Contents

Topic:.........................................................................................................................2
Issue:..........................................................................................................................3
Discussion- Background overview:............................................................................4
Objectives:.................................................................................................................8
Methodology.............................................................................................................9
Limitations.................................................................................................................9
Presentation............................................................................................................10
Recommendations:.................................................................................................15
Conclusion...............................................................................................................16
Bibliography.............................................................................................................17
Introduction

This school based assessment is on the basic legal principles of thr

Topic:

Regulations and legal principles for a new

business
Issue:

 Why is it necessary to follow regulations and legal

principles when starting a new business?
 Why are persons unaware of these regulations and
principles?
Discussion- Background overview:

The new business or any business must follow the regulations and legal principles.
These legal obligations are formed at different levels.

Legal Obligation - A moral or legal duty saying whether to proform an action or

not, a binding, formal arrangement or an agreement to a liabity.

The Levels:

 Local Government
 In some countries businesses will need permission from the parish counsel
for:
 Building operations- They must be able to show that they are entitled to
build on the land, and that the building would be safe and suitable for the
area it will be in.
 Billboards – They must be properly erected, show that they do not present
a safe hazard, and located where they are in keeping with their
surroundings.
 Barbers and Beauty shops- These require a special license
 Amusements- a license is needed for places of entertainment, temporary or
permanent.

However, in some Caribbean countries there is no local government system. In

others, local government does not play an important role in business
development or regulations.
 National government

Most laws and regulations operate at national levels. These include:

 Tax requirements: Businesses must pay company tax, property Tax and
in most countries value added tax (Known as consumption Tax in
Jamaica or general sales taxes in Bezels)
In most countries, businesses must pay income taxes and national
insurance contributions for their employees.
 Occupational safety and health regulations- Every business must
maintain safe environments for customers and employees.
 Companies and most other businesses must register with a government
agency, such as a registrar of companies. The entrepreneur will have to
consider what type of business organization is appropriate.
Most new businesses operate as a sole trader, a partnership or a limited
company. The entrepreneur will look at the advantages and the
disadvantages of these.
 Building and town planning regulations- in many countries, these are
administered by the national government. Buildings must be structurally
safe, and compatible with their surroundings. In most countries,
businesses cannot be established in a residential area and without
special permissions from the town and country planning authorities.
 Regional Level-
There are some requirements which operate at a regional level.
 Businesses must pay the Caricom common external tariff on most
imports.
 A document called a Caricom invoice must be prepared for all inputs.
 Global issues-
There are international obligations on areas such as:
 Copyright and intellectual property-
Caribbean governments have agreed to protect copyright for music,
books and other creative works and intellectual property.
 Control of money laundering- Caribbean countries have laws which
implements international treaty on money laundering and taxation for
e.g., Banks and other business must file reports on large cash payments
or suspicious transactions, and keep proper records which can be
inspected where necessary by financers investigators.
 International Transport of hazardous waste. The Basel Convention
(signed in the Swiss city of Basel) Restrict the international transport of
dangerous waste materials.
 Imports of chemical which damage the ozone layer, such as
chlorofluorocarbon are restricted under an international treaty, the
Montreal protocol. They must be taken to an overseas facility where
they can be captured and disposed of safety.
 Businesses need to take professional and legal advice on important
decisions here are.
 Some of the basic legal principles that business must go by mainly
relating to contracts and business documents. These principles apply
for any businesses.
 It is useful to have a general idea of what contracts are and what
they are not.
 It is sensible to avoid disputes where possible, to prevent them from
escalating, and to settle disagreements amicably and honestly
 When considering an important action, a business should seek
professionals’ legal advice.
Large businesses usually have their own legal department, staffed
with qualified and experienced lawyers. But they too sometimes
need advice from outside lawyers with special expertise, for example
on aviation or intellectual property.
It is important for businesses to seek legal advice:
 Before making any important agreement
 If there is a serious disagreement
If there is a dispute, lawyers will often advice a business to continue
negotiation out of court the lawyer will assist with the process and
advise on the framework for a final agreement. Taking a dispute to a
court of law is expensive and time consuming. Litigation should be used
only as a last resort.

The examples given in this section are intended to illustrate simple

points, for teaching purpose at an introductory level. In the real world
there may be many additional factories to consider.

In general, the English- speaking Caribbean has legal system based on

English “Common law” a set of legal principles which apply in most
common wealth countries and in the USA. However, each country has
its own legal system and constitution. Every Caribbean parliament has
passed laws which are different from those of other countries. In the law
of contract for example, there are differences between the laws in
England, The USA Australia and also within the Caribbean. Two Caricom
Members – Haiti and Suriname have a completely different legal system
which is based on the French “Napoleonic Code”.
Objectives:
 To explain what regulations and legal principles are.
 To outline some regulations and legal principles for starting a new business.
 To discuss why it is important to follow regulations and legal principles
while starting a new business.
 Methodology

The researcher chose the questionnaire method because it is an

inexpensive and fast way of getting information. The researcher examined
her objectives and jotted down the questions that would be informative on
the topic. The researcher then typed and printed out letters for the
respondents and the questionnaires which had 16 questions. Five of the
questionnaires were shared out on Friday 6th, September, 2019 a collected
on Tuesday 10th, September, 2019. All of the questions on the
questionnaires were answered and the respondents Co-operated fully.
The researcher also chose the Observation method , so that she
could have a first had experience as to how businesses display their
Regulations and principles.

Limitations
The researcher arrived late on the original date she was supposed to collect
the questionnaires which was Monday 9, September, 2019 and the
businesses were closed. This caused the researcher to retrieve the
questionnaires until the following day.
 Presentation

The questionnaires were shared out to Sole Traders and Companies. Most
businesses informed the researcher that they were small businesses except
one which was a medium sized business. Businesses had between 1-15
employees except one business which had 56 employees, (The Company).
When the businesses were questioned about some legal principles
Their answers showed the researcher that they were unaware of some of
the legal principles of businesses. Some common answers that showed this
were: “employees should be punctual” and “Customers come first”.
However there were some answers given that were related to the topic.
There were; “employees should not use work facilities for illegal acts”;
“Discuss court matters with business lawyers”; “illegal substances are not
allowed into the business” and “background checks must be done before
employment”. The owners informed the respondent that their employees
are aware of their principles.
All of the employees from the business follow the principles except
for employees of one business. The most popular consequences, for
breaking the principles, according to the questionnaires were; “being sent
home / fired; have reduction in pay or being demoted.”
The business that informed the researcher that their employees do
not follow all their principles also informed the researcher that the
principle that was broken the most is being on time and they dealt with it
by decreasing pay by the hour.
All of the businesses think that their principles are effective. Their
most popular reason is that “the employees know how to act” / “it keeps
them in order”. Other reasons were that it keeps a level of order & respect
in the business and employees don’t break them.
Only one entrepreneur thinks that their principles should be
amended because they think their employees need to know more about
the legal aspects of the business. Other entrepreneurs/managers disagree
about the amendment of their principles because the respondents said
their principles; maintained discipline at the business, most employees
obey the rules, it is effective and their business is fine as is.
The business owners can make entrepreneurs and employees aware
by telling persons about it, putting informative signs in their buildings,
demonstrating it in their work place, by keeping public meetings discussing
them and making handouts and share them out.
The business owners also suggested that the government can help
with awareness.
Aware by holding rallies to raise awareness, advertising and sending out
representatives from the relevant ministries, keep meetings, having it
introduced more in schools and by holding workshops.

Through Observation the researcher saw poster of the business’s

regulations pasted on the walls of 5 businesses most of these principles
were not based on the regional and international level.
Table #1

Types of Businesses
Category Number of respondents
Sole Trader 3 (60%)
Partnership 0 (0%)
Company 2 (40%)
Total 5 (100%)

Types of Businesses
70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Sole trader Partnership Company

Description of graph and table;

The table and graph tells us that the respondents identified their Business
time and there was only Sole Trader and Companies, Sole trader being the
most common business. This also shows us that there were no partnership
businesses.
Table #2

Size of businesses
Category Number of Respondents
Small 4 (80%)

Medium sized 1 (20%)

Total 5 (100%)

Size Of Businesses
90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Medium Sized Small

Description of graph and table;

The table and graph shows that majority of the businesses were small
businesses and only 20% of the businesses were medium sized businesses.
Table #3

Number of Employees Employed Per Business

Responses Number of Responses

7 Employees 1 (20%)

13 Employees 1 (20%)

14 Employees 2 (40%)

56 Employees 1 (20%)

Total 5 (100%)

Number of Employees Employed Per Business

7 Employees
13 Employees
14 Employees
56 Employees

Description of graph and table;

The table and graph tells us that 40% of businesses had 14 Employees, 20%
had 7 employees, another 20% of businesses 13 Employees employed and
the other 20% had 14 employees.
Recommendations:

 Businesses should make persons employed aware of the principles of a

business.

 Owners of Businesses can make entrepreneurs aware of these principles by

making handouts, demonstrating it in their own work place, by keeping
meetings, and by putting informative signs in their buildings based on the
principles.

 The government can make young entrepreneurs and employees aware by

advertising the principles, sending out representatives to inform
entrepreneurs and by keeping meetings, rallies or workshops and discuss
them.
 Conclusion

Based on the research it can be concluded that the entrepreneurs

were unaware of most of the Regulations and Principles of businesses at
the Regional and International level. Only 7% of the businesses were willing
to amend their principles so that their employees can become aware and
follow these principles, the others objected.
The researcher learnt that the government and the entrepreneurs
can make other entrepreneurs and employees aware of the Regulations
and principles of a business, at the different levels, through the media ,
meetings , Rallies , brochures and posters.
The researcher also learnt through observation that some
entrepreneurs display their principles on posters that they paste on the
walls of the buildings.
Bibliography

o Caribbean Business for CSEC® Principles Of Business- page 147

o https://www.gonzalolaw.com/3-key-legal-principles-in-international-business-law/
o https://thelawdictionary.org/legal-obligation/
o
o