5 Common Legal Issues Faced by Canadian Business Owners

If you are an owner of a small business, the threat of a crippling litigation should be one of your top priorities. They have the potential to severely hurt your business at such a magnitude that you may not be able to recover from it. The following are 5 of the most common legal issues that may affect small businesses.

1. 1. 1. Disgruntled Employees– In Canada, employees have many rights bestowed upon them through various statutes, regulations and even common law. If you ask an employee who has not been performing his/her duties to resign, ensure that he/she has signed the necessary documentation to guarantee its enforceability and to avoid allegations of wrongful dismissal. It is advisable to have the documents drafted by an attorney so as to be certain that your terms regarding the dismissal are clear. If these precautions are not taken, your business may be susceptible to legal exploitation.
      2. Discrimination/Harassment Cases – The legal ramifications caused by discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, sexuality, age or a similar ground are serious issues that can have detrimental consequences for your company. To avoid situations of this sensitive nature; ensure that your human resources staff are well trained and equipped to any problem that may arise. Try to hold regular meetings to ensure that harmony between co-workers is maintained and no discrimination is taking place.
      3. Harassment – whether based on racism, or sexuality can turn into a serious problem in an integrated work place that has workers from a wide array of ethnic and religious backgrounds. Managers have a duty to talk to the staff regarding these occurrences, and the offenders should be given a verbal warning and/or written warning, or in serious or repeat cases, be terminated. The victim should be comforted and the situation rectified with as little disturbance to the company’s image as possible.
      4. Immigration Audits – Make sure that all the employees of your company are legally allowed to work in Canada. Conduct a top down sweep regarding your company’s staff and do background checks so as to identify those immigrants who have falsified documents. The Canadian government can conduct surprise immigration audits at any time, so if any illegal laborer is found, your company’s image and operations might be seriously crippled.
      5. Copyright and Patent Issues – Recently, many leading companies in the IT industry faced aggressive patent litigation. Some companies often sit on a patent for several years hoping that another novice company inadvertently violates the patent so that they can easily extract money through a patent and copyright lawsuit.
      6. Dissatisfied Customers – Customers who are extremely dissatisfied by a company’s service have the right to file a lawsuit against the company. By doing so they are able to gather the support of large consumer groups. Customers have the ability to commence a lawsuit for any number of reasons– faulty products, bad service or even unfulfilled promises. Such lawsuits can sometimes damage the brand’s image beyond any repair.

Legal issues like these in a business can really taint the image of the company and may have a drastic impact on the company’s operations. We, at Nanda & Associate Lawyers, pride ourselves on being the best business lawyers in the Mississauga,Toronto and Brampton area. We have been providing legal services to business owners for many years. Call us now to book an appointment with one of our associates.