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Compliance is essential for all types of businesses. Regardless of a business’s size, location and operations, effectively managing compliance is one of the keys to avoiding liability in both civil litigation and government enforcement proceedings.
So, what will it take for businesses to effectively manage compliance in 2025? For all businesses, effectively managing compliance requires a custom-tailored approach. Business owners and executives need to have a clear and comprehensive understanding of their companies’ compliance obligations, and they must ensure that their companies do what is necessary to establish, maintain and document compliance on an ongoing basis.
5 Key Areas of Business Compliance
With this in mind, here are five (non-exclusive) key areas of business compliance:
1. Corporate Compliance
The end of the year is a good time for companies to ensure that they have all of the documentation they need to maintain corporate compliance best practices. This may include board resolutions, meeting minutes and various other forms of documentation depending on an entity’s form and governance structure. While this may seem like a formality (and, to a certain extent, it is), it is an important formality that can help protect both the company and its owners in the event of litigation.
2. Contractual Compliance
The end of the year is also a good time for companies to assess their contractual compliance. Is your company in breach (or at risk of being in breach) of any of its contractual obligations? If so, taking a proactive approach and either coming into compliance or proactively targeting a resolution that eliminates the risk of facing litigation or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings might be best.
Of course, contractual compliance goes both ways. If any of your company’s counterparties are in breach of their contractual obligations, now may be a good time to take action here as well. Whether this means taking legal action or working out an amicable resolution that puts both parties in a more favorable position for the new year will depend on the specific circumstances involved.
3. Employment Law Compliance
All companies should be prioritizing employment law compliance heading into 2025. State and federal employment laws establish various compliance obligations for employers of all sizes. From ensuring that they have effective anti-harassment and discrimination policies to ensuring that they are doing enough to protect their employees’ personal information, companies need to make sure that their employment-related practices and documentation are not putting them at risk unnecessarily.
4. State and Local Compliance
Along with employment law compliance, companies may have a variety of other state (and local) compliance obligations as well. Some of the more common areas of state and local compliance include:
- Business licensing and permitting
- Data privacy and protection
- Income and employment tax
- Political activity and lobbying
- Securities filings and exemptions
As even a single compliance-related failure can expose a company to liability and other consequences, a comprehensive approach to compliance is essential. At Rendigs, we assist our clients with all aspects of state and local compliance, taking a proactive approach to ensuring that our clients are doing everything that is required.
5. Federal Compliance
Along with state and local compliance, we assist our clients with federal compliance as well. Some common areas of concern for our clients include:
Antitrust and Consumer Protection Compliance
Antitrust and consumer protection issues can arise in a wide range of circumstances. From mergers and acquisitions to social media marketing, company owners and executives need to have a clear and comprehensive understanding of when these issues can arise, and they must ensure that they are taking a proactive approach to compliance risk management.
Immigration Compliance
Immigration has been a hot button issue during the presidential election cycle, and it is likely to remain a talking point throughout 2025. With this in mind, companies that hire foreign citizens will want to ensure that they are in full compliance with all pertinent federal requirements.
Industry-Specific Compliance
Several federal agencies enforce industry-specific compliance obligations. From transportation and energy to brokerage services and healthcare, businesses in a wide range of industries have specific—and extensive—compliance obligations under federal law.
Securities Compliance
Both private and public companies need to ensure that they are in compliance with the federal securities laws and regulations. For private companies, one of the most significant areas of concern is offering ownership interests to outside investors. While these offerings are subject to registration exemptions in many cases, companies must clearly document that a specific registration exemption applies.
Tax Compliance
Of course, federal tax compliance is a significant year-end concern as well. While this is a time when many companies are looking for last-minute ways to reduce their tax bill, companies must be equally devoted to ensuring that their tax planning strategies are fully compliant with the Internal Revenue Code.
Developing a Comprehensive and Effective Business Compliance Strategy
Again, while these are some key areas of compliance, this list is by no means exhaustive. With this in mind, what can (and should) companies do to develop a comprehensive and effective business compliance strategy for 2025?
Developing a comprehensive and effective business compliance strategy starts with conducting a compliance needs assessment. Once a company has a clear understanding of its compliance obligations, then it can focus on meeting these obligations as efficiently and effectively as possible. When it comes to putting a compliance strategy in place, custom-tailored policies and procedures are key, and companies must ensure that all relevant personnel clearly understand their role in helping to protect the company going forward. This involves not merely disseminating the company’s compliance policies and procedures, but providing training and ongoing support as well.
Schedule an Appointment with a Business Lawyer at Rendigs
If you need to know more about what your company should be doing to mitigate its compliance-related risk in 2025, we invite you to get in touch. With offices in Ohio, Kentucky and Colorado, we work with companies nationwide. To get started with an initial consultation, call 513-381-9200 or get in touch online today.
