Name: Sam Morgan

Laws Affecting Business

OVERVIEW OF THE LEGISLATION IN THIS AREA IMPACT ON BUSINESS (+VE AND -VE)

LABOUR / EMPLOYMENT Equal pay for work of equal merit. +VE:

● Equality Act
● Minimum Wage Act
● Employment Rights Act
● Health & Safety at Work Act
● Working Time Directive
● Trade Union Act
Can’t be forced to work more than 48 hours a week.
Prevents exploitation of employees by the business.
Minimum wage, living wage. – BASED ON AGE.
Includes pay, working conditions, leave and entitlement,
gender/race discrimination.
Rights to redundancy pay, maternity leave etc.
More rights for more than 2 years.
HR and trade union can support you. Enforced by employment
tribunals. (Court for employment matters).
 Increase motivation and labour productivity.
 Creates a civilised society & economy.
 Level playing field across all EU countries: No
exploitation.
 Reduces conflict between managers and
employees.
 Reduces absenteeism.

Health and safety: -VE:

Safe working conditions.  More costly.
Appropriate training and PPE.
 Easier to break rules and gain bad PR.
Trade unions:  Time consuming to implement health & safety.
Anyone can join.  Encourage capital intensive production.
Don’t have to declare to your employer.  Encourage relocation to abroad.
Ballots must be secret.
Tighter rules on industrial actions.
- Work to rule – ONLY FOLLOW CONTRACT.
- Overtime ban.
- Strike action.
Secondary picketing illegal (Joining strike in support of others).
Closed shop illegal (Making everyone be a member).

Enforced by employment tribunal.

COMPETITION Protecting customers form excessive market power. +VE:

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Name: Sam Morgan
● Competition Act
● Enterprise Act
ENVIRONMENT
● Environment Protection Act
● Environment Act
● Climate Change Act
● Energy Act
Mrs Osborne
 Clear rules.
Prevents anti-competitive behaviour:
 Gives opportunities for smaller businesses.
- Price fixing illegal
- Cartels illegal  Independent regulators.
- Limiting production illegal
- Dividing markets illegal. -VE:
 No more growth than 25%.
Enforced by competition and markets authority (CMA):
- Investigate and intervene.
 Slower growth.
- Investigate any merger/takeover involving a business
with more than £70m turnover.
- One business not permitted to have 25% or more of the
market.
Designed to minimise the negative impact of business activity on +VE:
the environment.  Clear rules.
- Control pollution from emissions.  Utilise their waste.
- Manage waste disposal.  Cleaner environment.
- Manage planning & building regulations.  Innovation.
- Encourage recycling.
-VE:
Enforced by the Environment Agency.
 Doesn’t reverse damage already done.
Encourages businesses to internalise their externalities.  Higher costs.
 More challenges in production.
 Less competitive abroad.
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