Legal Considerations on Business
Assessment Brief:
You are a Chief Legal Officer within a local legal firm, and you have been asked to prepare an essay for the owners of the hotel using the case study material plus your own research to answer the following legal considerations:
1. Explain any contracts, agreements and licences that are required for the owners of Sea View Hotel and the justification of each of them.
2. Using the information given in the case study, comment on any areas of legal concern for the owners of Sea View Hotel.
3. Using the analysis in your answer to question 2 above, provide your recommendations to ensure that the hotel complies with all legal requirements identified.
Please read the case study carefully and your conduct your own research by reading and analysis to support your essay writing. Information on writing essays according to Falmouth University guidelines can be found here. Please ensure that you have allowed enough time to enable you to submit your best work. Please also ensure that the submission accurately utilises “The Guide to Harvard Referencing at Falmouth University”.
For this assessment, you will be assessed against the ‘Common Assessment Criteria’ of ‘Communication’. The specific wording related to this assessment criterion, together with indicators of the performance across grading boundaries can be found at the end of this document. These grading boundaries will be discussed in the delivery of this module, and you are encouraged to ask questions if you are in any doubt about any aspect of the grading and feedback process.
Work Required:
1. Introduction – Clarify to the reader the aim of your essay and clearly identify the legal jurisdiction you are focussing on (EG England & Wales) to let the reader know what to expect from the essay.
2. Explain any contracts, agreements and licences that are required for the owners of Sea View Hotel and the justification of each of them.
3. Comment on any areas of legal concern for the owners of Sea View Hotel using the case study and literature to evidence your points.
4. Provide your recommendations to ensure that the hotel complies with all legal requirements identified.
6. Conclusion – Provide a concise summary that brings together the key points from the argument that you are presenting in your essay.
7. Bibliography - Full list of references (and key sources)
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Name
Professor's Name
Institution
Course
Due Date
Legal Considerations
Introduction
Every business needs to operate in the light or within the bounds of the law. Furthermore, there is a need to conduct operations to ensure transparency and make it possible to avoid any mishaps in management or later squabbles that could easily be avoided. There is a need to find common ground with employees and partners directly and indirectly associated with the business. For Sea View Hotel, there is a need to ensure that several contracts, agreements, and licences are acquired if the business is to avoid the temptation of operating in the grey, whether knowingly or unknowingly. For this essay, the legal jurisdiction will be on wales, and the contracts, agreements, and licences reviewed will be in accordance with the precepts of Wales.
Required contracts, agreements, and licences
The first contract that Sea View Hotel needs is employment contracts for both the permanent and casual employees. As per the case study, the hotel has 30 full-time staff and ten part-time staff. Further, there are agency staff who work for the hotel on occasion. To avoid instances when the company is held liable for the behavior of their employees or the many inevitable employee lawsuits, there is a need to define the employer-employee relationship in these contracts.
A shareholders agreement is another special document that Sea View Hotel needs to run without much trouble. As indicated in the case study, Christine's parents own 15% of the business mainly because of their £200,000 loan when the business started. A shareholders' agreement is developed to help outline the obligations that every shareholder has as well as their rights as a shareholder. There is a need for Steve and Christine to have a shareholding agreement with Christine's parents to help delineate what a shareholding position allows and what it does not. Furthermore, there is a need to have a loan repayment agreement with Christine's parents. Such an agreement is legally binding, and it will ensure that Steve and Christine honor their word and repay their loan.
The business requires a personal licence for the supervisor. Already, SVH has a current alcohol licence. However, a personal licence is needed to authorize a designated responsible individual, for instance, the owner or the supervisor (the designated premises supervisor (DPS)), to oversee the sale of alcohol. This licence is meant to ensure that anyone is managing a business that deals in alcohol professionally. If SVH wishes to apply for a personal licence, it must obtain accreditation. The qualification is meant to ensure that those who hold the licence know the licencing law and the social responsibilities associated with the business.
Additionally, SVH requires the TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS. The licence allows businesses to legally play music for clients or employees legally. The license covers playing music on radio, TV, and any other digital platforms. It also covers the live performance of music. The hotel needs the TheMusicLicence because it may need to play music in the bar and hotel. This licence will enable the business to play music without the risk of being sued for violating copyright. At the time, SVH is planning a live concert on October 2, 2021. With TheMusicLicence, the hotel can host the live band and play music without risking lawsuits from playing copyrighted music to the public. TheMusicLicence covers virtually all the commercially released music, not only from the UK but also from other parts of the world. Obtaining this license would be critical since the business needs to continue entertaining guests and workers using music. For SVH to attract more clients, music is key. The TheMusicLicence is needed to ensure that the business entertains the public within the provision of the law.
In Wales, there is the need to acquire a food premises approval. According to the government of the UK, there is a need to apply for and have the food premises approval when "handling meat, fish, egg, or dairy products." One must be inspected and be approved by their local council. So even though Steve has booked an outside catering company to supply food for the event being planned, there is a need to have this licence if at all the foods listed above will be handled within the hotel's premises.
Another contract that SVH needs is the consultancy contract since it works with other partners to deliver its services. For example, as indicated in the case study, Mike has been working closely with 'Design 4 Life,' a brand agency that has been advising him concerning his desire to change the name of the spa. Such relationships need to be guided by a consultancy contract so that accountability can be directed where it needs to be directed.
Legal Concerns
The business has not taken steps to ensure the privacy of client's personal data. Mike and Poppy manage the gym and spa services. However, they do not possess good record-keeping skills. This is evidence because of their inability to provide Christine with useful information. The details of the membership to the gym are kept on Poppy's desk as paper copies. There is no special security offered to the paper copies. This implies that anyone can access the clients' personally identifiable data like name, phone numbers, and gender, among others. The business has not taken the precaution to ensure that the paper copies are under lock and key. Ideally, the business should protect such data to avoid getting into unauthorized third parties (Lee, Zankl and Chang, 2016). As indicated, Mike and Poppy lack good record-keeping skills. Having personal data about clients in the hands of Poppy risks such data getting into the wrong hands.
The hosting of the live band on October 2, 2021, may contravene COVID-19 regulations. Due to COVID-19, social distance has become a requirement to curb the spread of the virus. On September 28, 2020, the government published a regulatory amendment outlining mandatory decibel limits for hospitality venues (Institute of Licensing, 2020). Loud music was identified as an aspect that can encourage shouting and ...