Legal and Ethical Issues in Business

This assignment delves into the crucial intersection of law and ethics within the realm of business. Students will analyze various aspects, including consumer protection legislation, environmental regulations, and ethical dilemmas faced by corporations. The provided references encompass legal texts, scholarly articles, and online resources to support a comprehensive understanding of these complex issues.

LEGISLATION AND ETHICS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
(A): Reporting legal and regulatory framework of English Law and explaining the
classification of laws with the court system and sources of law which regulate travel and
Tourism........................................................................................................................................1
(B): Role of respective bodies in Travel and Tourism with legislation and international
Conventions to regulate surface, sea and air transport:...............................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
(A): Evaluation of impact of the health, safety and security:......................................................3
(B): Analysing the Equality legislation.......................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
(A): Explanation on distinction between:....................................................................................4
(B) Explanation of consumer protection legislation relating to package holidays......................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
(A): Identifying and analysing the instances of ethical dilemmas which Corporation could face
and deal with those dilemmas......................................................................................................7
B): Corporate social responsibility of travel and tourism sector.................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Legislation is enacted by legislature and the other governing body. The main purpose of
exercising commandments is to regulate rules and regulation of Law and provide funds, grant
and restrictions Medlik, 2012). Ethics is fundamental principle of human conduct which includes
human and natural rights, natural environment and health and safety (Ferrell and Fraedrich,
2016). It is a moral principle of an individual. This report focuses on legal and regulatory
framework of travel and tourism along with the legislation and international conventions in sea
and air transport. There is evaluation of the impact of health & safety, security and analysis of
the equality legislation in the English Legal system. In this report, there is distinction between
the Unfair Contract Act and Sale of Goods Act with an explanation of consumer protection
legislation. Analysing ethical dilemmas with their corporation face along with Corporate Social
responsibility has been detailed in the present work.
TASK 1
(A): Reporting legal and regulatory framework of English Law and explaining the classification
of laws with the court system and sources of law which regulate travel and Tourism
Legal regulatory framework of English legal system and a classification of Law:
There are two types of legal system namely; Common Law and Civil Law. Common Law: In common law, there is no codified law and written constitution. Judicial
decisions are binding in common law. There is provision which implied into Contract by
Law. Civil Law: Civil Law system is a codified Law and it is a written constitution that is
based on specific codes. Judicial decisions are not binding third party, constitutional and
administrative court decisions on law (Mak, 2010). In civil law, number of provisions is
implied by law into contractual relationship.
Law can classify in two ways:
 Substantive and Procedural law Civil and Criminal law
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 Substantive and procedural law: Substantive law creates and control the rights and duties
of individuals. Procedural law creates and control the process of enforcing rights and
duties of individuals (Hesselink, 2010). Civil and Criminal Law: This law is regarding private rights and duties which deal with
the confidential parties. When there is violation of rights and duties, it is wrong between
the parties and not against the society (Steinberg and Sprung, 2007). Criminal laws are
public rights and duties that create and control wrong committed against the society.
Court system and sources of law used to regulate the Travel and Tourism:
A person should follow certain rules and regulation of the law. English common law is
made by judges sitting in courts through applying their knowledge of legal precedents to the fact
presented before them. Legislation is the main source of law which is made by parliament. There
are two types of English laws that are related to travel and tourism and are Civil and Criminal
Law:
 Civil Law: It deals with the individual and organisation where it aimed to make people
agree to the arrangement being made and to provide compensation for party who has
suffered.
 Criminal Law: In criminal law, government identifies the action that are wrong and
damage to the society and individual (Trevena, Irwig and Barratt, 2006). It focuses on
that crime which is not accepted by the society and states it to be punishable by law.
(B): Role of respective bodies in Travel and Tourism with legislation and international
Conventions to regulate surface, sea and air transport:
In English law, there is no regulatory framework such as ABTA code which is about
service provided to members for enhancing the reputation and standing members. It is helpful in
bookings, notification, communication etc. that are components to be undertaken by customers
before booking. This process should be carefully done in order to safeguard the rights of
consumer in tourism (Boubakri and Ghouma, 2010). There are other associations as well which
provide guidelines for tourist’s safety and comfort.
English law is divided according to air, shipping, space and environmental law in order to
support favourable tourism. There are local authorities who take care on national stock of
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reaction facilities like gardens, parks and sports facilities etc. There are Air and Road Act 1979,
which has responsibility to take care of passengers who injured, died and had other damages.
There is International Carriage by Sea 1974, which concern about sea travelling and in this
convention; the carrier is also liable for damages that are caused to passengers at the time of
travelling through sea (Gouws, 2010). The conditions of air transport are improved as there are
no obligations on electronic benefits. It should be kept in mind that air travelling provides wide
range of services outside the traditional areas in which they are active. The main purpose of
global community of air transport to provides global standard for carrying passengers worldwide
with the common rule of liability in case of accident, delay and loss of baggage. Travellers can
do unlimited purchase during the visit and bring goods to their country as duty free.
TASK 2
(A): Evaluation of impact of the health, safety and security:
As the health and safety officer of the hotel person should take care of their staff in order
to make them feel safe, valued and confident. It is good business sense to improve the work
environment (Koffman and Macdonald, 2010). Health and safety legislation is to protect worker
and the owner. A person can do these things regarding health and safety as follows:
 Retain staff,
 Do motivate workers and improve productivity,
 Gives leave for illness and injury and
 Protect worker from legal action
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is a primary relief of legislation which covers health
and safety at workplace. This is employer's responsibility for ensuring proper health and safety
measures where employer is under the duty of care regarding welfare of staff at the workplace.
This Act also states that employees have their own responsibility for staying fit and healthy.
There should be a First Aid, less use of low sound equipments, minimised risk aspect etc. It is
also good to take care of other health requirements of worker and also trained them how to help
their colleagues at the time of emergency (Shetty and et.al., 2010). Time to time maintenance of
demands of workers provide them with various good facilities. Electronic equipment should be
maintained with proper work environment in order to prevent any kind of danger. If there is any
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kind of difficulty, workers can share it with the employer and consult with him as well. Health
and safety is not only a social responsibility but is a good business sense for the growth of
business.
(B): Analysing the Equality legislation
Mr. Jones should be aware regarding recruiting and management of employees. It is
important to understand the legal and ethical principles which influence work environment.
Ethical behaviour is considered as the right thing for maintaining health and safety. The basic
concept of law is to protect public health ethics, workplace standards, safety at workplace etc.
Law is a body of rules for proper behaviour conduct at work with respect to both individual and
organisation.
At the time of new recruitment, a person is required to make sure that it is helpful in
business and is beneficial for members and staff. It should be favourable for everything and to
gain positive outcome. For managing staff, relationship between employer, employee and staff
should be flexible. There should be economic efficiency while remaining fair that can make
change easy process. In order to make an efficient decision, the employer and employees are
empowered to work flexibly (Antol and Shelton, 2011). Employer should understand that his
perception how to reflect in real living must have impact on regulation of business. At the time
of recruitment, it is primarily concerned with finding the best candidates who have efficiency to
do work. Equality legislation recruiting migrant worker were all raised by employer as impact of
recruitment practices. Employers are more likely to recognise the influence of legislation on their
practices because they recruit more people frequently (Svantesson and Clarke, 2010).
Effective hiring decisions are very difficult for any firm. In present time, most of the
organisations face difficulties to improve employee’s work performance. It is the basic need to
identify the best policies for recruitment and selection process.
TASK 3
(A): Explanation on distinction between:
1. The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulation
1999:
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Unfair Contract term act is regulating contract by restricting the operation and legality of
some contract terms and limiting the applicability of liability. The act renders the terms
excluding liability subjected to reasonable depending on the nature of obligation to be excluded.
The unfair contract terms act 1977 is a piece of primary legislation.
The unfair terms in consumer contract regulations are the form of secondary legislation.
This regulation works for rendering ineffective terms that benefits seller or supplier against the
interest of consumer (Hesselink, 2010).
There are some differences between Unfair Contract Terms Act and Unfair Terms in
Consumer Contract Regulations:
 Unfair Contract Terms Act applies to the exclusion of tort liability and Unfair Terms in
Consumer Contract Regulation applies to contract.
 Some terms are automatically treated as unfair in Unfair Contract Terms Act and in
unfair terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation all terms must shown to be unfair.
 There is no restriction applies in case of Unfair Contract Terms Act and Unfair Terms in
Consumer Contract Regulation is only applied to contract but not to individual (Medlik,
2012).
 Unfair Contract Terms Act applies to business to business relationship and Unfair Terms
in Consumer Regulation applies only on consumer contracts. Unfair Contract Terms Act provides specific instance of regarding unfair term. Unfair
Term in Consumer Contract Regulations, in any term is capable of amounting to a fair
terms (Hoffman, Frederick, and Schwartz, 2014).
2. Difference between Sale of Goods Act 1979 and Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982:
Sale of Goods Act and Supply of Goods and Services Act are basic provisions in contract
which are implied by statute in order to provide protection to purchaser. Sales of Goods protect
purchaser where the seller has no right to sell the goods. This is to ensure that the goods have
satisfactory quality and solve the purpose of buyer. When the goods are supplied along with the
services then, there can be applied Supply of Goods and Services Act. Is the implied term that
the service must be carried out with reasonable care that the service must be provided on time
and there should be reasonable price charged on account of same (De George, 2011).
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The main difference between the Sale of Goods act and Supply of Goods and Services act
is that prior focuses on those goods which are provided for sale and thereby must have
satisfactory quality to solve the purpose of buyer. It covers only goods. In Supply of Goods and
Services act, if consumer enters into a contract for supply of goods and services, then it should
supply with the reasonable care, price and s time. It covers goods and services (Trevino and
Nelson, 2010).
(B) Explanation of consumer protection legislation relating to package holidays
There is package travel regulation which is used for pursuing claims against tour
operator. If a person is not happy with the package holiday then, he can claim for same. This
regulation provides that package the pre-arranged combination of facilities that accommodation,
transport and other tourist services adheres with (Medlik, 2012). There should not be any kind of
misleading done by the traveller organisers. In package, there should include destination,
categories and transport along with accommodation details. There should also include meal,
other facilities and health formalities. These arrangements are applied when consumer are
delayed at outward. The regulation applies to both travel agent and tour operator. The package
arrangement is made by tour operator and travel agent (Raj Adhikari and Gautam, 2010).
Information provided by brochure or by advertisement should be true and there is no misleading.
If a person enters into a contract on the basis such as what is in the brochure, person claim for
damages if there are the wrong information, etc should be considered. A travel operator is a
person who acts as the leading person in relation to overseas travel who arranges for the purpose
of selling goods and services to general public (DesJardins and McCall, 2014). Consumer should
receive a written copy of these information; cost holidays, duration and destinations, location and
category, cancellation arrangements for organiser, tax, compulsory charges and complaint
procedure if organiser fails to perform their duty. In case of misleading information, consumer
can claim against the organiser. At the time of cancellation of package by the act of Goods, there
is failure to get minimum number of people and then travel organiser is liable to pay back. There
can be procedure to transfer the holidays in case of consumer could not able to go than he can
transfer his holidays (Guney and Zagury, 2012).
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There are pre-arranged and customised packages. Pre-arranged ones are readymade
holiday package by tour operator and customised package has selection components by traveller.
There are some benefits to consumer; strong cancellation rights, clear liability for booking, more
predictable prices, new information received and clarification on essential consumer rights and
thereby if any party is liable then that is identified easily (Barnetson, 2012).
TASK 4
(A): Identifying and analysing the instances of ethical dilemmas which Corporation could face
and deal with those dilemmas
Travel and tourism sector in Caribbean island may face several ethical dilemmas such as
building Holiday Homes at this Island will be easier for the corporation as they would get
permission from the government for this aspect. However, while building homes, natural
vegetation, flora and fauna will get heavily impacted. Along with that, this will cause destruction
of soil and sand which ultimately reduces the value of nature at the place. Furthermore, the
natural lives may die due to pollution and other technologies which will ultimately affect the
island’s life (Kokkoris, 2010). Further, there is a creation of ethical dilemma for travel and
tourism firm. This dilemma can be dealt by them by taking care of equipments that are used by
them and do not create much pollution. Thus, they protect the environment by growing more
trees and plants. Along with that, company must ensure that flora and fauna at Island does not
get impacted (ETHICAL / LEGAL / LEGISLATION, 2016).
Furthermore, the other dilemma which a corporation could face is the unethical pricing.
Due to high competition, extremely lower pricing are charged. This may impact the other
competitors, as they could not lower down the pricing any more. Furthermore, the company may
face losses due to this which organisation is not in a position to provide effective environment to
the employees. This will be unethical practice from company's side (Barnetson, 2012). This
dilemma must be handled by the organisation. It is because, they are required to carry out the
ethical practices and provide proper environment to the employees. For this aspect, company
must charge appropriate prices as per the industry norms so that company does not face
unnecessary losses. Along with that, the proper pricing will help the company to provide
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effective environment to their employees. Thus, organisation will be able to manage everything
if they will charge appropriate price from the customers against the services provided to them.
Furthermore, another dilemma faced by the corporation is regarding the legal rules and
regulations. The company is required to follow the whole procedure in order to get the
permission for building Holiday Homes. However, the government charges unethical prices for
granting permission (Shaw, 2016). Thus, this is also one of the ethical dilemmas which are faced
by the company. For this aspect, organisation may provide them with some unethical price which
is not a good thing as the firm has to build homes because it seems profitable for them.
Therefore, organisation can deal with such issue by complaining about the corruption that is
happening at the place. Further, they can deal with such dilemmas by opposing them so that
company do not face heavy expenditure and also proved as the good corporate citizen.
B): Corporate social responsibility of travel and tourism sector
As the industry is working for developing holiday plan for Caribbean Island, it is
necessary for them to take care of their corporate social responsibility. Different issues are there
with Caribbean Islands which have to be faced by the staff members and visitors of the
companies while staying there (Supanti, Butcher and Fredline, 2015). Form this, the industry
have to do some Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) activities through which they can
manage peace. This will also help the organisation to increase its image in the minds of people. Protection to employee on the changing climate conditions: The major issue with
Caribbean Island is related to the continuous change of climate. For this, travel and tourism
industry has to give protection to its employee and other people from changing climate of
Caribbean Island (Takkar, 2015). This will help them to feel safe at the travelling
destination. They can give protection through availability of different services such as
collection of things which are helpful at the time of sudden climate change. For this, they
should also distribute essential things to the people who are living there. Welfare of society and employee: Travel and tourism industry should also work for the
development of society which exists in the Caribbean Island. Through this, the companies
will be able to do effective corporate social responsibility. This can be done through
establishing some events such as developing education system and providing necessary
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facilities to the people living there (Smith and Ong, 2015). They can also make availability
of essential food products which are required for living.
 Development of society and people: The organisation can also make improvement in
providing different services such as providing hospitality provisions to the people or
providing them emergency services which will help in making their life easy. Apart from
this, the organisation can also give facilities to their employees so that they will stay good at
their workplace (Takkar, 2015). Other than this, the organisation can also work for
developing schools and care homes for kids, so they can at least complete their primary
education easily.
CONCLUSION
This report concludes the legal and regulatory framework which is useful for the travel
and tourism sector. In this way, visitors do not face any issues while travelling to the UK.
Furthermore, the report concludes that health and safety impacts the travel and tourism sector in
a positive manner. Lastly, ethical dilemmas have been dealt in an appropriate manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Anton, D. K and Shelton, D. L., 2011. Environmental protection and human rights. Cambridge
University Press.
Barnetson, B., 2012. No right to be safe: justifying the exclusion of Alberta farm workers from
health and safety legislations. Socialist Studies/Études Socialistes. 8(2).
Boubakri, N. and Ghouma, H., 2010. Control/ownership structure, creditor rights protection, and
the cost of debt financing: International evidence. Journal of Banking & Finance. 34(10).
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De George, R. T., 2011. Business ethics. Pearson Education India.
DesJardins, J. R. and McCall, J. J., 2014. Contemporary issues in business ethics. Cengage
Learning.
Ferrell, O. C. and Fraedrich, J., 2016. Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson
Education.
Gouws, M., 2010. Consumer's Right to Disclosure and Information: Comments on the Plain
Language Provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, A. S. Afr. Mercantile LJ. 22. p.79.
Guido, G. W., 2010. Legal & ethical issues in nursing. Pearson.
Guney, M. and Zagury, G. J., 2012. Heavy metals in toys and low-cost jewelry: critical review
of US and Canadian legislations and recommendations for testing. Environmental science
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Hayek, F. A., 2012. Law, legislation and liberty: a new statement of the liberal principles of
justice and political economy. Routledge.
Hesselink, M. W., 2010. Towards a sharp distinction between b2b and b2c? On consumer,
commercial and general contract law after the Consumer Rights Directive. European
Review of Private Law. 18(18). pp.57-102.
Hoffman, W. M., Frederick, R. E. and Schwartz, M. S., 2014. Business ethics: Readings and
cases in corporate morality. John Wiley & Sons.
Koffman, L. and Macdonald, E., 2010. The law of contract. Oxford University Press.
Kokkoris, I., 2010. Merger control in Europe: the gap in the ECMR and national merger
legislations. Routledge.
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Mak, V., 2010. Standards of protection: In search of the'average consumer'of EU law in the
Proposal for a Consumer Rights Directive. European Review of Private Law. 18.
Medlik, S., 2012. Dictionary of travel, tourism and hospitality. Routledge.
Raj Adhikari, D. and Gautam, D. K., 2010. Labor legislations for improving quality of work life
in Nepal. International Journal of law and management. 52(1). pp.40-53.
Shaw, W., 2016. Business ethics: A textbook with cases. Cengage Learning.
Shetty, S. and et.al., 2010. Awareness of consumer protection act among doctors in Udaipur
City, India. Journal of Dentistry of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. 7(1). pp.19-23.
Svantesson, D. and Clarke, R., 2010. Privacy and consumer risks in cloud computing. Computer
Law & Security Review. 26(4). pp.391-397.
Trevino, L. K. and Nelson, K. A., 2010. Managing business ethics. John Wiley & Sons.
Online
ETHICAL / LEGAL / LEGISLATION. 2016. [Online]. Availability through: http://www.data-
archive.ac.uk/create-manage/consent-ethics/legal?index=1. [Accessed on: 3rd June, 2016].
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