Business Law Report: Legal Obligations, Solutions, and Contracts

This report provides a comprehensive overview of business law, beginning with an examination of the structure of the English legal system and its various sources, including civil and criminal law, the role of the Supreme Court, and the constitution. It then delves into the role of government in creating and applying common law, outlining the steps involved in the legislative process. The report further explores the legal obligations of employers, such as providing safe working conditions, compensating workers, and ensuring equal opportunities. It also analyzes the impact of employment and contract law on business operations, including a case study involving workplace safety. Finally, the report discusses legal solutions for business problems, including alternative dispute resolution processes and their benefits, concluding with a discussion of the importance of these laws in resolving legal conflicts and promoting ethical business practices.

Business Law

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SECTION 1......................................................................................................................................1
P1. Structure of English legal system and different sources of law.......................................1
P2. Role of government in making and applying the common law.......................................3
SECTION 2......................................................................................................................................4
(a) Legal obligations of employers.........................................................................................4
(b) Impact of employment and contract law on business.......................................................5
SECTION 3......................................................................................................................................7
P4. Legal solutions for business problems.............................................................................7
P5. Justification of solutions...................................................................................................8
SECTION 4......................................................................................................................................9
(a) Concept and benefits of Using Alternative Dispute Rresolution Pprocess.......................9
(b) Alternative legal solution for business problem.............................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Business law is a combination of various rules and regulations which assist in forming or
running business in an effective or ethical manner. Every business enterprise is liable to follow
the business rules of a country in which it is operating (What Is Business Law? - Definition &
Overview, 2017). These laws and regulations help an organisation in avoiding or solving legal
situations or conflicts arise in business environment. For effectively executing the commercial
activities, employer is liable to give description to employees about all their rights and duties at
workplace. Various laws for example employment law help employer in making policies or
procedures regarding management of employees at workplace. Various laws help or define the
roles and responsibilities of employers and employees towards each other at workplace. Present
report is based on various concepts or sources of business law. Role of government in making
law and its application on different business activities is detailed under this report. Legal
obligation of an employer and impact of contract law on business activities is also described
here. Apart from that, solutions to various business problems and benefits of that solution is also
mentioned. All these rules or regulations help country or organisations in solving the legal
conflicts if any arise and make the situation better.
SECTION 1
P1. Structure of English legal system and different sources of law
English legal system is divided into many parts in United Kingdom which tells about the
rules and regulations of executing various business activities along with describing the
responsibility of an employer towards its workers. Basically, the structure is divided into two
parts: Civil law: This is an organised system that includes various rules and regulations which
help people in solving the issues quickly and effectively. All regulations are arranged in
codes under this (Johnson, 2013). It helps in solving the critical issues for example if a
firm terminates an employee without giving him proper notice then this issue can be
solved with the help of civil law.
 Criminal law: When one person harms the other intentionally then these types of issues
are solved under the concept of criminal law. It helps in solving the issues or cases such
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as murder or when one person assesses something important of another without getting
permission from him.
Supreme Court is the superior body in English legal system and everybody or parties
involved in the disputed are liable to accept or obey the decision whether they are satisfied or not
satisfied with it. After the decision of Supreme Court, individuals cannot go anywhere for the
settlement of this dispute. Parties involved in dispute can solve the issue by following these
steps:
 Firstly, they can go to magistrate court or tribunal for the judgement and if party is not
satisfied with the judgement then it can take support of country court which settles the
issues related with serious offences.
 After that, if party is not satisfied then he can approach high court which is the superior
body of tribunal (English Legal System Lecture Notes, 2017). This is mainly divided into
parties such as:
◦ Chancery part or Queen's beach which is also known as family division
◦ Other one is divisional court which is also known as administrative tribunal
◦ After all these, at last, party can go or can take the support of Supreme Court.
(Source 1: Structure of the English Court System, 2017)
Sources of law: Constitution: Written document contains different rules and regulations as well as
describe about the basic rights or fundamental duties of citizens which are known as
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constitution. This is made by government of country for protecting the interest of people
and make them aware about their basic rights and duties. If rights of a person are violated
then he or she can sue in the court against the person responsible. Legislature: It is a government body whose main responsibility is to maintain the current
status of law. This influences every business to follow these. Executives: Under this, orders are passed by the approval of president and every person
is liable to follow new rules or regulations. In absence of signature of president, no bill
gets passed and proposal does not become an act. Judiciaries: This is made up of various bodies known as courts which have the
responsibility to take decisions for solving issues. Judiciary panel listens to both the
parties for taking fair decision (Robson, 2010). It includes the following:
◦ Common law: Under this, decisions are taken on the previous judgement make by the
court.
◦ Case law: In this, past decisions help in taking effective issues. It helps in knowing
the relation of case from various areas.
P2. Role of government in making and applying the common law
Government of every country plays an important role in making or giving shape to all
rules and regulations so that critical issues related to various areas can be resolved. In
formulating various acts, both parliament and government play an effective role for protecting
the interest or rights of citizens. These laws help in the development of country and minimise the
chances of disputes. For implementing laws and rules, following steps should be followed by the
government:
 Firstly, a proposal is made including all relevant points required to control the negative
situations and minimise their effect in an effective manner.
 After that, it is presented in front of higher authorities or cabinet ministers to get their
opinions or suggestion on the proposal. After that,
 If proposal gets acceptance or get passed by the ministers then it gets converted into a bill
that involves necessary provisions and sections to decrease the effect of negative
situations.
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 At last, bill is presented in parliament house for getting their consent or advice and after
that, bill it becomes an act. For its approval, government does various efforts so that
negatively situations can be effectually handled.
For presenting bill in front of parliament house, authorities have to follow the following
stages:
 Firstly, document is presented in front of all members so that they can understand rules
and regulations as well as main objective behind the same.
 Queries of members are solved by government to get vote of all members in the favour of
bill. More votes in the favour of proposal make it an act which helps in controlling
various situations.
 At last, argument takes place among the members of parliament for passing an act and
after the discussion, all members come to a decision which is known as final judgement.
Majority of vote in the favour of proposal makes it an act (Halbert and Ingulli, 2011). For
getting maximum votes, government make various efforts and solve the queries of large
number of people or members of the parliament.
Modifications are also done in the act as required and then a committee is formed having
20 MPs who take decision regarding this. After the final judgement, it is sent to Monarch for
getting their assent so that bill can get converted into a legal document.
There are various types of laws in the UK made by legal body. These laws are the
combination of various rules and regulations which help in solving the problems of public in an
effective manner. It also decreases negative effect of conflicts hampering the lives of other
people.
SECTION 2
(a) Legal obligations of employers
Employer is the person who has responsibility to hire skilled candidates for filling
vacancy in organisation. He is also known as the job provider. Responsibility of an employer can
be understood by the following points: Occupational health and safety act: According to this act, employer is liable to provide
healthy or safe working conditions to its employees (Weber, 2010). Basic resources
should be provided by the employer so that employees can easily perform their duties.
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Risk free working environment increases the productivity of workers. Proper training
should also be provided to new joiners so that they can learn about the procedure of doing
their jobs and can handle different type of equipment at the workplace. Compensation of workers: According to minimum wage act, every employer is liable to
give minimum wage to all his workers. So, they can fulfil their basic needs of daily life.
This amount is decided by the government of country according to inflation rate that exist
in the market and changes according to time (Cheeseman and Garvey, 2014). Along with
this, if an employee gets injured during the working hours then it is the responsibility of
employer to compensate the injured worker within 24 hours so that he can take proper
medical facilities. In case of any violence, employer is responsible to provide
accommodation to the worker. Equal opportunity: As per Equal opportunity act 2010, employers should give equal
growth opportunity to all his workers and should not discriminate them on the basis of
their age, colour, gender or culture (Kitagawa, 2016). Discrimination not only lowers the
productivity of workers but also negatively affects their morale. Equal opportunities
should be given to all workers so that they can work effectively. Same salary should be
given by the employer to his employees who are performing same kind of job. Along
with this, all rights and facilities should be provided to the disabled workers.
 Harassment: As per this, employer should treat all his workers in a fair and ethical
manner. If employer treats his workers in an unfair manner then this will put a negative
impact on their mental or physical health which adversely affects the business
performance. Harassment of employees is totally banned by the government. In an
enterprise, a stem should be introduce where all subordinated can give their suggestions
for betterment. Feedback of workers can also be encouraged under this situation.
(b) Impact of employment and contract law on business
Employment or contract law is made for increasing the efficiency of business operations.
If business did not follow these than they have to pay the penalty fees decide by the government.
Employment laws help or influence the employer in creating good or better work conditions for
workers (Grundfest, 2010). It helps workers in getting fair remuneration for their work and
guides in solving business related issues. Discrimination among workers on the basis of their
age, gender, culture or caste is one of the major issues in today's enterprise and equal opportunity
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act or workers discrimination act assists the employer in solving same. It also describes the
standard process of an employee termination and solving critical issues. According to
employment act, it is the responsibility of an employer to provide proper training to workers for
performing risky jobs so that number of accidents can be minimised.
In the case study, a girl who is 16 years old who was working in a food outlet get injure
by falling down in the slippery floor and his hand goes to the deep fry. After this event, the first
question which arise is the working of a 16 year old girl in a food outlet which is illegal and
during the whole event team leader was busy in doing their work. Management fails to give
attention to that girl and proper medical facilities were also not provided to the girl. In case of
proper monitoring, accidents can be avoided. As there was lack of staff members and that's why
proper treatment did not given to little girl. As that girl was unaware about these kind of
accidents so, it is the responsibility of manager to tell her about all these situations so that she
would work safely.
In case of proper attention by management, number of accidents can be minimised at the
workplace.
Contract law: When an employer selects an employee for performing a job in the
enterprise then a contract is signed by both the parties containing all rights or duties. By signing
the contract, both parties become bound to follow to this help for maintain a good relations
between both the parties (Kinicki and Kreitner, 2012). As per the given case, little girl can sue
against company to get the compensation. All risky working conditions should be described in
the contract so that accidents can be minimised. Increasing number of accidents negatively affect
the image of organisation which can be understood by the following points:
 It decreases the brand value or negatively affect positive image of company.
 Reduce the sales or revenues of firm
 Increases the training cost of organisation
SECTION 3
P4. Legal solutions for business problems
Employment act of country includes the recruitment process of an individual.. Every
enterprise is responsible to follow the process for both recruitment as well as termination.
Mainly, there are two types of termination which can take place in the enterprise where one is
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unfair dismissal or the other one is wrongful dismissal (Snyder and Deaux, 2012). In the
wrongful dismissal, employee is terminated by employer by breaking the term of contract and
under unfair dismissal, candidate gets termination without giving any prior information.
According to various laws, every employer or firm is liable to serve the prior notice of
termination to employee at correct time. Number of incidents can take place or rise in the work
environment which raise serious problems at the workplace (Foss and Knudsen, 2013). As per
the employment act, it is necessary to give notice to the candidate so that they can search new
jobs for them. As it is illegal to fire a candidate by giving him a single notice, proper number of
warnings should be given to that employee and so, he can improve in the areas of lacking. Along
with this, training should also be given to them along with a chance to improve their
performance.
In case of unfair dismissal, employer fires the candidate without giving any fair reason of
termination. As in the given case study, termination of Calvin was both unfair and wrong. Donna
gives him instruction to leave the organisation before giving him any prior notice which was not
right. It is a right of worker to get notice of termination at least before a month. Donna terminates
Calvin on unethical basis as investigation should be done about who take the money. There were
four more employees other than than Calvin but Calvin was blamed due to suspicion. If Calvin
go to the court that at first this will hamper the image of fashion firm and than firm has to face
lot of troubles due to breach of contract. So, in order to solve the issues or find the guilty person,
investigation should be done to reach at the real thief. In this case, Mr Calvin has the following
rights: Reinstatement: Under this approach, court gives right to the employee to again join the
organisation on his post. But before making final decision, judge asks the question from
party whether he wants to join the enterprise or not as well as if this decision is
applicable. Re-engagement: In this, jury members decide whether individuals want to go back to the
same company or not by carrying out different job roles. This is done by the court so that
employees can fulfil their responsibilities of job without interference of others. Compensation: If employee does not accept any decision then the last decision which
court gives is compensation to him by the firm (Mann and Roberts, 2011). It includes all
the losses cause to employees including basic salary, incentives and all.
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 Right to get salary: Terminated employee has the right to get advanced salary of one
month.
 Evidence: Before terminating an employee, every employer or firm is responsible to
present effective evidence against the party who is guilty.
If Ms Donna wants to protect herself, then she they should have a proof against Calvin.
In second case, Dan, the owner of small store which get destroyed due to fire and in time
of filling the form dan got confused and than fill wrong information in the insurance form. After
some time, he opened a new store at another place which also got destroyed by fire and at this
time, insurance company denied to make him compensation and did not fulfil the claim. In this
situation, it is is the responsibility of an individual who is presenting the claim before insurance
company to reveal or provide fair information so that confusion can be eliminated from the mind
of both parties and right decision can be taken. Under the same, Dan can file a case against
insurance company that firm denies to give the compensation (Crane and Matten, 2016). So,
insurance company should pay claim to Dan with a letter of apology or inconvenience.
P5. Justification of solutions
Large number of conflicts arise in the business enterprise and parties involved in the
dispute are liable to follow the legal rules for solving the same. Both solutions to above critical
situations are according to the rules and regulations. It is better for both parties to solve the
conflict on their personal basis rather than to go in court. In the first case, if Calvin goes to the
court and file a suit against fashion home then brand image of the firm will get hamper and
market share of company will also go down. So, it is easy and convenient for both the parties to
solve issues outside the court. If they go to the court then both parties have to invest a large
amount of funds to its lawyers and need to fulfil other legal formalities. This method is very time
consuming and so, the best option for both parties is to solve the issue outside court.
In second case, same advice is given to insurance company or Dan to solve the issue
outside court. Going in court will hamper positive image of insurance company in the minds of
its customers and will give rise to various costs (DiMatteo, 2010). Another situation which can
rise if both fashion house or insurance company win the case which have very low chances. It is
not an effective solution to the problem and so, in both the cases, parties should do settlement
outside the court. Benefits of both the parties can be understood by following points:
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 If parties go to the court that matter will be disclose befog large number of people which
will hamper the image of insurance company and fashion house. This will provide
opportunity to external to interfere until the case get solved.
 Hiring of lawyer will give rise to the cost of both parties.
 Choosing court for settling the claim will consume time and both parties have to wait for
a long time.
 It negatively affects the brand image or reputation of firm
So, in both the cases, parties should try to solve the issue outside court.
SECTION 4
(a) Concept and benefits of Using Alternative Dispute Resolution Process
When two or more than two individuals come together for executing business activities,
conflict arise. When a dispute arise, parties have two options either go to the court or solve the
issue outside the court on personal basis. When parties use or go to the court then cost of fighting
case and fulfil other legal formalities serve as a big burden for all the parties involved. Solution
outside court or alternative solution can be used by the parties before going to the court. Reason
behind why parties choose the alternative solution is this is costly effective time saving process
(Nichols, 2012). Alternative solution to problem includes negotiation, conciliation, arbitration or
mediation. All these methods help or provide opportunity to both the parties to solve issues and
at the same time, maintain healthy business practices. In conciliation, both parties find the
solutions by keeping both parties happy and in arbitration, one individual does all the efforts for
getting maximum benefits. Mediators of the problems try to solve problem by finding the main
cause of problem (Spalding, 2011). One of the main advantages of using alternative solutions is
that it not only saves the time and cost of parties but also helps in finding the best solution with
minimum cost. Following steps can be followed by the parties involved in dispute for getting
effective solution to their problem:
 Parties can hire a third party who will listen both the parties or cause behind dispute. But
the person should be in relation of any party involved in the dispute.
 After that, both parties can disclose problems or issues being faced so that person can
exactly understand the problem or main cause behind that the same.
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 After listening to both the parties, third party can give his or her judgement according to
the facts and figures presented.
All these steps can be followed by the parties. Benefits of using this approach can be
understood by the following points:
 Charge of hiring a lawyer and fulfilling legal formalities gets saved
 Biasness is deleted on the time of giving final decision.
 Helps in finding effective solution without disclosing the matter to a large number of
people
(b) Alternative legal solution for business problem
As per the given case study, Tyrell and Antwon both are facing various business
problems since number of weeks. Efforts are made by both the parties to find an effective
solution but can not find by anyone (Posner, 2014). At present, both the parties want to maintain
healthy business relations and for this, they can approach a mediator or go for arbitration.
Mediator will help them in finding the real or main cause of problem and help them in finding
the best solution. After finding solution to the problem, agreement can be signed by both the
parties.
Under arbitration strategy, arbitrager will assist them in finding the best or cost effective
solution in minimum time. One of the main weaknesses of using this method is that arbitrager
charges a high fees when compared to mediator (Bagley, 2010). One of the main reasons behind
using alternative solutions is that it helps parties in getting optimum solution with minimum time
and also, supports in maintaining good working relations with business partners. By using
alternative solution, both parties can be benefited from the below advantages:
 It helps in properly maintaining business relations.
 Assist in finding the best solution to problem
 Removes favouritism among parties during the time of taking decision
 Saves both; the time and money of parties
 Confidentiality is one of the main advantages of this as it provides opportunity to both
parties to solve the issue behind door.
By considering all these benefits, it can be concluded that parties can go for alternative
business solution rather than to go in court.
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CONCLUSION
From the above information, it can be said that various laws and regulations help or assist
in running business activities and solve the issues. All these laws help business firm in achieving
smoothness in executing commercial operations. When a conflict takes place among parties then
they can solve it outside the court rather than to go in court. It has been assessed that alternative
solution saves both; time or cost of parties involved in the conflict. Business enterprises can
follow the rules and regulations given by English legal system. All these rules guide the
employer in making ethical human resource policies. It can be articulated from the report that
legal system tells that an employee should be given with proper warning by the employer before
getting terminated. By executing all business activities according to imposed laws by
government, efficiency in business operations can be increased. Further, parties involved in
dispute can use these regulations for finding better solutions to the problem.
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Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
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DiMatteo, L. A., 2010. Strategic contracting: contract law as a source of competitive advantage.
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Grundfest, J. A., 2010. The SEC's Proposed Proxy Access Rules: Politics, Economics, and the
Law. The Business Lawyer, pp.361-394.
Halbert, T. and Ingulli, E., 2011. Law and ethics in the business environment. Cengage Learning.
Johnson, L., 2013. Unsettledness Delaware Corporate Law: Business Judgment Rule, Corporate
Purpose. Del. J. Corp. L..38. p.405.
Kinicki, A. and Kreitner, R., 2012. Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills & best
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Nichols, P. M., 2012. The business case for complying with bribery laws. American Business
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Scholes, M. S., 2015. Taxes and business strategy. Prentice Hall.
Snyder, M. and Deaux, K., 2012. Personality and social psychology. In The Oxford handbook of
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Spalding, A. B., 2011. The Irony of International Business Law: US Progressivism, China’s New
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