The HR industry is deeply interconnected with the legal world. Almost everything you do on a daily basis has to be checked against the law. You’re in charge of workers’ rights and ensuring that they receive fair and equal treatment. You’re also involved in financial matters, drawing up contracts, and hiring and firing staff members. This is a lot for a small HR department to cover on their own.

That’s why you should consider hiring the help of legal experts. As your company grows, you’ll want to put together a legal team. This will be a group of lawyers you can consult whenever you need help with legal matters. They’ll be there to support you and make sure you’re doing everything right as an HR manager. Putting together a strong team of legal experts can be difficult, though, so here are a few tips to help you build the perfect HR-affiliated legal team.

Consult Your In-House Legal Guide

Every company should have a legal guide that covers all the legal aspects of the business. This is a document that is tailor-made for your company and the industry in which it operates. Media outlets should have a code of conduct for journalists, used car dealers should have a manual for their sales representatives, and estate agents should have a guide covering all aspects of housing law.

Before you compile your legal team, go through your in-house legal guide. Check it through to see which areas are most important for your company. This will help you decide which kind of lawyers to consult in order to improve the legal operations of your business. Prioritize the most important aspects of the law first.

legal team
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Seek Out Contract Experts

Drawing up contracts is no fun, but it’s something that HR professionals have to deal with all the time. To help you make sure that these contracts are as watertight as possible, it can help to bring in some experts in contract law. While you can be in charge of the overall design of the contract, a lawyer will go through it more thoroughly to check that all situations have been covered.

Having a fair and clear contract in place is one of the best ways to avoid conflict down the road. Make sure that both the employer and the employee have had a chance to read through the contract with the help of an attorney. This way, you can be sure that they both understand exactly what they’re signing up to.

Work Through Hiring and Dismissal Policies

One of the biggest responsibilities placed on HR managers is hiring and dismissing employees. This comes with a significant number of legal challenges. As an HR professional, you’re probably already familiar with the basic law in this area. You know exactly what is involved in hiring a new worker or terminating their contract.

However, it never hurts to get some extra help in this area. Hire a lawyer with expertise in unfair dismissal and discriminatory hiring practices. Of course, you would never deliberately act in a way that is considered discrimination. However, local regulations change quickly and you need to be on top of them. Be sure to have a lawyer regularly review your hiring and dismissal policies.

Think About Your Payment Structure

Pay is such an important part of a job. It’s the way workers are rewarded for their hard work and loyalty. Yet, it can be surprisingly complicated when you start looking at it from a legal standpoint. You need to ensure that you’re meeting minimum wage requirements, giving fair and equal pay to people of all backgrounds, and offering plenty of perks and benefits.

That’s why you should bring in at least one lawyer with a financial background. Money is one of the biggest causes of disputes in the workplace. By having access to the trusted advice of an attorney, you can be clear about how much each worker earns and make sure that it complies with both the law and your moral obligations.

Consider Vulnerable People

Depending on the type of industry you work in, there’s a good chance that you’ll be working with vulnerable people. This could include children, people with disabilities, senior citizens, people with criminal records, anyone living in poverty, or those who have experienced trauma in their past, such as military veterans and victims of abuse. If this is the case in your company, then find a lawyer to help.

In everything you do, you need to have safeguards in place to ensure the protection of these vulnerable people. This is a requirement under the law, which is why it needs to be a part of your attempts to build a legal team. Bring in lawyers who have experience in defending the rights of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

Hire Compensation Attorneys

No matter how well you run your HR team, problems will inevitably arise. That’s why your team exists in the first place: to deal with challenges as they come up. One of the best ways to deal with a bad situation is to offer compensation to your employees. Whether they experience bullying, harassment, unfair treatment, or an injury, compensation can help to keep everybody happy.

Therefore, it is important to reach out to some workers compensation lawyers. Bring them into your legal team and have them on hand for when you need them. They can work directly with members of staff, informing them of whether they’re entitled to compensation and how much they should ask for. The same lawyers can also work with the company, ensuring that a fair resolution is reached for all parties involved.

The best HR professionals depend on the advice of the best lawyers. Build a legal team you trust and let them guide some of your decisions. Of course, they’re only there to advise while managers and employers will ultimately make the decision. Follow the tips above to start putting together the best legal team you can.