Compliance – worth paying for
New research shows that firms are spending more time and money on compliance issues than two years ago.
Whilst the overall cost increased by 8.5%, the recent survey from the Forum of Private Business (FPB) demonstrates that one thing has not changed in the past two years; taxation compliance remains the single biggest outlay for small firms. Employment law and health and safety were also high up the list.
Theresa Mimnagh, Associate Director at Lawspeed said: “Compliance is never straightforward and the recruitment industry is particularly complex due to the number of regulations involved.
“Lawspeed assists Employment Businesses in various ways; designing processes, training your staff, providing support and advice or even taking on the management of all compliance issues and processes.
“We also undertake compliance reviews which recruiters find very useful. Any process can become routine over time and bad habits sometimes set in, a review acts as a pair of fresh eyes.”
Common areas of risk include;
- Opt out processes
- Company compliance with Agency Worker Regulations and information gathering
- Preferred Supplier Lists and dealing with umbrella companies
- Timing at which contracts are issued and fee protection
Mimnagh concluded: “At the risk of stating the obvious, non-compliance and errors can damage reputations, breach contract requirements or even place an agency at risk of tax debt transfer. Mistakes can be far more costly than ensuring that processes and procedures are compliant in the first place, so getting the best advice is essential.”
Adrian, a highly experienced lawyer, founded Lawspeed in 1997. He is responsible for developing our extensive portfolio of products and services, including the widely used Lawspeed contract templates. Adrian is an expert on “recruitment law” and specialises in contracts, regulatory compliance, employment status and dispute handling. He is chair of the trade body the Association of Recruitment Consultancies, the only lawyer lead recruitment trade body in the UK. Adrian and his co-director Ravi devised Standards in Recruitment as a vehicle for helping drive up standards and compliance in the industry.
Adrian is our lead in discussions with the government over regulatory evolution. Apart from assisting with client support, Adrian’s primary role is research and development into methods of business delivery, our latest service Proterms being his most recent project. Adrian heads our IR35 lawyers team.