Business Law Report: English Legal System, Obligations and ADR

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the English legal system, detailing its structure and sources of law, including legislation, case law, and equity. It analyzes the role of the government in law-making, outlining the stages of bill passage. The report further explores employer obligations, such as health and safety, worker's compensation, harassment prevention, and equal opportunities. It also addresses a case scenario involving a workplace accident, assessing the legal responsibilities of the employer. Finally, it introduces the concept of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), recommending alternative legal solutions and justifying their use. The report covers relevant legislation like the NMW Act 1998, Working Time Regulations 1998, Trade Union & Labour Relations Act 1992, and Employment Rights Act 1996, providing a thorough examination of key business law principles.

BUSINESS LAW

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Structure of English Legal system and sources of law...........................................................1
P2 Role of government in law making and its stages..................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Employer’s legal obligation in various terms.........................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Appropriate legal solutions.....................................................................................................7
P5 Justifications for legal solutions.............................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P6(a) Concept and benefits of Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedure..................................8
(b) Recommend an alternate legal solution...............................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
In this present world, effective system and procedure of law and legislation can be treated
as a significant part for a country. There are various kinds of law, which can be bifurcated as
business law, corporate law, company law etc. Business law is a law which can be termed as a
concept, which encompasses legislations governing commercial, sales, commercial and
employment law (Bagley and Dauchy, 2011). So, considering this, this present report will be
discussing about nature of English legal structure along with role of government in law making.
Apart from this, employer’s obligations in terms of diversified range of regulations will also be
discussed. In addition to this, process of Alternate Dispute resolution system will also be given
effect.
TASK 1
P1 Structure of English Legal system and sources of law
In context of English legal system, hierarchical structure of courts and judiciary system is
involved. In this aspect, decision formed by higher court is bounding upon lower court. It can be
based upon the doctrine of Precedent (Bagley, 2010). Supreme court, which is known as House
of Lords, is at the top of list of Hierarchy of legal structure. It is further divided into two parts,
which can be classified as Criminal and Civil. Succeeding this, the next court can be recognised
as The Court of Appeal. Then in next magistrates and county courts are situated.
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Figure 1English Legal structure
(Source: English Law, 2017)
In this light, there are various sources of law as well, which can be characterised as:
 Legislation: It can be considered as a primary source of law which is related with
clarification of legal rules and regulations by an authorised authority. In this light,
legislation can serve many objectives which are effective regulation, authorisation,
supplying of funds, etc. (Bodie, Kane and Marcus, 2014). It is a duty of Parliamentary
legislation, to frame new laws and; regulations. It also decentralises its powers and
capabilities to its lower bodies.
 Case laws and judicial precedents: These are characterised as decided case laws on the
basis of which judiciary system and judges of courts frame any decision in case of any
related issue. This concept is widely adopted by Civil Law system. However, decisions
made by courts are also referred as a significant source of legal system and laws.
 Equity: It can also be considered as a part of law which prevails mostly in England and
Wales. It coincides over common law, but on the other side its application is
discretionary in nature.
 Statutory law: This is a concept which has been laid down by an association of
legislature or by a single legislature body. It can be considered as a contrary to customary
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and oral law. This law is consisting of several legal rules and legislations which are
related to rules and regulations of administrative and executive agencies.
In addition to this, there are effective compliances and norms which should be adhered by
business organizations. In other words, there are several sources of laws which are required t be
complied by organizations. These can be characterised as:
 NMW Act 1998: It is known as National Minimum Wage act, 1998. This act has been
enacted in 1998 in aspect of creation of minimum wages to be paid to workers and
employees throughout UK. This initiative has been taken by labour party of UK
(Cameron, 2017). This act emphasises on to provide for modifications and amendments
in relation to enactment regarding remuneration of employees working in an
organization.
 Working Time Regulations 1998: This act is enacted with an aim to apply working
directives in regard to time of working in companies by EU. In this aspect, an employer
of an organization is under an obligation to adhere with rules and regulations specified in
this regard. In other words, it is an act which is authorised to govern the time of working
of people in UK.
 Trade Union & Labour Relations Act 1992: This legislation has been governed with a
view point to regulate and conduct labour law in UK. This Statute is applicable all over in
UK. In addition to this, the main moto of this act is to determine trade unions a state in
aspect of their legal duties and rights.
 Employment Rights Act 1996: This act basically aims at providing employees and
workers in UK with basic rights, which should be allotted to them while their working in
company. It is an act of parliament which focuses on that employees should be provided
with basic rights that are:
 They must not be retrenched without rendering a proper notice and opportunity of
being heard should also be provided to them.
 All conditions of contract must be in written format (Cheeseman and Garvey,
2014).
P2 Role of government in law making and its stages
Government has a competent authority to form laws and legislation in order to effect
legal working of a country. In this light, it can be said that Parliament of UK is accredited to
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formation of law and its enactment as well. So, in this regard, there is a role of UK government
to pass a bill as an act, which can be characterised as:
 First reading: It is the first stage of bill making which does not consist of any debate or
discussion over a case or an issue. It can be considered as a phase in which bill is
represented for first reading in front of committee members.
 Second reading: This is a second stage in which discussions and debate over general and
fundamental principles of proposed act is performed. Then, it is proceeded over to
committee stage.
 Committee stage: In this stage, the bill is considered or discussed about principles by
committee members and MPs or other related people. They are also responsible to
proposed any kind of change and modifications required (Crane and Matten, 2016).
 Report stage: After an assessment of amendments and any alterations that has been
proposed by committee, it is succeeded by reporting of bill with modifications to the
House. Overview of bill is performed in this phase of process of law making.
 Third reading: It includes final discussion and overview of bill after effective and
efficient application of amendments. However, ever clause is not paid attention.
 Royal assents: In end, after getting an approval from Lords and Commons, proposed bill
is turned up into an act. Afterwards, a bill then becomes law which can be demonstrated
as an act of Parliament.
Likewise, thus, statutory and common law are two significant sources of legal system of a
country. So, in this regard, statutory law is a concept which is passed and approved by legislature
(Czinkota, Ronkainen and Moffett, 2011). On the other hand, common law is a type of legal
aspect which can be seen as an outcome of varied judicial range made by courts.
Difference in between statutory and common law
Statutory law Common law
 It is also known as law which is made
in written form.
 The nature of Statutory law is
prescriptive in nature.
 It originates from government and
legislature.
 It can also be known as case law.
 Common law can also be recognised as
of instructive nature.
 It originates from precedent or judiciary
system.
 Common law is operated at procedural
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 It is operated at substantive level,
which is issued by different
government agencies.
phase, which in rise with decisions
made by judges.
TASK 2
P3 Employer’s legal obligation in various terms
(a)It can be said that employers, in recent times, are obligated under a duty to adhere or
comply with several law and legislations in premises of their business organization. These
legislations can be described as follows:
 Occupational Health and Safety: In context of maintaining and sustaining health and
safety measures in a premises of an organization, an employer is liable to perform its
functions in regard to Health and Safety at Work act, 1974. This act is required to be
enacted in aspect of regulation and enforcement of health, safety and welfare in respect of
workplace.
 Employer is under an obligation to assure principles of cited act in working of its
company (DiMatteo, 2010). In this light, he should make sure that employees and
workers should work with proper compliance of health and safety measures. Workers Compensation: This signifies rendering wage replacements and benefits to its
employees in form of insurance, while their employment period. It is due to reason of
mandatory relinquishment of rights of employees to sue their employers, in case of any
act of Tort initiated by them. This follows principles in related to Workmen compensation
act, 1974.
 In this aspect, employer has to ensure that each and every worker of employees of
his organization has a right to claim compensation, in case of any injuries of miss-
happening.
 Harassment: In this context, employers of a business institution is liable to prevent its
employees from any type of harassment. Also, it can be said that the main aim of
Harassment Act, 1977 is to prevent and protect victims of Harassment.
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 In this regard, it can be said that employers are held responsible to protect its
employees from harassing behaviours occurred or to be occur in course of their
employment.
 Equal Opportunities: It signifies the need and requirement of rendering equal
opportunities to its employees, by an employer in business corporation (Kinicki and
Kreitner, 2012). Equal opportunities mean that each and every worker is equal and they
should be provided with equal opportunities of growth and prosperity.
 Employer should not discriminate among its employees and equal and same
chances and opportunities for growth should be given to them. Also, it can be
related with rendering equal wages and pay to all its employees.
In this light, it has been assessed that if employer does not follow and adhere with all
requirements and compliances, then it will create a negative impact on them. It can be recognised
in terms of law suits, bad and evil reputation created by news headlines and other sources of
social media.
(b) With reference to the given case scenario, a 16 years old girl is working in a food
outlet for the purpose of cooking fries at a frying range. She skipped due to water that was
leaking from an ice making machine and instinctively put out her hand to break herself from
falling down, so I this course she abruptly let her hand into deep fat fryer comprising of hot oil of
360-degree F, which led to arise of severe burns. In addition to this, the outlet was short staffed
that day. Also, team leader was working on tills instead of monitoring safety.
In this case, it was held that, accident was caused due to fault in ice making machine.
Also, staff was not in adequate quantity in food outlet. So, considering this, it was a mistake of
team leader who was authorised to take care of its staff.
However, in this aspect, 16 years old is a legal age to work. But there is a restriction that
15-16 years old children cannot work for more than 8 hours (Law, 2010). So, in accordance with
given rule of child employment, cited girl of 16 years old is legible to work (Child employment,
2017).
With respect to given case scenario, it was the duty of employee to take care of its staff
and employees. According to relevant section of Health and Safety Act, 1974, employer is under
a duty to take care of its employees as well as to assure adequate health and safety or welfare at
work place of its organization. Furthermore, employer is liable to make sure safe operation of
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machines and equipment’s established in premises of organization. Along with this, proper and
effective training should be provided to its employees so that they can be able to handle
dangerous substances.
So, with effect to above said provisions, team leader breached his duty of care and not
paid attention in regards to safety and welfare of its employees as well as effective handling of
machines.
TASK 3
P4 Appropriate legal solutions
(1) In given case of Calvin who is a designer working in a firm. One day, when his
employer, Donna arrived at work, she found that him acting suspiciously. Also, she discovered
that 100 pounds was missing. Also, other employees were also present at that time. Then,
suddenly, she dismissed Calvin claiming that he is a thief.
In accordance with the provisions of Part X, Unfair Dismissal of Employment Rights
Act, 1996, it has been evaluated that employer should provide all rights and obligations to which
employees are entitled (Mallor and et. al., 2012). Also, this act also provides that all acts and
regulations should be in written format. in addition to this, while dismissal of an employee, an
employer should render a proper notice and reasons for removal. Also, an opportunity of being
heard should also be provided to dismissed employee. Nevertheless, employee can also file
complaint to tribunal within a specified period of time, against his employer for unfair dismissal.
So, in accordance with the given provisions of said act, Calvin can file a case against
Donna for unfair discharge from his employment.
(2) In this given scenario, Kelvin ‘s father Dan was an owner of a small convenience
store. A fire destroyed the store. So, Dan eventually, opened another store for obtaining fire
insurance claim. Also, the proposal asked how may claims did you taken earlier. So Dan
answered no because he thought that he took loan 2 years back but only 23 months were spent.
So, the insurance company refused to pay loan.
After taking consideration to this, it can be argued that insurance company cannot refuse
claim of Dan. As there is no time bound of asking for another claim in respect of fire insurance.
So, in this regard, Dan can claim insurance for fire, caused in its store.
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P5 Justifications for legal solutions
In accordance with the case of Calvin, who is a designer in firm owned by Donna. Donna
suddenly fires Calvin from his employment. In this light, provisions of unfair dismissal will be
applicable. As per the provisions and norms of Unfair dismissal under Employment Rights act,
1996, no employee can be terminated on the basis of unfair reasons and other aspects (Mann and
Roberts, 2011). In addition to this, no employee can be terminated without giving a proper notice
of minimum 1 week’s to an employee who is about to be dismissed. Moreover, dismissal should
be done on the basis of fair and acceptable reasons. Also, it is not permitted by the cited act to
proceed with a litigation against a person who is still working for their company. Moreover, right
to reasonable notice will also be breached in case of unfair dismissal. Termination should not be
harsh and rude.
So, in this regard, Donna cannot dismiss Calvin, just on the basis of suspicion and doubt.
Beside this, she does not have any proof against him. Therefore, Calvin can claim against
decision of Donna.
Likewise, this, in case of Dan ‘s father who has claimed in regard to fire insurance for his
store. In this context, insurance company is not in situation to refuse the claim. Considering this,
it can be said that insurance companies can refuse claims for the following reasons:
 Inaccurate or inappropriate information.
 If property is not adequately maintained.
 If proper contents are not mentioned.
 If there are circumstances of Partial pay out (Spalding, 2011).
After going through these provisions, it can be said that insurance company cannot refuse
the claim of Dan. However, Dan can file a claim insurance company along with asking reasons
for rejection. Moreover, in case of rejection of claim, a person can adapt corrective steps and in
end, Financial Ombudsman should be contacted. Hence, insurance company cannot reject the
clam of Dan.
TASK 4
P6(a) Concept and benefits of Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedure
Alternative dispute resolution is a process in which there is a set system of resolving
issues and disputes occurred or to be occur among employees of a company or even parties to the
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contract (Nichols, 2012). In other words, it can also be said as External Dispute Resolution
procedure. In this regard, it set as a system which act as a medium through which disagreeing
parties sort out their issues and disputes, without going for litigation and proceedings of court. In
other words, it can be termed as a collective method which assists different ways through parties
can come to a common point.
Components of ADR are as:
 Arbitration.
 Mediation.
 Negotiation.
 Litigation.
 Consultant.
 Partnering.
Various advantages and disadvantages of this process can be classified as:
Advantages:
 It is less time consuming and informal process which saves energy of persons associated
in it.
 ADR is a speedy procedure in which expert mediator will get involved in this procedure,
by obtaining al information connected with issue.
Disadvantages:
 It always does not result in a positive outcome, to resolve an issue.
 Arbitration awards are final and binding upon parties to an agreement (Siedel and
Haapio, 2010).
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Figure 2Types of Alternative Dispute Resolution process
(Source: Alternative Dispute Resolution)
(b) Recommend an alternate legal solution
ADR is a process which aims at dispute resolution among parties to a particular issue.
Wit reference to given case scenario, Antwon, who is an owner of a firm, had a dispute from
Tyrell, the owner of another company who is a maker of computer software. There was a dispute
among them for any reason.
In this light, they can adopt the method namely, Arbitration, for purpose of dispute
resolving among them. Arbitration is a concept in which a person, known as Arbitrator is
authorised to resolve issues and arguments by obtaining evidences from either side pf parties to
an agreement. Also, arbitration can be said as less formal than a trial. Arbitration can be
classified as a binding or nonbinding (Snyder and Deaux, 2012). It is a better solution which
offers effective range of solution by saving time and energy by avoiding unnecessary litigation.
CONCLUSION
In this present report, it has been concluded that business law is considered as a
legislation which should be properly complied by each and every organization. In this light,
system of English legal system has also been discussed. Also, employer’s legal obligations in
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respect of its employees in terms of workmen’s compensation, harassment and other related
things has also been mentioned in this present report. In addition to this, several methods of ADR
has also been demonstrated.
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REFERENCES
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Cheeseman, H. R. and Garvey, J. R., 2014. Business law. Pearson.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
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Czinkota, M., Ronkainen, I. A. and Moffett, M. H., 2011. International business. Wiley.
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Law, D. W., 2010. A measure of burnout for business students. Journal of education for
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Siedel, G. J. and Haapio, H., 2010. Using proactive law for competitive advantage. American
Business Law Journal. 47(4). pp.641-686.
Snyder, M. and Deaux, K., 2012. Personality and social psychology. In The Oxford handbook of
personality and social psychology.
Spalding, A. B., 2011. The Irony of International Business Law: US Progressivism, China’s New
Laissez Faire, and Their Impact in the Developing World.
Online
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https://www.gov.uk/child-employment/restrictions-on-child-employment>. [Accessed on
19th July, 2017].
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