Small business proprietors, whether in the accommodation and food industry, healthcare industry or cleaning industry (source: masa7.com/clean-jeddah/), may think that their operations are unnoticed by the huge legal and political concerns of the day. The truth is that social forces present in your community could lead to new regulations and laws wherein you and your business would have to act in response to it. These could either transpire on a national scale or at the local scale.
Legal and Political Forces that May Impact Businesses
Even undertakings at an international scale could have an effect on your small business directly. However, rising political issues need not to bring about new laws and regulations to cause an impact on the daily operations of your business. It would be worthwhile to be attentive to new concerns that might necessitate a response from you directly. Below are 2 examples as to how these legal as well as political forces may impact your business.
Initiatives On Living Wage
Several states as well as local communities have passed laws increasing the workers’ minimum wage that is more than the federal minimum. Even without the presence of requirements to carry it out, a number of companies have implemented a policy on “living wage” voluntarily. If the community or district wherein you operate has a powerful political gale that support and approve of the increase in minimum wage, this might have a bearing on the payroll of your company in short order. Even without the existence of new laws, you might discover that your clients as well as customers, or even you yourself deem that raising the wages of your workers is a social responsibility that needs to be done.
Gender Policies as well as Sexual Orientation
In a case that progressed through the legal system and to the Supreme Court of the United States, the courts have come to a decision that a baker who have raised objections to marriage of same-sex wasn’t compelled to bake a wedding cake for a couple with the same sex. For this one baker, the case clarified obligations, however does this mean anything to other businesses? In spite of the ruling of the Supreme Court, it is still unclear and vague in every case wherein businesses need to provide services to couples of same-sex, as well as which may be exempted with regards to personal religious reasons.
Several states have passed laws concerning the usage of restroom by transgender. This is another matter where several individual proprietors of businesses have a firm opposition to recognizing and acknowledging anything but the usual and established roles of male and female for the use of the restroom. At national level, with the nonexistence of constant guidance on this matter, you will have to be attentive to emerging trends in your locality to handle such issues.
