Category

Legal advice

The small business legal advice section provides in-depth guides and features on tax, company and employment law for UK SMEs and sole traders.

Need to know: Age discrimination laws

Getting to grips with the minefield that is age discrimination is a perennial problem for small sized businesses, but owners ignore these issues at their peril.

Legal advice

Legal advice

Holidays for the self-employed

Holiday entitlement for sole traders and the self-employed can be a tricky business. In the intance of a self-employed decorator who has worked for the same company for nearly two years, Peter Done explains why it's such a complicated issue.

Legal advice

A guide to IP

There are four main types of intellectual property (IP) – patents, trademarks, designs and copyright.

Legal advice

Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act (1998) covers personal data (including audio and video) which identifies living, individual persons. It covers information held about customers and employees on both paper-based records and on a computer.

Legal advice

Cutting staff hours

We have just bought a small shop and Post Office, the shop employs three staff members, which we have inherited. The owners previous to us were not in good health, which is why they had more staff than we actually need and more than the business can sustain. Is there any way we could cut their hours by law, or to even get rid of them altogether? None of them have a written contract and all of them are 60+ in age.

Legal advice

Maternity cover for your business

If you decide to get help to run your business while you're on maternity leave, even part time, it is important to have a short-term maternity cover agreement in place and allow ample time for training and a handover.

Legal advice

Understanding health and safety: the laws explained

This factsheet explains the main steps you must take to ensure your business complies with health and safety regulations.

Legal advice

Top 10 Legal Tips

Running a business will present you with many unexpected legal considerations; smallbusiness.co.uk's Top Ten Legal Tips help to guide you through the potential legislative minefield.

Legal advice

Understanding health and safety: the laws explained

This factsheet explains the main steps you must take to ensure your business complies with health and safety regulations.

Legal advice

Top 10 Legal Tips

Running a business will present you with many unexpected legal considerations; smallbusiness.co.uk's Top Ten Legal Tips help to guide you through the potential legislative minefield.

Legal advice

Business Partnership with friends? You’ll need a shareholders agreement

If you are looking to set up a business in partnership with friends, then it's imperative to get professional advice and draw up a shareholders agreement, says Nigel Lander, specialist finance adviser at Business Link for London.

Legal advice

A guide to writing your terms of business

Terms of business (also known as terms and conditions) are vital, as they establish levels of responsibility for companies and their customers.

Legal advice

Dealing with contracts

Contracts are often perceived as long-winded documents, so it can be all too easy not to pay them enough attention.

Legal advice

Don’t risk losing employment tribunals

Firms that do not have a written set of disciplinary rules and procedures for their employees risk losing employment tribunals, an employment adviser has warned.

Partner content

16 ways to improve your business cash flow

Read here for 16 tried and tested tips and tricks to improve potential cash flow problems

Business management

How to create good cashflow habits

HSBC - Advertising feature

Partner content

What are the benefits of business broadband?

Business broadband offers a host of advantages over standard domestic connections, here’s why you should be considering an upgrade

Partner content

How should I select my business broadband provider?

As with any supplier, it’s important to do your research and ask important questions before you select a broadband provider for your business. But what are the must-have things you should take into consideration?