Top Employment Law Tips For Start-Ups

As a business owner, starting up a business for the first time can be a quite challenging job. Apart from the start-up costs, hiring new employees can be a discouraging job for any employer. For instance, employment law can be a confusing and lengthy topic to consider in business start-ups and, in turn, making a single mistake can be financially draining. Here are the top employment law tips that every business owner needs to know for start-ups.

Classification of Employees

Employee classification is essential to avoid potential lawsuits and other government penalties. Determine the difference between employees and independent contractors.

While many companies prefer getting independent contractors to reduce costs, there are still employers who mistakenly classify employees as contractors to escape paying employment benefits granted by law. However, doing so will only put themselves at risk for possible expensive litigation.

You should remember that classification of employment is difficult. In most cases, the law holds that the power of control as the most decisive factor to determine whether a worker is an employee or a contractor. If the employer controls not only the worker but the manner and method by which the job is performed, the worker is more likely an employee.

Keep in mind, the penalties for misclassifying a worker can be enormous. That’s why it is ideal if you approach an employment lawyer before actual process of classifying your workers.

Confidentiality or Non-Disclosure Agreements

It’s crucial for a business start-up to require employees to acknowledge and sign confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements. The rationale is that protecting confidential information is vital in every business.

However, many employers don’t see the paramount importance of having these kinds of agreements.  Information such as work processes, formulas, and even customer lists can be considered as confidential information that need to be kept secretly.

Remember that confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements can also help protect information such as trade secrets. That’s why if you want your start-up business to grow, know the type of information you should only share with your employees.

Workplace Policies and Procedures

Creation of workplace policies and procedures serves an essential purpose. Aside from promoting company culture, the making of these rules and regulations helps avoid employment-related disputes in the future. Also, for business start-ups to prosper, an employee handbook indicating the company policies and procedures should be prioritized to ensure that they are compliant with the law.

This is important especially if when it comes to things like safety and risk management. Having a lawyer help you set up protocol for situations such as accidents can greatly aid your company in the long run. Click here for more information.

Employment Contracts

It’s worth keeping in mind that employment contracts can impact your chances of getting involved in a possible employment dispute.

Drafting an employment contract can help you specify the terms of conditions your employees are bound to comply. It can also be an efficient way to regulate their behavior in the workplace.

However, business owners setting up a business for the first time may consider hiring an attorney to create some employment documents including contracts. Remember that even a single rephrasing in the employment contract can bring legal complications, which is why getting the assistance of an attorney to prepare these documents can go a long in protecting your business in the long run.

Proper training for managers and supervisors

In almost all cases, mistakes made by managers and supervisors bring companies employment-related headaches. Proper training for them may mean the ability of your managers and supervisors to deal with the employees properly. To avoid the possibility of facing employment litigation, you should be able to train your management staff the following procedures:

1. a) Discipline and evaluate employees properly and don’t tolerate inappropriate behavior.
2. b) Interview applicants properly.
3. c) Treat employees nicely.
4. d) Be familiar with commonly-used employment laws involving wages and work hours.
5. e) Ensure that screening of applicants is done appropriately.

When your managers and supervisors are well-trained, you’ll be able to minimize the hazards of future employment litigations.

Termination Process

Employment litigations usually arise because of wrongful termination of an employee.

Terminating an employee should always be done with extreme precaution as it can trigger your employees to go to court and file a wrongful termination lawsuit against your company.

Wrongful termination cases can be quite daunting because the consequences can be financially exhausting in the long run. In terminating a worker, you should consider your circumstances and decisions carefully as these can expose you to paying exorbitant fees and penalties.

Plan Properly for Your New Business

Ideally, setting up a new business can be a bit complicated when it’s not planned properly. By considering a few of many employment law tips mentioned in this article, you’ll be able to start up your business successfully. For start-up businesses, keep in mind that it’s wise to consider hiring a licensed lawyer who has valuable experience in employment law.

Timothy Garret

Timothy is a budding law writer who enjoys all aspect of the law industry. He’s currently studying to become a lawyer and is applying his law knowledge into what he writes about. He spends time with his friends and swimming in his spare time.