Workplace compliance can lead to a number of issues, seeing you pay penalties that you could have avoided and even running the risk of leaving your business with a spotted reputation. This makes it important to comply and ensure that you’ve adhered to all the necessary standards. If you’re not aware of the various workplace compliance issues that you may face over time, read on to see some of them so that it’s easier for you to see the benefits of making sure that you keep your business compliant at all times.
A Warning
One of the lightest consequences of non-compliance is a warning from the regulatory authorities. This is normally followed by instructions such as fixing the issue within a given time frame, after which the consequences are likely to become more serious. If you get a warning for non-compliance, it’s best that you mitigate damage by acting as fast as you possibly can, since the issue in this case is likely to be manageable.
Impacted Business Reputation
Another consequence of failure to comply is having your business reputation negatively impacted. This is especially the case in a scenario whereby the issue is made public knowledge in the media or other sources. By letting the public know about your failure to adhere to the necessary business practices, you stand to lose credibility in the eyes of a section of your clients, something that can negatively affect your business moving forward.
Fees and Fines
The most common consequences of non-compliance are fines, fees, or penalties. These are normally figures that have already been put in place, and that can range from quite small to hefty enough to affect your business budget for a long time to come. One of these is something that involves injury or negligence on your part, which can even lead to legal tussles. An example is if you end up with workers comp cases, of which more than 1,300 were filed in Kansas in the first five months of 2020.
Business Closure
The most severe consequence of non-compliance is business closure. This is usually the likelihood in cases where there’s a serious violation of environmental rules or working conditions are extremely unsafe. In this case, your business could end up having to shut down some, or even all of its operations. An example is a case whereby people end up in the hospital seeking treatment because of using your products or working in your company. On this note, almost 132 million patients visit United States emergency rooms a year, with nearly 30% of these visits resulting from injuries, according to the CDC.
Criminal Charges
Yet another serious consequence of ignoring work compliance rules is facing criminal charges as the owner or owners of a business. In this extreme case, the business owners are personally charged for damage or harm that comes about as a result of failure to comply. This is typically one among a number of other charges and consequences that the business will face, and it’s also among the more serious outcomes of non-compliance. This is something that food companies especially need to be extremely careful about, making it better to make losses by disposing of potentially dangerous food than taking the chance of causing health issues and ending up facing charges. On this note, food waste is approximated to be as much as 30% to 40% of the total food supply, according to the FDA.
While the specific consequences of failure to comply may depend on the area in which your business doesn’t comply, the particular nature of the non-compliance, and the frequency or severity of the non-compliance, it’s important to avoid all possible scenarios. Some of the ways to avoid issues with non-compliance are hiring legal professionals or outsourcing this task to a team of experts. The price paid for these services is going to be minimal in light of the consequences of failure to comply fully.