34 law
Be consumed in new regulations
Buckinghamshire-based law firm B P Collins LLP is warning businesses of the potentially major impacts the new EU Consumer Rights Directive will have, since coming into force on June 13
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charge) Regulations 2013 will substitute the current Distance Selling and Doorstep Selling Regulations, and implement a single set of rules for those who sell goods or services to consumers, including by way of distance selling and contracts formed away from a business’s premises. The change comes as a result of a push to harmonise such rules across the EU.
All consumer contracts for goods and services – whether made on-premises, off-premises, or via distance sales, will be affected by the new regulations. The type of contract that you enter into with the consumer dictates what protections the consumer is given and what
information you have to provide them with. There are some exceptions, but it is safest to assume that the new regulations are going to apply to your business and to find out more about them.
Diane Yarrow, corporate partner at B P Collins, said: “Depending on how you already operate your business, the impact of the regulations could be dealt with by making some administrative and practical changes to your processes and the ways in which you interact with customers. For other businesses, the regulations could have a huge effect on your communications to consumers with the resulting cost implications being significant.
“Failure to comply with the regulations does have legal
Diane Yarrow
implications, so it is imperative to consider these changes with due diligence.”
There are a number of changes that could affect your business, but the main changes are to the information that a consumer must be provided with before they enter into a contract and to a consumer’s rights to cancel a contract once it has been entered into.
Some of the other changes include:
* Customers must be provided with a copy of the signed
contract or with confirmation of the contract in writing.
* Unless agreed otherwise, goods should be delivered with undue delay and within 30 days.
* Goods remain at the risk of the trader until they are in the consumers’ possession, or that of a person delegated to receive the goods (so no more leaving them on the doorstep).
* Customers must be provided with a basic rate telephone number for post-contract queries.
“In this changing legal landscape, it is important to ensure that you have reviewed your business processes and documentation, including your contracts and communications material,” concluded Yarrow. “It is also critical to check your current terms of business and to ensure they are appropriate in light of the new regulations to make sure you remain protected.”
Details:
www.bpcollins.co.uk
Region is least supportive of new flexible working law
At the end of June – in what must be one of the biggest steps towards better working conditions for years – a new law came into effect giving employees with six months continuous service the right to request flexible working.
However, it seems the majority of companies are unaware of this ruling and how it might affect their business. Research by online career portal Jobsite, released earlier this month, revealed that:
• 53% of British businesses are still unaware of the forthcoming changes, and
• over 75% of employees do not realise they can now ask for flexible working.
www.businessmag.co.uk
The same report revealed that 35% of the UK workforce cite flexible working as the most important employer attribute, and 66% would request it given the opportunity to do so.
Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that 4.2 million of us in the UK now work from home and that figure is set to rise sharply.
According to the Government, the changes are designed to make the workplace “fit for the 21st Century“, while the Department of Business Innovation and Skills predicts the changes will bring overall economic benefits of £475 million through improved business efficiency and
employee satisfaction in its first 10 years.
Encouraging as this new ruling might seem to government and employees though, ONS figures reveal that less than one in 10 small businesses in the South East believe these rules will have a positive impact on their business.
A YouGov survey on behalf of Citrix showed, just over a week before the new legislation took effect, that only 35% of small businesses in the South East supported the new rules, lower than any other region in the UK. What’s more only half of these businesses (54%) had
a flexible working policy in place.
Interestingly, the ONS survey found distinct generational attitudes to flexible working across the UK, with SMB bosses aged 25 to 34 twice as likely to support the new legislation than those over 55.
In conclusion, many employers are not prepared for the realities of offering flexible working. As Jobsite found, almost a third (29%) are worried they will be understaffed due to flexible working, and almost a quarter (23%) are worried they will not be able to fulfil employees’ requests – which could include requests for part-time working, flexi-time and job sharing, compressed hours and working from home or remotely.
But like it or not, flexible working is here, and no doubt gathering pace.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2014
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