Overview

In recent years the sheer volume of legislation, rules, statutes, and directives facing small firms seems to have increased at an exponential rate; and even more so as the UK is drawn ever closer into the tangled web of the European Union (EU), where bureaucracy rules supreme, and the harmonisation of the laws of its member states appears to be the sole acknowledged route to Nirvana. Why, I ask, should anyone want to go to heaven if they can get a job as a bureaucrat, or better still, a solicitor in Brussels? However, coming back to the real world, actually identifying the legislation which is relevant to any particular new small business can be a nightmare, even without the fact that the laws are constantly changing, and thereby placing additional demands on owner-managers who have to keep informed of changes, understand and comply with them.

The objective of this chapter is to list and briefly describe a range of the most important pieces of legislation which might affect small businesses and their owners. The intention is not so much to produce a legal compendium or reference text, as to assist the readers to identify those areas of the law which are relevant their own particular businesses, and where they will need to examine the implications of that legislation in more detail. Remember, ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the Law, so if a piece of legislation sounds remotely relevant to your business circumstances then make sure you...