses better, small businesses could see their own profits slipping down the plughole, and a good sickness and absence policy could make all the difference between a thriving company and one that ends up going under

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 comes into force on 6 April 2008, and all businesses must therefore take a look at their existing health and safety regulations, if they don’t want to face an unlimited fine plus potential humiliation by ‘name and shame’ The new offense of corporate manslaughter is committed where an organization commits a ‘gross breach’ of a ‘relevant duty of care’, leading to a person’s death

Since the Sex Discrimination Act came into force in 1976, the gap between the pay of men and women has narrowed marginally But the rate of progress toward equal opportunities in the workplace which happened in the 70s and 80s has slowed in recent years and, at the current rate, equal pay will take another 50 years

Celebrity bankruptcy has become so common that many now hire financial advisors to keep an eye on their bank accounts and stop them from overindulging on wild extravagances and unworkable business ventures Nobody, no matter how famous or rich, is immune to the perils of debt