Understanding the various rules, laws and regulations that govern your business will help you take advantage of any benefits they offer while ensuring you always stay compliant.

A compliance expert enables you to start your business with the right legal structure. In its business sense, a “compliance expert” refers to a person who ensures meeting legal obligations, often to protect the health, safety and welfare of others.

Investment in compliance requires up to around 5% to 10% of the company’s total cost depending on the type of company. Failure to adhere can lead a business to incur fines & penalties in addition to prosecution in some cases.

In January 2017, the FCA levied £163 million ($203.83 million) in fines against the German lender Deutsche Bank. The lack of customer due diligence, along with other deficiencies, failure to comply with regulations caused Deutsche Bank to incur such huge amounts of fines.

How does a compliance consultant benefit your business – 

You need to ensure that your company is legally compliant with the rules of the land. 

The most obvious consequence of compliance is that it decreases your risk of fines, penalties, work stoppages, lawsuits or a shutdown of your business. When you don’t meet some compliance requirements, such as posting an employment poster in the wrong area of your office, you might get a warning and a chance to correct the problem. In other situations, you might face costly sanctions. Failing to meet your legal obligations, such as in your manufacturing procedures or advertising methods, can also help someone suing you strengthen his case. Hire a business compliance expert to make sure you understand all your legal obligations and comply with them.

Improved Operations and Safety –

Many business rules and regulations can help you more than harm you. For example, rules regarding discrimination and harassment help you to create a better work environment for your employees, which can lead to more worker productivity. Following safety and security rules helps prevent injuries, fires or building evacuations that could ultimately hurt your profitability. 

Ensures all legal requirement are met –

A compliance expert ensures all contracts and legal requirement & implications are understood before executing or committing to it. A Compliance consultant also makes sure of timely completion and adherence to legal requirements. They also enable employers to be aware of all the mandatory, statutory record keeping that needs to be followed and maintained as per the nature of the business.

A compliance consultant also advises and guides you with any special approvals, permissions required to conduct your business, or any change needed in business activity that may need additional compliances.

Improve Public Relations –

When you meet your legal obligations, one of the benefits of compliance is the ability to use them effectively in your website and in your marketing materials. For example, when you place job advertisements, include the fact that you are an equal opportunity employer. When you recruit new workers, highlight your company’s commitment to both physical safety and mental health by referencing key policies and benefits dedicated to proactive healthcare and wellbeing of employees.

Develop a culture of compliance –

An effective compliance expert infuses ethics and integrity into the fabric of the company and institutes a system of check and balances at every level. The role of a compliance officer is to establish the critical importance of risk management and integrity into the fabric of the company and institutes a system of check and balances at every level. This means communicating to employees about compliance issues and changes in policies or initiatives.

In addition to other compliances, in current times, all businesses are also required to strictly follow COVID 19 guidelines provided by the Govt of UAE. An employer should be compliant in maintaining and following these guidelines.  If employees are not wearing masks in the office, the company will be fined Dh5,000 and the employee will be fined Dh500. The Economic Department has shut down businesses for violating guidelines.

At an early stage of business, compliance consultants can be outsourced. Once the business grows, you may need an inhouse compliance officer. Important aspects of hiring a compliance officer include evaluation of their extensive local market experience and expertise besides the clients they have advised. 

Jupiter Business Mentors, the region’s first online, business mentoring platform offers you a chance to book a voice or a video call with experienced Compliance experts. You can currently book a free session of 30 minutes with any three mentors on the platform. 

For legal compliance and regulatory services, you can book a session with our experts – Bianca Gracias and Elena Schildgen.

For company licensing and regulatory compliances, you can book a session with – Richa Bhagnari and Edwin Duria.