Solutions to Common Legal Issues at Your Business

Every small to mid-sized business shares a few common problems that may start out as unaddressed business problems and they morph into legal issues. Some of these could have been dealt with by the management team in a way that keeps the problems from escalating into something more. Problems range from unaddressed safety issues in plants to employee issues and contract disputes. The key is to resolve what can be resolved before it becomes a major issue and an impediment to your company's growth.

Here are some top issues these businesses experience:

   1. Safety issues. Perhaps your company is not large enough to have its own safety officer within the company. As a result, there may be issues that have not been addressed such as potholes in the cement floor, or equipment with metal pieces protruding, or the set up of the equipment within the plant causes the output from the machines to be loaded in a way that can cause injury, or equipment that is leaking fluids or oils on the floor that can cause injury to your team members. A safety officer would be responsible for inspecting the items in the plant that cause problems, cuing them up to be fixed, training the team to make sure that what they are doing that could cause concerns are remedied through training.

If you do not have a safety officer, you can have an outside expert review your facility for issues and get them addressed so that your plant is safe. Many companies also have a suggestion box for team members to put in their issues on safety along with a good remedy to fix the issues. Some companies will give bonuses to their employees for great suggestions. In any event, safety issues or concerns should be on the list for each meeting held by the plant manager to make sure things are properly addressed.

   2. Team issues. One thing that used to be more prevalent but is still an ongoing issue unfortunately, is employees bringing attitudes and negative opinions about people who are different than them to the job. This doesn't just affect the general team members; it also rises into management. Many times, these issues involve a manager and how they handle their direct reports. Sometimes, managers come to the job with preconceived stereotypes or prejudices from their background or upbringing. This makes them treat people unfairly and they may not want people of certain color, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation on their team. Their version of management is not legally allowed but they may not be aware of it, or don't want to change. This may result in sexual harassment claims, discrimination claims, team members leaving the company, or worse. Businesses must make sure when they bring in employees, especially management, that they match the culture of the company, as well as what is legally acceptable. If it does not match, the person should not be hired.

The issues referred to here can be diminished by a good hiring policy that makes it clear to potential hires what is not acceptable at your business. In addition, it is important to add training for people once they are hired to cement what is acceptable and what is not. It also requires an open-door policy for team members to express their issues in a positive way with no retribution to lessen the results caused by potential bad behavior.

   3. Contract disputes. One of the biggest issues that causes contract disputes is a mismatch in what the team manager thinks that the other side should be providing and what they receive. This can happen because that manager fails to read the contract, fails to note terms that would become problems, one-sided agreements, or fails to negotiate terms that will guarantee that the company will get what they think is necessary from the contract.

Business owners assume that their management team are all capable of knowing how to negotiate a great contract, one that protects the interests of the company. Yet, the management team may have little or no training on what they must have in the agreement to protect the interests of the company. A better route would be to have training for these managers who will be responsible for negotiation and execution of the contracts so that they do a better job of articulating what should be contained in the contract, and they get what they intended.

A preventative measure is to have the managers check out the other companies to see if they have complaints or lawsuits against them, or what their general reputation is in the industry. If the management team plans properly and leaves enough time to take these measures, there may be less problems with the fulfillment of the contracts. Another way around contract issues is to have a lawyer review all contracts and only allow certain people to sign-off on them after legal review.

Business owners and leaders can avoid major legal issues by creating good business systems and policies to preclude the wrong result. Providing proper training to the team to keep their skillset current and in line with what will produce the best results for the company is also a must. Bringing in the right expertise into the business will also contribute to less legal issues that become “fires” in your business. Hiring ad hoc attorneys as needed is not efficient or cost effective. Using the right fit outsourced general counsel who works as part of your team will allow issues to be recognized before they become major problems and making sure these issues don't reappear if you had them in the past. It is a service that is all too often overlooked but can make a dramatic difference in a company's ability to focus on core business and stay out of legal troubles.

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Denice Gierach

Gierach Law Firm

Denice Gierach is an attorney, CPA, Northwestern University business master's graduate, and has owned several businesses from real estate to manufacturing. She is the lead attorney at Gierach Law Firm in the Chicago area. With more than 30 years of experience, she has been a respected and sought-after resource for businesses looking to grow, sell, solve problems, and succeed long term. Her insights across business areas gives a fuller lens to business issues and solutions, and helps businesses grow and succeed with less time spent on legal issues and other time-consuming problems.

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