Directors'responsibilities

5. Other Legal Duties

5.1 You must comply with employment law in dealings with employees. (See Employment law: the basics.)

• You (personally) can be sued for unfair dismissal, discrimination or unfair work practices, such as unequal pay.
• Act quickly to ensure the company complies with any new employment laws.

5.2 You must take reasonable care to ensure the health and safety of your employees.

• You can be prosecuted for dangerous practices started or continued with your consent, or illness or accident attributable to your negligence.
• If your company employs more than five people, you must have a written policy on health and safety and undertake an assessment of risk.

5.3 You must ensure that the correct amounts of tax, VAT and National Insurance (NI) are paid on time.

5.4 Watch out for legal pitfalls in other areas.

• These include data protection, defamation, libel and providing misleading information.