Business law is broadly used to cover several acts and aspects. Still, the purview often may get Business law governs the operations and events in commercial activities, consisting of two primary types: regulation of commercial entities and regulation of commercial transactions. Laws have evolved over centuries and have had to adapt to changes in technology and society.
Common Types of Business Law
Mentioned below for your understanding are briefly explained some of the most common types of business law you will hear or read about in the news:
Employment Law
Especially in today's modern workplace, any company with even one employee needs to stay abreast of current employment laws. There are many areas where your company could face significant financial liability, not to mention the potential loss of reputation when there are reports of gender or racial discrimination, lack of insurance compensation, or mistreating workers.
These cases can be very detrimental to a business’s reputation and finances. While the best remedy is preventing such cases before they happen, sometimes the company might need an attorney representing clients in employment law cases, and it helps to have them on a retainer.
Immigration Law
Immigration law has quickly become one of the most common aspects of business law, especially while employing immigrants as talent. A business may require to bring contract-based, full-time, and extraordinary event employees from other countries, which requires adherence to immigration and work visa formalities which may vary in different provinces.
Contracts
From deals such as the sale of commercial property, lease agreements or the sale of goods and services, contracts assist all parties involved in ensuring that the terms and conditions, including compensation and termination, are mutually agreed upon. Contracts are legally binding and require litigation procedures as per business laws when there is a breach.
Unfair Business Practices
Alberta's unfair business practices law keeps different businesses in line while operating in the marketplace to maintain a level playing field. Some enterprises use unfair trade practices or deception to acquire a stake in the market, and a businessperson cannot waive such malpractices under the Consumer Protection Act.
Intellectual Property
Businesses patent their innovations and newly developed technologies or products to protect them from being copied by competitors. Copyright and branding laws are legally bound to protect the intellectual property rights holder's creative work. Also, the law of confidential business comes under this section.
Taxes
Businesses may have to pay and file various kinds of taxes and returns:
Income taxes
Sales tax, where all provinces and territories may have different rules and litigators avoid inter-provincial complications.
Property tax on business owned real-estate
Professional taxes for self-employed and employed people
Employment or payroll taxes
Dividend tax on business shareholders.
Excise tax on selected products
Carbon emissions tax
Bankruptcy
In case of businesses facing insolvency and too many bad debts, they are forced to shut shop and file for bankruptcy. Several debt settlement alternatives for the different levels of stakeholders and creditors require varying filings and formalities.
Business law is a vast subject matter as it covers all the aspects of conducting commercial activities to protect the consumers, businesses and the marketplace from discrepancies. While understanding all the acts that form part of business law can be complicated, the ones mentioned above must be common knowledge for all citizens.