Business legislation regulates businesses and protects various stakeholders. It aims to ensure fairness, protect people from harm, and provide a level playing field for competition. Key areas of legislation include employment, consumers, the environment, competition, and health and safety. Employment legislation regulates pay and working conditions to prevent discrimination. Consumer legislation protects consumers' rights regarding product quality, descriptions, returns, and distance selling. Environmental rules regulate emissions, waste disposal, and hazardous substances. Competition law prohibits anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant market positions. Health and safety legislation requires businesses to provide a safe working environment.

1. Business
Legislation

2. Law and the business environment
• A set of rules and regulations with
which a business has to comply
• A constraint on action or a threat
• An opportunity!
Always consider the business
effects and consequences

3. Main roles of business legislation
• Regulate the rights and duties of people carrying out
business in order to ensure fairness
• Protect people dealing with business from harm
caused by defective services
• Ensure the treatment of employees is fair and un-
discriminatory
• Protect investors, creditors and consumers
• Regulate dealings between business and its suppliers
• Ensure a level playing field for competing business

4. Key areas to consider
Employment Consumers Environment
Competition Health & Safety

5. Employment
Two main areas of focus
Individual Industrial
Employment Relations

6. Pay - equality
The basic rule:
Men and women are
entitled to equal pay
for work of equal value

7. Pay – equality (2)
• “Pay” includes everything in the
employment contract - bonuses and
pension contributions, as well as basic
wages or salary
• Workers have the right to ask their
employer for information to check equality
– using the equal pay questionnaire
• If they believe their pay is unequal, they
can take the employer to an Employment
Tribunal

8. Pay – National Minimum Wage
• Employers required by law to ensure
they pay their workers at least the
national minimum wage (NMW)
• Makes no difference when a worker
is paid (monthly, weekly, daily,
hourly). The NMW still applies

9. Pay – NMW Rates (2008/9)
Current National Minimum Wage Rates
Year from Workers aged Workers aged Workers aged
22+ per hour 18-21 per hour 16-17 per hour
(main rate) (development
rate)
1 October £5.80 £4.83 £3.57
2009

10. Discrimination
Sex, including pregnancy and maternity
Marital / civil partnership status
It is illegal for A person's disability
an employer to Race
Age
discriminate Sexual orientation
against an Religion/belief
Trade union membership or non-
employee on membership
the basis of… Status as a fixed-term or part-time
worker

11. Where discrimination laws apply
• Discrimination laws apply in many areas of
employing staff - i.e.
• Recruitment
• Employee contract - terms and conditions
• Promotions and transfers
• Providing training
• Deciding what fringe benefits employees
receive
• Employee dismissal

12. What is an employment right?
Something to which an
employee is entitled
which is protected by
law

13. Examples of employment rights in UK
• Laws provide a variety of “rights” for
employees, including:
• Reasonable notice before dismissal
• Right to redundancy
• Right to a written employment contract
• Right to request flexible working
• Right to be paid national minimum wage
• Right to take time off for parenting

14. Industrial Relations
• Protection from unfair dismissal
• Employers must recognise union is
>50% of staff are members
• Regulation of procedures for industrial
action (e.g. ballots)
• Role / powers of Employment Tribunals
• EU – Works Councils requirements

15. Consumer legislation
Consumers

16. Business to consumer (“B2C”)
Any business
that sells goods
or provides
services to
consumers

17. A business must ensure that
• Goods fit their description
– E.g. organic wine really must be organic
– Businesses need to take care with descriptions – avoid
inaccurate claims
• Must be of satisfactory quality
– Test is of a “reasonable person”
– Must work and have no major blemishes
• Goods are fit for the purpose specified
– E.g. a watch should tell the time
– Businesses should take care when explaining what a
product can be used for

18. Other ways consumers are protected
• Businesses may not use unfair commercial practices –
e.g. misleading advertising
• Customers have a right of return and full refund if
goods /services do not comply with law
• Services
– Must be done at a reasonable price and by the time stated
– Customer can request that unsatisfactory work be repaired or
carried out again at no cost
• Since Oct 2008, consumers buying from home or at
work have the right to a “cooling off period”
• Distance selling regulations provide further protection
for consumers against online businesses

19. Main consumer laws
Distance Selling Gives consumers protection when they buy
Regulations goods or services by mail order, phone or online
The Sale of Requires goods to be as described, fit for their
Goods Act purpose and of satisfactory quality. If they are
not, the customer can reject them
Supply of Customers are entitled to work that's carried out
Goods and with reasonable skill, in a reasonable time, at a
Services Act reasonable price
Trade Required any descriptions of goods and services
Descriptions given to be accurate and not misleading
Act

20. Environmental legislation
Environment

21. Environmental – key areas
Emissions into the air
Storage, disposal & recovery of
business waste
Storing and handling hazardous
substances
Packaging
Discharges of wastewater

22. Competition
Competition

23. Aims of competition policy
• Wider consumer choice in markets for
goods and services
• Technological innovation which promotes
gains in dynamic efficiency
• Effective price competition between
suppliers
• Investigating allegations of anti-competitive
behaviour within markets which might have
a negative effect on consumers

24. Why businesses need to be aware
• To ensure it does not breach
competition law
• To protect its position where
competition law is breached by a
competitor

25. Anti-competitive agreements
Both UK and EC competition law
prohibit agreements,
arrangements and concerted
business practices which
appreciably prevent, restrict or
distort competition (or have the
intention of so doing)

26. Examples of prohibited agreements
• Agreements which directly or indirectly fix
purchase or selling prices, or any other
trading condition (e.g. discounts or rebates,
etc)
• Agreements which limit or control
production, markets, technical
development or investment (e.g. setting
quotas or levels of output)
• Agreements which share markets or
sources of supply

27. Examples of price-fixing

28. Price fixing – what is not allowed
• Agree prices with competitors
• Share markets or limit production to raise prices
• Impose minimum prices on different
distributors such as shops
• Agree with competitors what purchase price
will be offered to suppliers
• Cut prices below cost in order to force a smaller
or weaker competitor out of the market

29. Abuse of dominant position
Both UK and EC competition
law prohibit businesses with
significant market shares
unfairly exploiting their
strong market positions

30. What is a “dominant position”?
Market Share
Having a dominant
of position does not
in itself breach
50% competition law. It
is the abuse of
= assumed to that position that
is prohibited
be dominant

31. Abuses of dominant position
• Imposing unfair trading terms, such as
exclusivity;
• Excessive, predatory or discriminatory
pricing
• Refusal to supply or provide access to
essential facilities
• Tying (i.e. stipulating that a buyer
wishing to purchase one product must
also purchase other products)

32. Penalties for getting caught
• Up to 10% of annual turnover
• Criminal prosecution
• Disqualification as directors
• Civil action by those affected

33. Health & Safety
Health & Safety

34. What is health & safety about?
Health and safety is about
preventing people from being
harmed at work or becoming ill, by
taking the right precautions and
providing a satisfactory working
environment.

35. Health & safety responsibilities
• An employer has important
responsibilities for health & safety
• It is not just about protecting staff –
health & safety applies to many
people who come into contact with
the business

36. Health and safety applies to…
• Employees working at the business premises,
from home, or at another site
• Visitors to the premises such as customers or
subcontractors
• People at other premises where the business is
working, such as a construction site
• Members of the public - even if they're outside
the business premises
• Anyone affected by products and services the
business designs, produces or supplies

37. Examples of H&S industry issues
• Food processing (hygiene)
• Hotels (guest safety, hygiene)
• Chemical production (dangerous
processes, waste disposal)
• Air travel (passenger safety)
• Tour operators (holidaymaker safety)

38. Businesses and
Legislation in the
News

39. A ban on tobacco displays

40. Minimum price for alcohol planned

41. Coalition brings in carbon price floor

42. Possible new “hire & fire” rules

43. Government raises state retirement age

44. Rise in the national minimum wage

45. Govt subsidy for carbon capture and
storage

46. Regulator allows Royal Mail to raise
price of stamps

47. Watchdog calls for compulsory food labelling

48. New EU law on disposing of electronic waste

49. Environmental regulations to be slashed

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