Starting a business is not an easy thing to do. It requires hard work, dedication, foresight, and sacrifice. Needless to say, the last thing you need on your mind is the possibility or reality of some kind of legal issue.

[ask LEGAL] has the Charlotte business lawyers you need to help ensure that you aren’t unknowingly breaking the law. We will also help you in the event that legal problems do arise. After all, the legal landscape is complex, and the language of the law is difficult for the layman to fully understand. We know that when it comes to running your business, especially in the beginning, you’re consumed with factors such as hiring your staff, getting the right location, advertising, and a myriad of other factors. In the wake of all of that, people often find it easy to overlook certain legal requirements, and this can have lasting impacts on their business later on.

Here are some ways in which your business could be breaking the law, without you even knowing about it.

Failing To Provide Discrimination and Harassment Training to Supervisors and Managers

States tend to vary in terms of harassment and discrimination training, and in Charlotte, business lawyers are often required either to ensure that the necessary training is taking place, or to provide legal representation if legal issues arise due to their absence.

Using Investor Funds Improperly

Our Charlotte business lawyers can help you in the event that investor funds have been improperly used. One example of this being the case would be using investor funds to purchase a high status vehicle in order to project an image of success. There are many other less obvious issues in which these funds can be improperly used, that many people simply don’t know to be illegal. Whenever someone is taking money from people in trust, they need to be extremely careful in how that money is spent.

Firing Employees Due To a Leave of Absence

There are many instances in which the law forbids the termination of employees who take leaves of absence, including:

• Military reasons
• Family and medical reasons
• Serving jury duty

If you have unlawfully terminated an employee and are facing legal repercussions, the Charlotte business lawyers at [ask LEGAL] can help.

Classifying All Employees As Exempt

Employees are generally classified as exempt when they are being paid a certain amount of money no matter how many hours they work in a week. These kinds of employees are typically exempt from meal breaks, rest breaks, and overtime requirements, although there are some positions in which they are only exempt from overtime.  

Employers will often decide to simply treat all employees as exempt (even when they’re not), as they won’t end up having to deal with overtime, meal and rest breaks, time sheets, etc. This often backfires when employees file suit against their employers for failure to provide them, in which case our Charlotte business lawyers can help.

Improper Or Excessive Itemized Deductions

Going overboard with one’s itemized tax deductions can land you in legal trouble. It’s easy to overstate business mileage or food expenses, or even to deduct personal expenses as if they were business expenses. This is often not done on purpose, being the result of ignorance as to what can and cannot be deducted.

If you are in trouble with the IRS for excessive or improper deductions, the Charlotte business lawyers at [ask LEGAL] are here to help. Problems with the IRS are things no one wants to deal with, but getting legal representation can make the process go much more smoothly. We can help you avoid harsh penalties, or mitigate them should they be enacted.

Improperly Paying Overtime

Payment for overtime is calculated on a 40 hour overtime standard. This means that when nonexempt employees are working over 40 hours within the standard 168-hour workweek, they are owed time-and-a-half on their regular pay period check.

It is important that you remain in compliance with the law in this regard, as failure to do so can easily lead to a lawsuit.

[ask LEGAL]’s Charlotte business lawyers can help ensure that you are paying all overtime employees properly, or give you legal counsel and representation in the event that you have failed to do so for any reason.

How [ask LEGAL] Can Help

 

It’s our job to help you navigate the legal landscape, either to help ensure that you don’t break the law, or to give you the legal counsel you need if you do, knowingly or not.

We specialize in helping small businesses, knowing that most of them don’t necessarily require a full suite of legal services. Often times, all that is required is that the immediate legal issues be handled.

Our Charlotte business lawyers provide services in the realms of:

• Litigation – If you are being sued, we provide legal representation. We are dedicated to helping you obtain the best outcome no matter what your legal situation.
• Business Formation – When forming your new business, we can ensure that all of your bases are covered in regards to the law, making sure you are filing all of the required documents, and that your business is structured properly.
• Contract Drafting and Review – The language of the law can be esoteric. We will help you understand exactly what a contract means, arming you with the knowledge you need to avoid breaching the contract in the future.