Johannesburg, 20 Jul 2011
LegalWrite, Softline Pastel's “lawyer in a box”, has been updated to include and comply with both the Consumer Protection Act and the new Companies Act. It's available for purchase on shelves and online this week.
The Consumer Protection Act and Companies Act, which both came into effect earlier this year, will have radical implications for business owners and how they operate with customers and suppliers. LegalWrite product manager, Saul Symanowitz, himself a qualified attorney, says: “LegalWrite is a user-friendly, practical tool that can assist business owners in navigating the potential minefield of legal complexity.”
Containing over 100 legal templates that are easily opened and edited in Microsoft Word, the program covers the full spectrum of legal requirements faced by businesses. Embedded and clear instructions on how to personalise documents with names, dates and signatures empowers users to do it themselves. The language is simple English and any complex legal terminology is explained in a full glossary.
Examples of some of the more popular templates include shareholders' agreements, partnership agreements, confidentiality agreements, letters of demand, service level agreements, employee contracts, various property agreements and power of attorney, to name a few, all of which are fully compliant with the Consumer Protection Act and the new Companies Act.
Symanowitz believes labour is an area of the law where South African businesses face particular risk.
Softline Pastel, part of the Sage Group, is the country's leading developer of accounting and business solutions. Its LegalWrite product comes complete with a labour guide containing information sections on 20 key areas of labour law, including dismissals, pay slips, health and safety, affirmative action, leave, wages, occupational injuries and diseases, the CCMA, trade unions, contractors, skills development levies, UIF and more. In addition, Legal Write incorporates a complete suite of standard labour policies, documents and agreements, ensuring your business will always be fully compliant.
The updated program has a comprehensive library of documents, including guides on the new Acts detailing the appropriate steps to ensure compliance. These simple-to-understand manuals also cover topics such as BEE, labour laws and tax requirements, and provide bullet point facts and definitions for each legal matter. The Companies Act guide contains a useful comparison table, with a side-by-side overview of the old 1973 Act and the new 2008 legislation. Similarly, the information guide on the Consumer Protection Act will ensure business owners are aware of their own and their customers' rights.
Symanowitz says: “Many business owners are tempted to surf the net for legal documents. This is very risky as online material often comes from unreliable and outdated sources.” With LegalWrite, which has been developed in conjunction with leading law firm B.Hollander Attorneys, users can be confident that their legal documents are complete, compliant and up to date.
LegalWrite is well priced for the small to medium enterprise - the entire package costs less than a single consultation with an attorney.
“LegalWrite is an empowering tool that every business owner should use,” concludes Symanowitz. The new version is now available for purchase at Incredible Connection stores and online at www.pastel.co.za.
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