Business Laws and Regulations Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know

Knowing and understanding the laws and regulations surrounding businesses is important for small businesses owners. The Small Business Administration outlines the following rules and regulations every small business owners needs to comply with from the day they open their doors.

Advertising Law Of course you’d like to promote your products or services to potential customers, but there are laws that dictate how you advertise and label your products to protect consumers. Make sure you can substantiate any claims made on labels and in advertisements.

Employment & Labor Law Hiring more employees is an important part of expanding your business, just make sure to follow all the regulations. Federal and state labor laws cover a wide set of issues including child labor, discrimination and harassment, compensation and even how to terminate an employee.

Finance Law Finance laws, which include antitrust, bankruptcy and securities laws, have been established to to protect the financial interests of small businesses and individual investors.

Intellectual Property Intellectual property laws can be complex, but are set up to protect innovation and trade secrets through patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Online Business Law Bringing your business online opens it up to new markets of customers, but with that potential growth comes a vast amount of legal issues as well. Online laws cover the rules and regulations for conducting e-commerce including privacy, security and taxation.

Privacy Law As a small business owner, you must create reasonable security measures to protect customer data and comply with children’s online privacy requirements.

Environmental Regulations Government agencies such as the EPA enforce laws enacted to minimize businesses' impact on the environment and outline regulations over things like waste disposal, water contamination and environmental permits.

Uniform Commercial Code Businesses conducting transactions outside of your state (borrowing money, leases/contracts, selling goods, etc...) must comply with the Uniform Commercial Codes.

Workplace Safety & Health Workplace safety and health laws like the Occupational Health (OSH) Act of 1970 were enacted to ensure businesses protect the safety and health of their employees.

Foreign Workers, Immigration and Employee Eligibility Laws have been enacted that require businesses to verify that a potential employee is eligible to work in the U.S.