
Briefly put, legal compliance is the act of a company adhering to laws and policies that are pertinent to the sector within which they do business. Those laws can be requirements that a company needs to attain before it can trade or carry out its services, as well as ethical standards it should meet.
Full Answer
What is the difference between compliance and legal?
She states there are philosophical differences between the compliance officer and legal counsel. The latter focuses on providing legal advice and does not act as the decision authority, whereas the compliance officer is a program official that must make decisions and not just offer advice.
What does 'compliance' mean in law terms?
In the legal field the term Compliance refers to act of adherence to the law of the land. In business terms, in case of any organization, compliance is done in adherence to the laws, regulations, guidelines and specification that are relevant for the life cycle of a business entity. Since all legal obligations are made public by the statutes.
How to evaluate legal compliance?
Key Themes of Legal Compliance Audits
- Health & Safety Legal Compliance. Employers have a duty of care to anyone who may be harmed by the operating of their organisation, including staff, customers and the public.
- Facilities Legal Requirements. ...
- Data Protection Legal Compliance. ...
- Employment Legal Compliance. ...
- Environmental Legal Compliance. ...
- Logistics & Transport Legal Compliance. ...
What does legal and regulatory compliance mean?
Typically, the legal term, compliance, refers to regulatory compliance, which is the state of conforming to established industry-wide regulations. These regulations are legally mandated. A specific example of compliance meaning in court is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regulations governing the maritime industry.

What is the legal definition of a compliance?
Compliance/legal compliance, then, can be defined as a set of processes and procedures within a specific program to ensure adherence to government regulation and laws.
What is an example of legal compliance?
In its business sense, “compliance” refers to a company meeting its legal obligations, often to protect the health, safety and welfare of others. Simple examples of compliance include obtaining a business license in your town and paying your taxes.
What are the four types of compliance?
Figure 6 depicts the four types of compliance behaviour (deliberately compliant, accidentally non-compliant, accidentally compliant and deliberately non-compliant) and the contribution that intention and/or administrative effectiveness provides to the performance of the behaviour.
What is the legal compliance function?
Legal compliance is the process or procedure to ensure that an organization follows relevant laws, regulations and business rules.
Why is legal compliance important?
Corporate compliance covers both internal policies and procedures, as well as federal and state laws. Enforcing compliance helps your company prevent and detect violations of rules, which protects your organization from fines and lawsuits.
How do you ensure legal compliance?
Typical steps to achieve regulatory compliance include the following:Identify applicable regulations. Determine which laws and compliance regulations apply to the company's industry and operations. ... Determine requirements. ... Document compliance processes. ... Monitor changes, and determine whether they apply.
What are the 2 types of compliance?
There are two main types of compliance that denote where the framework is coming from: corporate and regulatory. Both corporate and regulatory compliance consist of a framework of rules, regulations and practices to follow.
What are standards of compliance?
A compliance standard is Enterprise Manager's representation of a compliance control that must be tested against a set of IT infrastructure to determine if the control is being followed.
What are the three compliance techniques?
The experimental analysis of compliance has focused primarily on three multiple request procedures: (1) the foot-in-the-door technique, (2) the door-in- the-face technique, and (3) the low-ball technique.
What is legal compliance and risk?
Legal compliance ensures that the organization, its agents and employees are abiding by the laws and regulations of the industry. Common compliance risks involve illegal practices and include fraud, theft, bribery, money laundering and embezzlement.
What is legal compliance in human resources?
What is HR compliance? HR compliance is a process of defining policies and procedures to ensure your employment and work practices demonstrate a thorough understanding of applicable laws and regulations, while also being aware of the company's larger human capital resources objectives.
What's the difference between legal and compliance?
Legal counsel is primarily in charge of contract drafting, negotiation, and review; compliance handles violations of the Code of Conduct, policies and procedures, or other wrongdoing by those employed or engaged by the organization.
What are the areas of legal compliance?
The key areas where compliance is required are: Equal Opportunity; Workplace Health and Safety; Consumer Law; and. Privacy.
What is legal compliance issues?
Legal compliance is the process by which a company adheres to the complex rules, policies and processes that regulate business practice in a particular jurisdiction.
What is legal compliance in human resources?
What is HR compliance? HR compliance is a process of defining policies and procedures to ensure your employment and work practices demonstrate a thorough understanding of applicable laws and regulations, while also being aware of the company's larger human capital resources objectives.
Whats the difference between legal and compliance?
Legal counsel is primarily in charge of contract drafting, negotiation, and review; compliance handles violations of the Code of Conduct, policies and procedures, or other wrongdoing by those employed or engaged by the organization.
What is legal compliance?
Briefly put, legal compliance is the act of a company adhering to laws and policies that are pertinent to the sector within which they do business. Those laws can be requirements that a company needs to attain before it can trade or carry out its services, as well as ethical standards it should meet.
Why is compliance important?
Legal compliance is essential to achieve and maintain for a business to trade lawfully. If legal compliance standards are not met, businesses can face fines and penalties - if, indeed, that business is permitted to continue to run at all.
What is legal risk?
Legal risk is what can happen if you do not remain compliant with the laws and policies in place that oversee your business. In practice, this means what you could be subjecting yourself to in future if you do not follow the laws in place. You are exposing yourself to the chance of legal penalties, fines and temporary termination of trading licences if you do not comply with legal rules and regulatory frameworks.
Why is it important to have a compliance procedure in place?
Considering that authorities have the legal capability to shut businesses down if they do not meet compliance requirements, the importance of having an effective compliance procedure in place is evident. The time and energy needed to meet those requirements needs to be given the proper time and attention it deserves. Having a robust, workable series of procedures in place to maintain legal compliance is essential.
Why is it important to be legally compliant?
Being legally compliant, as well as staying legally compliant is essential for the smooth running of a business as well as the health and safety of wider communities and populations.
What are the legal responsibilities of a business?
Commonly, businesses will have a responsibility to maintain accurate and up to date records documenting legal checks. Additionally, companies will often have to submit documents to regulatory authorities to confirm their auditing and risk management processes. Finally, to be legally compliant, businesses will often have to have the correct licences, certificates or permits in place to be able to trade lawfully.
Examples of LEGAL COMPLIANCE in a sentence
LEGAL COMPLIANCE Contractor represents and warrants that it shall secure all notices and comply with all laws, ordinances, rules and regulations of any governmental entity in conjunction with the performance of obligations under the Contract.
More Definitions of LEGAL COMPLIANCE
LEGAL COMPLIANCE. PAI is not in breach of any laws, ordinances, statutes, regulations, by-laws, orders or decrees to which PAI is subject or which apply to it or any of its assets.
What is the difference between compliance and legal?
You're the safety team. In this analogy, compliance is the safety team; legal is the insurance team. That is, lawyers focus on reducing legal liability, not preventing the stuff that causes liability. That's how lawyering works: lawyers help protect their clients with legal clauses and agreements in case things go wrong, ...
How does compliance work in law?
By contrast, compliance focuses on the "make things go right or wrong in the first place" part. There is obvious overlap between those ...
Why is legal vs compliance less obvious?
It's just less obvious because "legal vs compliance" is a little more abstract than "fire safety vs fire insurance"—which is why drawing an analogy to those more accessible functions helps set things straight.
What protects the company from fire liability?
The insurance team protects the company from fire liability; the safety team protects the company from fire itself .
Does insurance overlap with safety?
There is obvious overlap between those roles, of course, a nd that's true for safety and insurance too. Some of the things your safety team does are necessary to allow the insurance team to prove a fire wasn't the company's fault. And likewise, some of the stuff the insurance team has to do to qualify for insurance will probably help prevent fires.
Is it possible to lose the distinction between technical and traditional?
Probably not very well. Because a lot of the traditional (and correct) answers to that question either get overly technical or stay so high-level that the distinction is easily lost.
Is compliance the same as legal?
Likewise, it's ridiculous to think that legal and compliance are the same; they are fundamentally different functions (and different career paths), and being good at one is no guarantee of being good at the other.
What is compliance in law?
Compliance is the state of conforming to applicable laws. There are many ways to apply the compliance definition, such as compliance with industry regulations in the business world or compliance with laws in the realm of civil and criminal law. Other ways compliance can be applied and understood include compliance with social norms ...
What is compliance in business?
Compliance Definition: Business. Another common context for discussing compliance is business. Many industries are required to comply with specific federal and state laws, and numerous federal and state-level agencies operate solely for the purpose of enforcing these laws. A few of these agencies are:
What happens if you don't comply with a court order?
When an individual fails to comply with such an order, he is considered to be in contempt of court and may face consequences like fines, suspension of his professional license and in some cases, jail time. Failure to comply with the terms of a criminal sentence, like probation or parole, can result in the individual being sent to jail for violation of probation or being returned to jail for violation of parole.
What is non compliance?
Noncompliance is the failure to meet imposed laws or standards, sometimes due to explicit violations of these laws or standards. In other cases, noncompliance is due to a failure to meet a specified threshold or to update practices to meet current demands. Not all instances of noncompliance are legal violations.
Is compliance a passive act?
In some instances, compliance is a passive act: All a company needs to do to be compliant is avoid violating regulations. In others, compliance requires a more active role, such as the continuing professional development requirement many states impose on cosmetologists and other professionals.
What is compliance in legal services?
Compliance is the process of complying with legal and regulatory requirements, industry standards, and community expectations. A business is compliant when it is operating in conformance with legal and regulatory requirements, industry standards, and community expectations.
What is the objective of a compliance professional?
The objective of a compliance professional is to embed compliance into the development of a business. There are limitations on the work that can be undertaken by a compliance professional. That person cannot engage in legal work as defined in relevant jurisdictional regulatory instruments unless they are also qualified as a lawyer.
What is the role of an in house lawyer?
On a day-to-day basis, this includes reviewing contracts, interpreting the law, managing disputes and litigation, managing employment law matters, and providing legal advice on areas such as privacy law.
What is compliance quarter?
Compliance Quarter is in a unique position in having a ‘sister’ law firm, Law Quarter. As a result, we can provide access to both legal and compliance professionals, as the need arises.
Do large businesses have both in-house and compliance teams?
Many large businesses have both in-house legal teams and compliance teams. What is the difference between the two and how do you know if you need a legal or a compliance professional?
Is compliance quarter common?
It is possible nonethe less, and indeed it is common, for a team to manage both compliance and legal functions. However, at larger businesses, you will typically find both teams operating independently but alongside one another. Compliance Quarter is in a unique position in having a ‘sister’ law firm, Law Quarter.
Is there overlap between compliance and legal?
There are clearly areas of potential overlap between the work of a legal and compliance professional however the two disciplines have different objectives and employ different methods. Legal professionals are focused on legal risk and are typically less focused on the development of industry regulation and community expectations.
What is legal compliance?
Legal Compliance refers to complying or behaving in accordance with the legal system or legislation of a country, organization, institution, company, etc. Compliance under the legal system means following laws, rules or policies of an organization/ company. Legal compliance is, therefore, behaving according to these laws and legal obligations.
What is the difference between ethical responsibility and legal compliance?
The main difference between legal compliance and ethical responsibility is that the legal compliance is bound to obey whereas the ethical responsibility is a choice. Both are concerned with the manner in which a person has to behave in with accordance to laws and ethics relating to a certain society, organization, etc.
What is ethical responsibility?
Ethical responsibility is the ability to recognize and act upon the ethical values according to the standards within a given field or context. Hence, ethical responsibility refers to the responsibility to follow the code of ethics of a certain organization, institute, society, etc. Ethics are the moral codes that are followed by people in ...
What is the difference between ethics and compliance?
Compliance is following the law while ethics is doing what is right, sometimes even regardless of the law.
What happens if you don't comply with the law?
Moreover, if the person does not comply with these rules and regulations, he has to endure penalties as well . The employment law requires every employee/personnel to comply with these laws and meet their obligations. Some common elements of legal compliance to employees are;
Is ethics a right or a responsibility?
Therefore, ethics are rights that are considered morally right. Thus, they are not laws but obligations. Furthermore, it is a choice of a person to follow these ethics or not. Moreover, ethics in an organization differ accordingly. Thus, the ethical responsibility is the responsibility a person has to accord himself according to these code ...

Is Compliance Part of Legal?
- Compliance and legal are separate concerns, yet the two are firmly interlinked; a foremost responsibility of an organization’s legal department is to ensure, promote and facilitate compliance. In-house counsel plays a crucial role in protecting the company, its directors and e…
What Is The Difference Between Compliance and Legal?
- An effective compliance program relies heavily on co-operation and support from an organization’s legal department. While legal professionals advise on the law and best legal practice, it is the role and responsibility of compliance professionals to develop the compliance controls, procedures, policies and systems to ensure that the company operates within clearly d…
What Are The Steps For Evaluating Legal Compliance?
- How can in-house counsel, company secretaries, and legal operations and compliance teams all work together to measure compliance and keep the company and its entities legally able to operate in every jurisdiction? The following seven steps provide a solid framework for success.
How to Ensure You’Re Fully Legally Compliant
- A business’ state of compliance can be evaluated at two levels: 1. Compliance with the external rules imposed upon the business as a whole by Government or industry body regulations, including compliance with laws or ethical standards; and 2. Compliance with the internal systems of control imposed by the business to help it achieve compliance with those externally imposed …
Technology’s Role in Legal Compliance
- Entity management softwarehas emerged as a solution to getting and storing essential data. The main objective of legal entity management software is to store and maintain all subsidiary-related information to establish a single source of truth for all entity-related information. It allows for the implementation of processes and procedures across all global entities to ensure precision, accu…
What Is Legal Compliance?
- Briefly put, legal compliance is the act of a company adhering to laws and policies that are pertinent to the sector within which they do business. Those laws can be requirements that a company needs to attain before it can trade or carry out its services, as well as ethical standards it should meet. A large part of legal compliance is having a rob...
What Steps Can You Take to Achieve Legal Compliance?
- Given that legal compliance varies from business to business, sector to sector, depending entirely on the entity’s own individual circumstances, how do you achieve legal compliance? And, consequently, how do you ensure you remain legally compliant given that legal compliance is a continuous process? Firstly, it is essential that you identify what your legal responsibilities are, d…
What Is Legal Risk and Compliance?
- Legal risk is what can happen if you do not remain compliant with the laws and policies in place that oversee your business. In practice, this means what you could be subjecting yourself to in future if you do not follow the laws in place. You are exposing yourself to the chance of legal penalties, fines and temporary termination of trading licences if you do not comply with legal rul…
What Is Legal Compliance? Overall Takeaways
- Legal compliance is essential to achieve and maintain for a business to trade lawfully. If legal compliance standards are not met, businesses can face fines and penalties - if, indeed, that business is permitted to continue to run at all. Considering that authorities have the legal capability to shut businesses down if they do not meet compliance requirements, the importanc…