Smoking in public places will be outlawed in England on 1 July this year. The law, which will have far-reaching repercussions for small businesses, will come into force on 2 April in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The bans affect all businesses - from catering and hospitality ventures like pubs, cafés and restaurants, which will have to stop customers smoking on the premises, to ordinary businesses that currently allow staff to smoke on the job.

All business owners need to be aware that they are affected by the ban, since employers will be liable for staff members who break the law by smoking indoors at work.

In preparation for the ban you should be reviewing your employment policies and contracts, including a no-smoking clause in sub-contractors agreements.  You might also need to train your staff in how to deal with individuals who refuse to comply with the new rules and check your insurance policy to make sure you are fully covered in respect to these new rules.  Don’t be caught out in the summer.

Q. We are about to switch our website and email hosting to a new company who claim to offer the same service as we are getting but for a lower price. We rely heavily on email and internet access to run our business so although I am interested in saving money I also want to make sure I am covered legally should anything ever go wrong.

What are some of the things I should have in the web hosting agreement with the new supplier?

A.   There may be some specific things you need to include so do take advice but below is a list of the standard elements that should always be included:

• Amount of storage space, bandwidth and provision for scaling up
• The availability of the system (24/7?) and downtime for maintenance
• Security for data processing
• A confidentiality clause
• The procedure to be adopted if an allegation is made that there is defamatory (or other unacceptable) content on the site. (It appears it will be a defence to such claims to have a system in place and move quickly to remove the offending material)
• Security, passwords and procedures for uploading material
• An indemnity for claims against you if their provision or lack of it causes claims against you (e.g. downtime causes an advertiser to request money back)
• Assistance on transfer of materials/info/software, codes etc on termination
• An indemnity from them in case they use software, which is not licensed to them.

If presented with a standard web hosting agreement to sign do check it through carefully and if necessary have it looked over by your lawyer.

Q.I’ve got a good business deal set up with a reputable business, they’ve asked me to sign their “standard terms”. What’s that all about?

A.   They are referring to their normal form of contract, presumably for the supply of goods.  They will know the contract well of course. But you won’t be familiar with the terms and clauses.  It is very important that you read it through and check it. This is a snapshot of the main issues:

• Make a note of all the basics that you’ve requested and agreed and cross-check your list against their terms.
• Consider each of the questions posed in this article. (This linked article refers to an IT contract but the principles are similar)
• Ask yourself the “what if’s” including the uncomfortable ones.
• Ask for changes to the terms where you are concerned
• If you are unsure do not sign. Take advice from someone who understands the legal side but also the business issues relating to your purchase. They will make you aware of any potential risks you are taking.

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