Legal Register

The legal register

Importance of the legal register in the company

Every company is subject to a large number of legal requirements, guidelines, norms, regulations and standards in almost all areas of the company.

It is the task of the management to keep an eye on all of these and to observe and comply with them. It is important for customers, interested parties and business partners that they can fully rely on your company. In the context of compliance, it is vital for the company to observe and comply with all laws and regulations.

All regulations, rules, guidelines and laws that the company is obliged to comply with are clearly compiled in the legal register.

It is therefore a collection of the regulations that actually apply to the company. In addition, the legal register can be used to record directly for each regulation who is responsible for this specific area in the company and how the company assesses the respective regulation.

For example, the guidelines on escape and rescue routes could be followed by a general note such as "In our company, it has proven to be a good idea for all employees to carry out a brief joint inspection of the premises on the first Monday of every month."

In addition, voluntary commitments and special agreements with customers or business partners can also be recorded in the legal register.

These can be, for example, special agreements with individual customers on mutual confidentiality or the voluntary commitment that there will be a strict smoking ban in the building or that plastic bags will no longer be used anywhere.

The legal register is made available to all employees and only then does it take full effect: employees can rely on the fact that the management has checked which rules must actually be observed and that these are always up-to-date and complete. It thus becomes a handbook for day-to-day work and offers employees and management alike the certainty that all the necessary knowledge for joint compliance management is available centrally and supports the company's legal conformity.

When is a legal register necessary?

Proper business management requires that all regulations and laws applicable to the company are known and complied with. In this respect, every company is obliged to deal with the topic of "regulations to be complied with" on a regular basis.

The ISO 9001 standard and others also specifically require the "identification of binding obligations".

However, there is no necessary obligation to set up and maintain a legal register for any company.

On the other hand, the legal register has established itself as a tool and also as a term over the years because it is a very good aid for fulfilling corporate obligations. The creation and regular maintenance of a legal register is therefore recommended for almost all companies.

Does your company already have a responsible employee who regularly researches and keeps track of all changes and innovations and all laws? Then it's easy for them to summarize their findings in a legal register and provide all employees with a bundled collection.

If, on the other hand, you have not yet established anyone in your company who has been entrusted with these tasks, then your company has a clear gap in terms of compliance and also in terms of proper management. The voluntary introduction, creation and maintenance of a legal register can provide support here and act as an incentive to address the issue on a regular basis.

Small companies in particular are recommended to seek external support with the relevant experience and routine.

Ultimately, the legal register also functions as a means of communication, as one employee researches and updates it, while the other employees only access the entries and information when necessary.

All in all, a legal register is not absolutely necessary, but it is very helpful.

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The benefits of the legal register

A legal register has several advantages for entrepreneurs.

As one person or an external service provider is entrusted with researching, checking and compiling and the other employees use the checked compilation as a basis for their work, it is clearly defined which knowledge base is used. This prevents each employee from starting to diligently research on the Internet and elsewhere to find out which guidelines they should supposedly adhere to. There is a common understanding of the interpretation of each individual regulation and its applicability. This prevents misunderstandings and different interpretations.

Another benefit is that the legal register provides a kind of guided reminder function. Employees can and should regularly check the constantly updated register. When reading the latest changes, the entire inventory of valid regulations is brought to mind once again. In addition, the register invites employees to take a look from time to time to see which regulations are currently applicable.

Responsibilities are regularly refreshed and scrutinized. Every new regulation and every change in the legal register leads to the responsible persons being checked and, if necessary, adjusted, so that the list of responsibilities is always up to date.

For example, if the internal fire safety officer leaves the company and a new one is forgotten to be appointed, this will be noticed when the legal register is updated. The error can be rectified promptly by appointing a new fire safety officer.

As updates must be documented in the register, a complete list of which regulations had to be complied with at which time is created as a secondary result. In the event of disputes, the register can thus serve as evidence and quickly provide clarity.

Finally, the register also helps to achieve internal compliance targets.

Our offer for the legal register

Creating a legal register for a company requires a high level of expertise. In addition, it is necessary to keep up to date in order to maintain it on an ongoing basis. Changes to the law and new guidelines and other requirements must be monitored and evaluated for your own company.

It can quickly become a hurdle for individual entrepreneurs to create a legal register themselves. We are happy to help you here, as we have the necessary experience and routine in this area.

We create complete and up-to-date legal registers and keep them up to date for you.

As a lawyer and engineer, Donato Muro can advise and help you with all questions relating to the legal cadastre. This offer applies to members of the following sectors:

• Architectural firms
• Engineering offices
• Craft enterprises
• Construction companies
• Recruitment agencies
• Manufacturing industry
• Chemical or petrochemical plants and similar.

Arrange a short appointment to discuss where we can help you.