Municipal, state, and federal governments enact legislation requiring companies to comply with various laws regarding taxes, privacy, antitrust issues, and more. Violations of these regulations can mean employee lawsuits and hefty fines from the government.
Therefore, it’s essential for business owners to be aware of these rules and remain compliant. But what are some compliance regulations that all businesses must follow? You can learn more about these regulations and how a PEO setup can help you follow applicable rules with our team at NetPEO.
What Types of Regulations Apply to All Businesses?
Local, state, and federal governments generate laws that all businesses must follow. Generally, you can divide these regulations into several major categories. However, you should not expect each type to impact your business to the same degree.
In fact, some categories may not impact your business at all. Therefore, it’s essential to work with professionals to determine what rules apply to your business and industry so that you can comply with all necessary regulations and avoid the consequences of non-compliance.
Compliance Regulations: Taxes
The government has strict regulations related to taxes. You must pay specific taxes at set times to avoid fines and other penalties. You may have to pay local, state, and federal taxes, as well as:
- Income tax
- Estimated tax
- Employment tax
- Excise taxes
Your business may have to collect sales taxes from customers who make purchases. All for-profit companies must pay some form of taxes to the government.
Compliance Regulations: Labor Laws
Your business will likely face numerous regulations associated with labor laws and your employees. These regulations often deal with:
Keeping a Safe Working Environment
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA, regulates workplace safety. Employers must ensure that the working environment is free of health hazards and remain up to code with their safety procedures.
By working with a PEO, you can ensure that someone is monitoring your safety procedures and reducing the risk to you as a business owner.
Workers’ Compensation
It is often the case that businesses must provide workers’ compensation to employees if workers get injured during their duties on the job site. However, the federal government does not oversee this requirement for most industries.
Instead, state agencies handle workers’ compensation, and requirements can vary. Due to the changing nature of these regulations, it is best to work with HR professionals like the ones in NetPEO’s nationwide network.
Working Hours and Pay
The federal government also regulates working hours and the compensation of employees. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets regulations regarding the number of hours employees can work before they must be paid overtime, or “time and a half.”
Other Employment Regulations
Your business may also need to follow regulations tied to:
- Equal opportunity employment
- Employment of non-US citizen workers
- Benefit security for employees
- Unions
PEO specialists help you follow all these regulations.
Compliance Regulations: Antitrust Requirements
Antitrust laws protect consumers and encourage healthy competition. Businesses that try to fix prices or engage in price discrimination can run afoul of these regulations. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) often harshly punishes companies accused of antitrust violations.
Compliance Regulations: Advertising
Businesses around the country rely on advertising to draw in new customers. However, you must follow specific rules about your advertisements to avoid fines and other penalties. Your business could face legal repercussions for using deceptive advertising practices.
Compliance Regulations: Environmental Protection Laws
Some industries have to follow strict regulations tied to environmental protection. However, not all companies have to worry about these rules as much. Make sure you check applicable laws, especially if you operate a business that focuses on products that are:
- Natural
- Organic
- Eco-friendly
Generally, both the state and federal governments have specific regulations you have to follow when selling these products.
Compliance Regulations: Privacy
Most businesses end up gathering a lot of sensitive data about employees. Therefore, the government requires companies to follow the rules on maintaining this information, keeping it secure and safe.
Your business can face lawsuits if you improperly handle information about an employee’s:
- Social Security number (SSN)
- Name
- Bank or credit card information
- Address
- Personal history
- Health conditions
You can review the specific regulations surrounding information privacy with a skilled team of experts.
Compliance Regulations: Permits and Licensing
Finally, your business may require specific permits and licenses to operate. You may need to look into regulations on the local and state level as well as considering requirements from the federal government.
Generally, you’ll need at least a business license before you start serving your customers. Some industries – like childcare – require additional licenses before you open your doors.
Operating your business without the proper approvals can lead to a shutdown, fines, and other harsh penalties.
Allow a PEO Company to Help You With Compliance Regulations
What are some compliance regulations that all businesses must follow? As you can see, businesses often have to deal with a lot of rules. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for the owners of smaller businesses to keep up to date on ever-changing regulations.
That is where PEOs like those in NetPEO’s nationwide network come into play. Our HR professionals have more than 200 years of combined experience in human resources and can work to ensure that your business remains compliant with all relevant legislation.
NetPEO functions as a PEO brokerage service. We partner with you to create a profile of your company’s specific HR and accounting needs. Then, using our nationwide network of highly qualified PEOs, we produce a handful of organizations that match your profile.
Explore Other Benefits of Working With a PEO Company
Ensuring compliance with appropriate regulations is one way that a PEO can help business owners lower their risk profile, but it is not the only way. PEOs also reduce risk in the following ways:
- Providing expert HR services and experience
- Developing employee manuals and policies
- Helping to recruit top-level employees
- Taking on some of a company’s risk through co-employment
Lowering a company’s risk profile is extremely important for many reasons. Of course, it helps to reduce costs by avoiding pricey fines and lawsuits.
However, it also helps business owners by stabilizing the company, attracting top-tier talent, keeping consumers happy, and raising the possibility of working with or partnering with other businesses that might otherwise worry about a risky venture.
Our team stays with you and regularly checks in throughout the duration of your relationship with our networked PEO. Our experience helps us to prevent any errors or dissatisfaction and means that we can deal with any issues as soon as they occur.
Contact Us Today to Learn More About Compliance Regulations
What are some compliance regulations that all businesses must follow? Generally, businesses have to follow the rules regarding the treatment of employees, taxes, environmental protection, and privacy.
If you want to learn more about these regulations and how a PEO company can help you stay compliant, you can reach out to our team at NetPEO today.
After you fill out the form on our contact page, a representative will get in touch with you within 48 hours. You can also reach us by phone. Call or click now to experience our industry-leading 100% customer satisfaction rate.
