Channel Lincolnshire

There are people whose live's have touched highs and/or lows that most of us cannot begin to understand.

I met “K” a few weeks ago when I attended an event and filmed an interview about the life she had led originally in Watford before through no fault of her own she ended up in Newark living in a refuge with her 2 children.

Having just read through an employment advice update from a company extolling the virtues of their publication, why am surprised that the rules of employment are so ridiculously complex? 

Then I have to take a different perspective and consider why a young family friend, fresh out of university has taken a number of consecutive “jobs” on a self-employed basis which have frankly just been an abuse  –  he has been denied commission and often worked well below national minimum wage, sometime being unpaid for long periods and having to run around for miles in his own car at his own expense.

If you run a small business you probably don’t have the time to keep up to date on all the legislation and have policies for everything from use of social media in work time to the working time directive, so what are the alternative?

• the simplest is not to employ anyone, or not worry about employment legislation?
• the second is to work with contractors, but you need to make sure that they pass the Revenues tests as self employed individuals or companies.
• you may opt to use a professional advisor, there are some good ones around, or
• you may chose to investigate the Federation of Small Businesses who provide some degree of support within an annual fee. 

What do you do for your business?

Being in business can be very lonely.  During the last couple of weeks I have been to business events in Newark and Market Deeping and was reminded strongly of the value of interacting with other people, particularly other business people.

I met Rue Reynolds the centre manager at Newark Beacon which provides office accommodation and more  –  but listen to Rue explain the benefits that a small or micro business can gain by working with them ..................

Click here for contact information on the Newark Beacon web site.