Running a small business can be complex, from raising capital and attracting customers to ensuring compliance. Today, businesses must comply with one or multiple sets of compliance laws. However, a study has shown that non-compliance can be expensive for your business due to the cost of fines, revenue loss, and business disruption. Compliance is a big factor irrespective of the size or type of business. Check out these five common compliance problems and how to avoid them.
Depending on the kind of data handled by your company, you may be required to follow some regulations about data storage and management. The following are some of the common records linked with government oversight, including financial documents, credit card information, student records, medical information, and so on. Data management can pose significant risks when managed poorly or inadequately. Small businesses must establish effective governance practices as threat actors target small organizations less likely to recover from cyberattacks.
Prevention, they say, is better than cure. When it comes to business, you want to avoid common compliance problems instead of dealing with them. Understanding the effectiveness of your business processes is key to avoiding problems. Usually, risk assessments are broken down into units and analyzed individually. This can help identify potential threats to your business and how to avoid them. This way, your business can avoid any surprises that may result in any serious problems.
Harassment and discrimination are unacceptable in any workplace. Even if your business has policies and guidelines for appropriate employee behaviors, a rogue staff can cause several issues if their inappropriate behaviors or actions aren't tackled immediately. A 2020 study showed 67,448 reported discrimination cases, with EEOC securing over $535.4 million for private and local government employees alleging discrimination. However, $333.2 million was obtained through mediation, conciliation, and settlements, while $106 million was through litigation.
Your workers are the lifeblood of your business, so keeping them safe and healthy should be a top priority. Due to this, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has put together several regulations to safeguard employees. These rules and regulations cover almost every worker and business in the United States. For example, the law requires business owners and employers to have labor law posters in common places in the workplace to protect and educate their employees. Being aware of these common compliance problems and taking preemptive action is key.
Your quality and compliance decisions must be audited by someone unbiased. Every business faces problems from time to time. However, your business may require an ethics-driven quality department for compliance success. A quality department can help you make the right product decisions by objectively balancing its benefits and drawbacks, highlighting risks, and assisting your business in identifying necessary mitigation to guarantee workplace safety.
In conclusion, you want to ensure appropriate employee behavior, quality oversight, proper data management and analysis, and ensuring proactiveness in mitigating any potential problems. While it's impossible to be problem-free, you want to avoid repeating past mistakes and avoid these common compliance problems.
