As a business owner, you could easily be affected by any number of legal issues. These issues are going to affect your position in the marketplace as well as how much of a profit you will be able to make. You will be forced to invest a lot of time and money into dealing with them. If you lose, you could be looking at an end settlement that they may very well put you out of business for good. That’s why you need to be prepared. You need to think about these problems and how to deal with them or prevent them before they arise. We think there are three that you should be watching out for.
Injuries In The Office
If someone is injured on your business premises, they can hold you as the business owner, directly responsible. If they win, depending on the severity of the injury it could cost you thousands. To prevent this, we suggest that you talk to a legal representative about premises liability and how to protect yourself from it. This is usually a matter of ensuring that health and safety levels within the workplace are the highest they can be.
You can ensure this is the case by training your employees in health and safety. They should know that fixing a hazard is always their top concern. It should always be dealt with before they continue with their work. As well as this, there should be a hierarchy system set up to deal with health and safety situations. For instance, you should hire at least one or two health and safety officers to routinely check the workplace. If there is an incident, employees should know to contact them. If any injury occurs, they will alert managers who may then inform you of the issue.
When an injury does occur, it’s important to get an accurate account of what has happened. You will need it to defend your case but generally speaking, you do not want this lawsuit to go to court. You should settle it with a fair amount of compensation provided.
Broken Contracts
Any business owner will know that a partner not upholding the terms of a contract can be detrimental to their business. It could be that they are unwilling to provide the materials you need at the price you agreed on. If that’s the case, you will need to hire a lawyer and take the case to court. Commercial litigation attorneys will do their best to find who is at fault and find a solution that benefits both parties.
To help them do this, it is important that you have an accurate paper trail that accounts the business proceedings. You will need the contract they signed as well as any other records of meetings on the issue. Your best chance of success in this instance is providing an accurate account.
Harassment Cases
Last but certainly not least is the common and problematic harassment lawsuit. If an employee is claiming to have been harassed, it will go to court, and it’s a difficult case to argue against. Your best form of attack here is a preemptive strike. Adopt a zero tolerance policy of harassment and bullying in the workplace and make this known. That way, you should never encounter any issues.
