Employment Laws: Employer’s Perspective Part 1

Starting a business is not an easy task. There are many legal, financial, and personal hurdles you need to overcome before launching a successful business. With legal issues, you have to not only focus on the immediate preparations but you also have to prepare for future situations. Many businesses, when they become successful, hire employees to help with the incoming waves of work. The business needs to protect themselves with clearly written contracts that help not only the business but also the employees. Whether the business is a fresh new startup or an established company, you will want to seek legal advice to draft employment contracts containing necessary clauses.

 

Restraint of trade clause

This clause will protect the employer’s interests after an employee leaves the current company. The two main types that are included are non-competition and non-clauses. It restricts employees from using confidential information and trade secrets from the previous company, working for a competitor after a certain period of time, and stealing customers or staff from their previous employer.

 

Annual Leave

This allows employees to be paid while taking time off of work. Based on ordinary work hours, full-time and part-time employees get four weeks of annual leave. Annual leave accumulates from the first day the employee is employed. Figuring out the correct way to calculate the annual leave of your employees can ensure future success if a situation comes up.

 

Sick or Carer’s Leave

Sick leave is when an employee takes paid time off because of an illness or injury. Carer’s leave is to take care of or support a family member or member of their household when they’re sick or has an unexpected emergency occur. It should be noted employees may have to give notice or even evidence of their sick or carer’s leave. Like annual leave, employees start accumulating sick and carer’s leave during the beginning of their employment.

 

Probation

Employers have the right to put their employees on a probationary period to assess if the employee is suitable for the position in the company. During the probationary period, employees will receive the same benefits as an employee not on the probation period. If an employee doesn’t pass the evaluation during the probationary period, they will receive notice when their employment will end and the accumulated annual leave hours that will be paid out.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

Business Standards in Australia

Companies function differently in all parts of the world. Whether you are just starting out in a career path, looking to move overseas for work, or doing business with a foreign country. Australia has different business standards than other countries.

 

Businesses in Australia typically follow the work schedule of 8:30 am to 4:30 pm or around 38 hours per week. Australians consider punctuality to be of high importance and it reflects poorly if you are tardy. They are clear and concise when it comes to their business communication. When presenting, they will not focus on any unnecessary details. They get to the point and stress the facts without any exaggeration.

 

During meetings, they will arrive early, especially if they are leading the meeting. They will make appointments a few days in advance and have the objectives planned out with an agenda to share during the meeting. Business cards are handed out at the beginning during the introductions. When introducing yourself in a business situation, you can state your full name but your first name will most likely be used during the rest of the meeting.

 

Since the agenda has already been set with focused objectives, you should lead the meeting as stated. This will help others determine your trustworthiness. Meetings may seem casual in a sense but they are taken very seriously.

 

Though there is a hierarchy in Australian businesses, it does not reflect during meetings. No matter the position or level an employee is at, they will express their opinions on the matter. It is frowned upon to leverage your position to make negotiations. Managers in a company will typically seek advice from employees and share information regarding any decisions that need to be made. The employees and managers share mutual respect from each other to accommodate the needs of the company.

 

Gifts in a business situation are not necessary and sometimes time can be looked upon as bribery. During the closing of a deal or due to negotiations being closed, gifts can be appreciated. Gifts that employees receive from government-funded organizations have some restrictions and cannot be accepted if they have a high-dollar value.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

Industries Lawyers Have Expertise In

There has been a stigma created for lawyers by the television industry. Many lawyers depicted on television are specialist in criminal law. There is a lack of understanding of the demand in other industries legal professionals can get involved with. Law firms are in high demand for legal roles such as the following.

 

Commercial Property

Commercial property transactions typically require legal assistance. Buying or leasing commercial properties can be one of the biggest decisions that owners have to make for their business. Without proper help, the decision can have a huge negative impact on the success of the business. Commercial property lawyers can assist businesses whether they are buying or selling commercial property, preparing and reviewing leases, and handling disputes as they arise.

 

Conveyancing

Conveyance is a written document transferring real estate property or interests from one party to the next. A notary must be present and the conveyance than must be put into the Recorder of Deeds. Lawyers can provide services for both commercial and residential transactions. During the client and lawyer’s relationship, lawyers can provide pre-contractual advice, explain the legal terms, and inform the client of their rights and responsibilities involved in the contracts.

 

Employment

Representation in employment matters for either the employer’s or employee’s side could occur at any point of a business’s life. For the employer’s viewpoint, whether you are an established business or a start-up, you will need precautions set in place to protect your business. Having employment lawyers draft employment contracts ensure that necessary clauses are included such as sick leave, annual leave, probation, grounds for termination, dress standard, representation of the company, and many more. The other side is at some point while working for the company, employees may need representation. Employment lawyers can help employees protect their rights and assist in unfair situations.

 

Commercial Litigators

The demand in Australia for litigators with experience with commercial contracts is constantly increasing. Clients are looking for lawyers who can negotiate, draft and review agreements, and procurement. Skills involving insolvency and construction has been growing. Many litigation lawyers try to seek out resolutions before the disputes need to be taken to a higher court. Using techniques such as mediation, conciliation, and arbitration are the steps they take to resolve the disputes.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

 

What Businesses Should Know About Cyber Security

With the world transforming digitally every day, businesses have to be aware of the risk of cyber attacks. Cybersecurity can make or break your business. If your company does get hacked, not only could you lose information about your customers but you could also lose your customers as well. If a company’s security is in question, consumers are not going to trust them with their information which means the company will lose business opportunities. Companies’ databases can include a lot of sensitive information. If the company does not have the proper protective procedures in place, they could be at risk for cyber attacks. Plenty of large corporations have had their data systems breached, you do not want to follow in those newsworthy footsteps.

 

 

Password Management

Setting a password for a new account or email can be daunting once you’ve already had to make ten other passwords. You might want to reuse a password on more than one account because it will be easier to remember. This might be easier to remember but it is also easy for hackers to log into multiple accounts. Mix your characters and try not to store your passwords online or even on paper. You don’t know if they could fall into the wrong hands.

 

Protecting Devices

Having passcodes and logins on your devices may seem like just another password you have to remember. It can be beneficial if your device is ever unattended or lost. It ensures the person that finds your device cannot easily unlock it and find personal data and information. Another way to protect your device is by being aware of malware that can spread through flash drives, external hard drives, and even your personal phone. Make sure you set up the protect firewall protections in your devices.

 

Clicking Links

If you do not know where or who an email is coming from, do not click on it! If anything in an email seems suspicious or unusual and you don’t know the sender, delete the email without opening it. If you know the person who the message is supposedly sent from and it looks unusual, contact the person to verify that it was, in fact, them who sent it.

 

Unsecured Networks

Be aware when you are working on unsecured networks. You want to use caution if you are working remotely. Make sure your employees know that they should not access private information when they are on unsecured networks. Browsing on these untrusted networks can lead to the interception of sensitive information.

 

Technology is constantly improving. The world is not only finding new ways to protect information but there are also people out there finding new ways to steal information. Improve your business’s cybersecurity.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

 

 

More Tips About Buying a Business

In my last article, I gave three tips about buying a business. Though research, buying assets, and hiring a professional are very important tips, there are more. Sales and payroll taxes, prepaid expenses, and letter of intent are some more aspects to focus on when buying a business.

 

Sales and Payroll Taxes

Asking about sales taxes and payroll taxes before buying a business can save you troubles in the future. Even if you buy a business’s assets, the state tax authority may have the ability to hold you liable if the previous owner owed sales, use, payroll, or any other business taxes. If the previous owner has other employees, you should ask if they were using a payroll service. This will give you the ability to confirm they are currently in employment tax payments. Once you get the current records, have the state tax authority issue a clearance letter proving the previous owner is up-to-date with the sales taxes by the closing date of the deal. This may extend the buying process but it will safeguard you down the road if anything happens with previous tax statements.

 

Prepaid Expenses

Expenses that the business has paid for upfront, might not be added to the purchase price. The previous owner may want to be reimbursed for the portion of the year that you will be running the business and benefiting from those prepaid expenses. These expenses can be added on at the time of closing the agreement. Ask for a seller for a list of closing adjustments which include the previous owner’s prepaid expenses. This will give you the opportunity to budget correctly and won’t be surprised at the closing of the deal. You can be prepared with all the information and it could mean you no longer want to purchase the business.

 

Letter of Intent

The letter of intent is an agreement between the buyer and the seller of the business. This agreement will lay out the important terms and conditions of the sale of the business. It typically includes the purchase price, how the business will be paid for, when the business deal will be paid for, the assets that are included with the business, the seller’s non compete agreement, and much more. Though the letter of intent is not legally binding, it is worth the time to discover any issues before lawyers begin drafting legal contracts that will make the sale a binding agreement. A letter of intent is meant to negotiate any terms and condition before legal documents are drafted and have to be redrafted. This can save the costs of legal fees.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

 

Keeping Information Within Your Company

No matter what type of business you are involved in, there is information that must be protected. You wouldn’t want competitors obtaining your client list or schematics of a new product. The business could not gain a competitive edge if all of its information was released. Information can be protected by legal remedies that prevent from misappropriation and unauthorized disclosure of the company’s information. If your business secures a trade secret protection it can benefit the company in the long run. Trade secrets can be difficult to keep confidential over a long period of time and when many people in your company know about it. There are many different methods that can be taken to protect your companies trade secrets but it also depends on the situation.

 

Contractual Protections

If members that are outside of your company have access to your trade secret information, you want to include a condition about confidentiality protections in your business with them. You can customize a non-disclosure agreement that includes some of the following:

  • Acknowledgment that the information given is considered a trade secret,
  • Agree not to share the information with anyone who is unauthorized,
  • The individual could not attempt to reverse engineer the information,
  • And any other protections that may be deemed necessary.

 

Employee Policies

Employees that have access to the company’s trade secrets should be subject to policies that regard the disclosure and security of information. Employees should be clear on protecting the confidential information that is produced within the company. Having employees know what information is considered to be along the lines of confidential is also a very important implementation. Even if the employee does not have access to the information, they are still expected to abide by these rules.

 

Control Over Information

The company should implement controls over the trade secrets to decrease the risk of the information getting released to employees and others who do not have a need-to-know requirement. Keycards and keycode access can help restrict certain areas of the building that are marked as secure locations for documents or materials that are specified as trade secrets. Since technology is always improving, your company most likely has electronic files of your trade secrets. To ensure safety, make sure your company’s data is secured and that only certain individuals have access to the information or codes.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

Three Tips for Buying a Business

You want to change career paths or take on a new level of responsibility, so you decide you are going to buy a business. It should not be an easy decision since there is an immense amount of work that goes into the process. It is hard to narrow down tips for buying a business since there is much that goes into an agreement. These three tips are some of the essentials when you consider buying a business.

 

Research

Buying a business is a tremendous endeavor. Not only is the purchase of the business itself a huge commitment but so is the process beforehand. You do not want to make this decision without doing your due diligence. Take the time to figure out what you are interested in, determine if the business model has the chance of being successful, determine any risks, discuss why the business is for sale, and make sure it aligns with your budgets. There is a lot of research to be done to make sure that purchasing a business is the right move to make.

 

Buy Assets

It sounds strange to say buy the assets and not the business. You will receive a better tax treatment since your taxes will be based on what you paid for them and not what the seller paid for. Another advantage is you do not assume any liabilities of the previous owner. There will, however, be liabilities included in the acquisition agreement. These liabilities include product liability, environmental liability, liability under bulk sales, and employee benefits. Every contractual agreement is different and should be negotiated with the help of counsel.

 

Hire a Professional

Hiring a business lawyer and an accountant will help you with the numbers and the paperwork. Accounts help to determine the assets, liabilities, and what possible earnings could be. A lawyer will help draft, proofread, and negotiate contracts during the purchase of a business. Having successful professionals can make purchasing a business a smoother process. Creating a successful beginning may create an easier life of your business. You will have a clearer picture before closing the deal.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

 

What is Succession?

Succession isn’t just the creating and signing of a will. Succession law redistributes the property of a deceased estate upon the death of its owner to the beneficiaries entitled, either in the will or by the law. Succession is concerned with the deceased person’s property whether there was a will or not. Lawyers who are involved in estate planning will guide their clients through the estate planning process. Lawyers will discuss the details of your succession plan before drafting the will. This creates an easier process of drafting the will and getting it right the first time.

 

Every situation is different. Some people have homes, cars, businesses, or other assets that some may not have. Along with all the assets are different whether it large or small business or a used or brand new car. Some people may want to exclude family members from their estate while others may want all family members to have an equal share.

 

In terms of succession in businesses, succession planning is in the case of the owner or key member of management ends up leaving the company, is terminated, retires, or dies. This ensures that the business does not have to stop its day to day activities. It will outline the change in leadership that may occur provided that the before mention were to happen. Creating a succession plan could benefit the company by retaining key employees, reducing the tax burned, and maintaining the value of its stocks and assets during the transition of ownership. This also provides the owner with a sense of comfort since leaving won’t burden the company.

 

Although there are many benefits to having a succession plan in place, many do not. An owner may not develop one because they do not want to choose a successor, they don’t have many interests beyond the company, or they do not want to confront their mortality. Succession planning entails details that compares to planning one’s own death which may cause a discomfort.

 

Succession can take many years to plan and the implementation can take longer. Taking the time to create this plan will assure them a way out of the company with enough assets for retirement. The business owner could sell the company to an outsider, family members, retain the ownership and hire new management, or sell to the employees. Owners need to initiate the idea of a succession plan, select details that will be included, educating the successor, and the final transition of the plan.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

 

Why Do Franchises Fail

Before you decide to either join and start a franchise, know the chance of failure is present. Just like any other business, if the right steps are not taken, the concept could fail. Testing and doing your due diligence during the early phases could protect you from the number of factors that lead to failure.

 

The Business Model

The concept of the business has to be approved by the consumers. If the idea is not received well by the consumers, the franchise will then fail. Also if your business model is complicated and not easily replicated, your company will struggle. The operations have to be taught at a standard for any businessperson that wishes to replicate it. Also if your business model is too similar to others already established, the business model is not successful, it is not likely to be a successful franchise.

 

Location

Like many responses to real estate and business, the most important thing is location. You could have a great business model and a service or product that all consumers will want but they can’t find you. You are in an area where their not looking for your product or service. Since there is no opportunity in the location, the franchise will not flourish and the possibility of being successful deteriorates.

 

Marketing

This goes hand and hand with the location, as you could have the best product or service but no one knows about it. If your franchise doesn’t have an established reputation, your consumers will not know to give your business a chance. You have to be knowledgeable about where to spend your advertising efforts. Advertise on a more localized level and niche to reach the right consumer that will bring your company profits. If you do not establish a marketing or advertising plan, your company may fail without anyone knowing it existed.

 

Competition

A major reason franchises fail is competition. With around 79,000 franchises in Australia, it is hard to find an idea that is popular but not tapped out. There are certain sectors of franchising that are rising due to the growth in healthier lifestyles. Following along in what is already successful could lead to your downfall.

 

Expectations

You need to set realistic expectations for yourself and the business. It can take years to see profits and if you are not prepared your franchise could crumble around you. The hard work and effort put into being successful may be a deterring factor when deciding to start a franchise. If the expectations are unrealistic it can lead to failure.

 

**This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. In relation to your individual situation, always seek advice specific to your circumstances from a lawyer.

 

Entry Requirements for Law Schools

Are you pursuing a law degree? If you want to immerse yourself in the education of law, you need to know the requirements involved with getting accepted. I used my alma mater to go into the depths of requirements of getting into law school. There are four ways to enter the Melbourne JD program.

General Entry:

Compromised by a large majority of students, general entry applications are put through a selection process. The process is based on the performance in academic performance in all previous tertiary studies and the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score. Your application will be ranked based upon these scores. Applicants who ranked the highest will be admitted within the intake quota for that year.

Guaranteed Entry Pathways:

Three of the four ways to enter a program fall under the guaranteed entry pathways.

Melbourne Chancellor’s Scholarship Program:
This scholarship is one of the most prestigious awards for school leavers and is based on academic merit. You can receive this award by having your Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank or equivalent of 99.99 or above with an undergraduate degree from the University of Melbourne.  This opportunity is for high-achieving students from Australia and overseas. You will retain fee exemptions and be guaranteed a place in Melbourne’s graduate program of your choice.

Graduate Degree Package:

This degree package works differently from other Australian universities. Melbourne’s process will have you graduating with a Master’s degree. You’ll study for law along with complementary subjects and then will be required to take specialized graduate studies. You can enter this graduate degree package with a score of 99.80 or above and must commence the JD within 18 months of completing your undergraduate degree. Applicants eligible for the packages will not be required to take the LSATs. Packages available are:

  • Bachelor of Agriculture/ Juris Doctor
  • Bachelor of Arts/ Juris Doctor
  • Bachelor of Biomedicine/ Juris Doctor
  • Bachelor of Commerce/ Juris Doctor
  • Bachelor of Design/ Juris Doctor
  • Bachelor of Fine Arts/ Juris Doctor
  • Bachelor of Music/ Juris Doctor
  • Bachelor of Science/ Juris Doctor

Fee Place Guarantee:

The final way to enter a JD program is the free place guarantee. You would need to score a 99.00 or above and at least a 75% weighted average in an undergraduate degree from the University of Melbourne. These students will not be required to complete the LSAT.

All of the applicants must meet the English language requirements of the University of Melbourne.