Course Work

Organisations are required to operate within a regulatory

framework set by government.

10/21/2009
Londonsam college
Parita Patel
Student I.D.number: ST0005614

Course:GADAFM
Definition of Law:-*
A set of rules that become known to the society that they govern through a
number of originating sources.

Laws in the study of business:-

Law is an essential part of the environment of business. Law is not just for
lawyers but the non-lawyers in business needs to have a reasonable grasp of
relevant areas of laws for the purpose mainly of ensuring that the business stays
within the law because to stray outside of it can result in a costly claim being
made successfully against the business.
The rules of Law:-
Rules are commands aimed at regulatory behavior. Rules tells what can be
done and what cannot be done; sometimes they may permit behavior subject to
fulfilling a condition.
For e.g. an extension of business premises is illegal unless planning permission is
obtained.
A shop cannot sell alcohol without a licence.

The Sources of Law:-

As it is mentioned under the rule of law, decision makers, such as
judiciary, cannot reach conclusions in legal matters that come before them
merely on the basis of what they think is right. They must offer legal reasons for
their decisions are supported by legal reasons that can be found by applying
certain sources of law to the problem. We are not concerned with the material
sources of law i.e. where the lawyer looks in order to find out what the laws is.
Our concern here is with justification.

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*law for business students-Alix Adams

A system of Laws may be needed for the following reasons:-

➢ To provide a governmental structure and legislative procedures:
Constitutional law.
➢ To provide public services and to raise taxes to pay for them:
Administrative and Revenue law
➢ To regulate and to promote the economy: Administrative, Civil and
Criminal law
➢ To promote public order and to preserve national security: Criminal law
➢ To give individual members personal rights and duties in relation to others
and to enable personal enforcement to these rights: Civil law
➢ To give legal validity to approved relationships and transactions between
members of the society: This includes the law of contract, the law of
property, company and partnership law.

Changing the Law:-

It is important to realize that the law is subject to frequent changes. Very
few principles actually remain constant. These changes reflect social, political,
economic and technological developments taking place within the society.

Social Change:-

Changes in moral values have influenced a number of legal developments

in the last few year, including reform of the divorce law, limited
decriminalization of homosexuality and abortion, as well as the introduction of
legislation to prevent sex and race discrimination.

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Political Change:-
No government can initiate new policies unless it has legal authority to
do so. This means that the law may require constant, and often radical change.
The privatization of the water, gas, and electicity industries was achieved by
repeal of previous legislation which had introduced a policy of nationalization.

Economic and Technological change:-

Much of the law governing commerce and industry, including the
regulation of health and safety at work is subject to such influence. As industrial
practice changes, old hazards disappear and new ones develop.

Government’s Role in Influencing Business

1. Prescribes the rules of the game for business.
2. Purchases business’ products and services.
3. Uses it contracting power to get business to do things it wants.
4. Is a major promoter and subsidizer of business.
5. Is the owner of vast quantities of productive equipment and wealth.
6. Is an architect of economic growth.
7. Is a financier.
8. Is the protector of various interests in society against business exploitation.
9. Directly manages large areas of private business.
10.Is the repository of the social conscience and redistributes resources to
meet social objectives

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Government’s Regulatory Influence on Business

Federal Regulatory Agency

1. Has decision-making authority
2. Establishes standards or guidelines conferring benefits and imposing
restrictions on business conduct
3. Operates principally in the sphere of domestic business activity
4. Has its head and/or members appointed by the president (generally subject
to Senate confirmation)
5. Has its legal procedures generally governed by the Administrative
Procedures Act
Government’s Regulatory Influence on Business

Types of Regulation
• Economic regulation
– Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
– Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB)
– Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Social regulation
– Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
– Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
– Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

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 Comparison of Economic and Social Regulation

Economic Regulations Social

Regulations
Focus Market conditions; People in roles as
economic variables employees,
consumers and
citizens
Affected Industries Selected (railroads, aeronautics, Virtually all industries
communications)

Examples CAB; FCC EEOC, OSHA,

CPSC, EPA

Current Trend From regulation to deregulation Stable

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Business organizations are operated under the regulations and legislations set by
the government

➢ Health and Safety law

➢ Employment law
➢ Environmental law
➢ Tax law
➢ Consumer law
➢ Copy write law
➢ The data protection law
➢ Labour law
➢ Criminal law

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Employment Law:-

Employment law is a complex area that is full of pitfalls. Getting it right

means keeping in touch with developments thinking out your policies &
implementing them with care. Getting it wrong is easier but could be extremely
expensive.

Employment law covers the issues such as-

➢ Contract of employee
➢ Health and safety
➢ Holiday Entitlements

In this briefing we identify the main elements of current employment law

likely to affected.Following are the laws affected:-

Contracts of Employment:-
"A contract of employment" is an agreement between an employer & an
employee which sets out thir employment rights, responsibilities & duties. These
are called the terms of the contract.

All employees have an employment contract with their employer, although

it might not be in writing. If employee don't have a written contract, the contract
would have automatically been created when employee start to work for
employer.

Both employee & employer are bound to the employment contract until it
ends or until the terms are changed.

Fixed Term Working Regulations:-

The 2002 Employment Act implemented the long-awaited Fixed Term

Employees ( Prevention of less Favorable Treatment ) Regulations which came
into force on 1st October 2002.
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 ➢ Fixed terms works should not be treated less than the collegues who are
permanent employees unless there is any objective reason of doing this.
➢ Fixed term workers have full right to compare themselves with the
colleagues who are engagaed by the same employer who do the same or the
similar work.
➢ The use of successive fixed term contracts will be limited to four years
unless the use of further fixed0term contracts is justified on objectives
grounds.
➢ Rights under these regulations will be enforced in the Employment
Tribunals.

The National Minimum Wage Rates:-

"The National Minimum Wage Rates (NMW)" is a minimum amount per
hour that most workers in the UK are entitle to be paid.

Current NMW rates-

There are different levels of NMW, depending on age. The current rates
(from 1st October 2009) are:
£5.80- The main rate for workers aged 22 and over.
£4.83- The 18-21 rate.
£3.57- The 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18.

If you are of compulsory school age you are not entitled to the NMW.
The following groups are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage :-
➢ Workers under 16
➢ Self employed people
➢ Family workers, including those working for family business
➢ People working with the family, sharing tasks and leisure activities
➢ Trainees on government funded schemes
➢ Apprentices aged under 19 or aged 19 and over in the first year of their
apprenticeship
➢ Students on work placements including teacher training
➢ The armed forces
➢ Volunteers working for charities etc

Holiday Entitlements:-

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 All the workers have a right to atleast 5.6 weeks paid annual leave, but you
could receive more than that. Your employer can control somethings about your
holiday, including when you should take it & whether they include bank holidays
in your entitlement.

The main points to be known about holiday rights are:-

➢ You start building holidays as soon as you start work.
➢ Your employer can control when you take your holiday.
➢ You get paid normal pay for tour holiday.
➢ When you finish a job, you get paid for any holiday you have not taken.

Business transfers & takeovers: Rights to consultation.

If the company you work for is going through a business transfer or
takeover, both the transferring employer & new employer have a responsibility to
inform & consult with employees who may be affected by the transfer.

If you are transferring to a new employer, your current employer should

also consult with you about any action your new employer thinks they will be
undertaking that will affect you. The consultation must be carried out with the
aim of coming to an agreement.

If your current employer thinks they could be taking action that will affect
you, they must consult with your employee representatives to try & get your
agreement into action.

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Health and safety laws:-*

Health & safety is about preventing people from being harmed

by work or becoming ill through work. Health & safety law applies to
all businesses however small it is. It covers employees, full or part-
time, temporary or permanent & the self-employed as well as
members of the public & contractors. The Council's Environmental
Health Officers have a duty to inspect businesses to ensure they are
meeting their minimum legal requirement.

The Health & Safety at work Act 1974 (HASWA) is the primary
piece of legislation covering occupational health & safety in the UK.
The act states that employers have a duty to take steps to make sure
that they are aware of hazards within the workplace & to eliminate or
control the risks associated with them.

Health and safety covers issues such as-

➢ Ventilation
➢ Temprature
➢ Lighting
➢ Cleanliness and waste materials
➢ Floor space
➢ Seating
➢ Sanitation
➢ Washing facilities
➢ Smoking
➢ Visual display units

To comply with health and safety law, all employers must:-

*www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk

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 • Register with the enforcing authority that they employ persons
at their place or places of work. This will either be the
Council or the Health & Safety Executive depending on the
type of business.

• Either display an approved health & safety law poster or provide

each employee with an equivalent leaflet.

• Provide a suitable first aid kit in accordance with the Health &
safety Regulation 1981 & keep an accident book if more than 10
people are employed.

• Provide suitable working conditions to comply with the work

place (Health, safety & welfare) regulation 1992. This covers
the actual workplace, welfare facilities, heating/light/ventilation
& housekeeping.

• Carry out a general risk assessment to identify & carry hazards

to workers or the public & than take steps to eliminate or reduce
those risks likely to cause injury, accident or ill health.

• Risk assessments are also required in respect of other matters if

relevant to the activities of the business:-

1. Slips, trips or falls.

2. Hazardous chemicals or substances. (eg. cleaning material)

3. Lifting & carrying. (referred to as manual handing)

4. Noise exposure. (where loud noise may be a problem)

5. Working at heights.

• Arrange for the regular routine inspection of any gas appliances

& any electrical appliances by competent & suitably qualified
persons.

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• All employers with five or more employees, at one or more
places at work, must produce a health & safety policy, to
inform their staff of the organization & arrangements to
comply with health & safety requirements.

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Examples-

Health and safety in construction:-

➢ All reasonable steps are taken to protect any person on the site
from health and safety risks.
➢ The construction site is a safe and healthy workplace.
➢ Plant and equipment is safe.
➢ Adequate training or instruction is provided.
➢ Adequate supervision of safe work systems occurs.
➢ Means of access to and egress from the site are without risk to
health and safety.
➢ Ask Tenderers to acknowledge their health and safety
obligations.
➢
➢ Require the Contractor to provide site-specific safety plans and
undertake and document a risk assessment.
➢ Require health and safety to be reviewed at site meetings and
Project Control Group meetings.
➢ Develop formal processes such as checklists to enable the
Principal or a representative to review health and safety
performance and measure the level of compliance.

Health and safety in marine energy industries:-

➢ electrical safety training

➢ signage and ristricted area
➢ fire and explosion risk
➢ any requirements for a pre-employment medical
➢ any legal requirements for health surveillance
➢ any local minimum standards eg. fitness, eyesight, hearing,
colour blindness
➢ roper arrangements for health records

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➢ Guidelines for health and safety in Transportation
Company:-

➢ A process to protect employees from unsafe noise levels and to

provide appropriate lighting and
➢ temperatures in the workplace.
➢ A process to provide and maintain operating machinery and
equipment with guarding or other
➢ protective measures as necessary to prevent injury to workers.
➢ A process to identify, evaluate and control workplace exposures
to chemical, biological and physical
➢ agents to prevent worker illness and injury.
➢ A process to identify and control hazards in the workplace
(examples include activities such as regular
➢ inspections, hazard surveys, job hazard analyses, and equipment
hazard reviews).
➢ A process to determine the cause of incidents that result or could
result in injury, illness, property or
➢ environmental damage or business interruption.
➢ A process to encourage employee participation in health and
safety programs and to encourage
➢ employees to report workplace illnesses and injuries.
➢ A process to assess that sufficient and qualified resources are
assigned to the EHS program.
➢ A process for maintaining drums, storage tanks and other
storage containers to prevent water or soil
➢ contamination or accidental discharge and a process to remedy
any existing contamination.
➢ A process to ensure proper treatment of chemical or process
wastewater prior to discharge.
➢ A process to ensure safe handling and appropriate disposal or
recycling of waste.

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Environment Laws:-

Now more than ever businesses need to take environmental

issues seriously. Not just for the health of the planet, but also for the
wellbeing of their organisation. This qualification lays the foundation
for a better understanding of significant environmental impacts.

Environmental laws and regulations deal with myriad

pollution problems, including the contamination of our air, surface
waters, drinking water, ground waters, and land. Pollution or
contamination of the environment is found inside as well as outside
the walls of factories and other business facilities Those affected
include workers and their families as well as other members of their
communities. In addition, as U.S. businesses increase their
participation in a global marketplace, it is becoming increasingly clear
that environmental contamination extends beyond local and regional
concerns; its effects are international and even global.

Every business in this country is affected by environmental

laws, and many businesses deal with one or more environmental laws
and the administrative agencies that enforce them on a daily basis. For
example, businesses must inform and educate their employees about
hazardous materials in the workplace as required by the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and they must inform
their communities about such materials on their premises pursuant to
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Clean Up, and Liability
Act (CERCLA—the Superfund Program). Manufacturing facilities
must apply for and adhere to permits from the federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) regarding emissions into air and water.
Businesses generating hazardous wastes must comply with the EPA's
manifest system (a record-keeping system), and the disposal of both
hazardous and non-hazardous waste is regulated extensively.
Businesses are increasingly being required to clean up or pay for
clean up of environmental contamination caused by their past acts and
practices. Further, businesses are now being required to monitor their
production methods and seek ways to prevent pollution.

Overall, consideration of the environment and adherence to

environmental laws and regulations have become important in the

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day-to-day conduct of business throughout the world. Many
businesses today conduct "environmental audits" to determine
whether their facilities and operations meet the requirements of all
applicable environmental laws and regulations. One of the main
lessons that has been learned is that businesses, workers,
environmentalists, and government officials need to work together to
find economically sound ways of reducing the amounts of toxic
substances released into the environment.

Examples-

Enviromental laws in construction company

➢ Reduce waste - control ordering/adequacy of storage

procedures.
➢ Re-use - topsoils, pipe beddings, bricks, tiles,
formwork.
➢ Re-cycle - demolition materials/oils/lubricants.
➢ Removal - to a facility which can recycle.
➢ Waste use and waste regeneration initiatives
➢ Re-use, re-cycling and ‘cost-in-use’ initiatives
➢ Eco-friendly waste/discharge to be considered in services design
➢ Natural energy and low energy considerations
➢ Demolition and contamination remediation

Environmental laws in Marine Industries:-

1. Use fuel additives that reduce emissions and decrease marine fuel
consumption.
2. Avoid releasing invasive species through ballast water discharges.
3. Ensure that your vessel’s engine receives proper maintenance on a
regular basis.
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4. Periodically examine your fuel lines and repair any cracks to
prevent leakage.
5. Always use pump out facilities to release sewage waste from your
vessel’s holding tank.
6. Using low-pollution marine engines significantly decreases noise,
emissions, and fuel consumption.
7. When cleaning your boat’s bilge, forgo emulsifier or detergent
cleaning products.
8. Avoid putting unnecessary, heavy objects in your powerboat or
other motorized vessel; this increases fuel usage.
9. Consider using an electric outboard motor if you have a dinghy,
small motorboat, or inflatable.
10. Don’t approach marine animals too closely; bring binoculars to
get a better look at wildlife.
11. Avoid using a large powerboat, speedboat, or jet ski on small
lakes.
12. If possible, keep any objects containing hazardous substances
(batteries, oil, mercury, etc) in a sealed container attached to the boat.

Total words: 3010

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