Imagine you are an entrepreneur with a business plan to start a social enterprise. You are looking to engage students as interns. What are the legal responsibilities and implications you would need to be aware of when it comes to employment, insurance, MPF, compensation, or other liabilities for student interns as well as volunteers?
Or you may be a sole proprietor in the process of building a recycling company. What legal implications should you consider when hiring employees and preparing for potential cases of workplace injury and relevant compensation?
These are common queries any entrepreneur would face when starting their own business. However, not all entrepreneurs have equitable access to the relevant resources and expertise that can help them navigate these challenges.
That is why, in addition to regularly enriching our Entrepreneur’s Toolkit, we at FSI are equally committed to hosting Impact Jams, which connect corporate professionals who want to contribute their skills and expertise towards building more sustainable communities, with social impact leaders and under-resourced entrepreneurs who can benefit from the extra assistance.
Linklaters Legal Clinic for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs
On 27 October, we collaborated with Linklaters, a global law firm, to host a Legal Clinic for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs to help five aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs of our Mentorship Program address their legal needs.
Prior to the legal clinic, FSI interviewed Mujahida Malik, Dhiresh Buxani, Basnet (Kazy) Pankaj, Laibah Bibi, and Kebba Jallow to gauge their main legal needs around company registration, obtaining relevant licenses, making the first hire, awareness of intellectual property rights etc.
Opening the legal clinic was Joshua Li, Counsel and Head of Hong Kong Employment & Incentives at Linklaters, who introduced the entrepreneurs to the fundamental aspects of legal considerations, including business registration, creating a business plan, customer terms and conditions, obtaining business licences, and the Employment Ordinance. He also shared some public resources that entrepreneurs can easily access to get quick answers, such as the government regulations on the types of business required to be registered, business licence information service, the Labour Department’s sample employment contract, the government’s Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance, and Guide to Employees’ Compensation Insurance.
In the interactive Q&A that followed, Janet Wang, Corporate Responsibility Advisor, and Penny Barsha, Head of Corporate Responsibility in Asia, joined Joshua to answer the entrepreneurs’ various questions specific to their circumstances.
For example, Dhiresh Buxani, founder of a tech startup, wanted to get a better grasp of the potential liabilities and obligations involved in his development of the platform OneProject, especially when engaging with third parties and potential clients.
“I gained a clear understanding of practical and actionable legal solutions to some of the legal challenges I was cautioned of within my business. The knowledge from the legal clinic undoubtedly helped me to decide on the direction I want to go. I particularly enjoyed the open environment where we were encouraged to ask questions without hesitation to receive guidance that was tailored and specific to my business.”
The legal clinic benefited Linklaters employees as well: they strongly agreed that the session gave them a sense of fulfillment in making a positive impact with their knowledge and skills, and they were able to learn new knowledge and skills that they can bring back to their workplace.
Join FSI to Build a Diverse and Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
At FSI, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Hong Kong. We do this by nurturing and supporting under-resourced ethnically diverse entrepreneurs through our Mentorship Program for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs. We also curate a rich library of entrepreneurial resources, called the Entrepreneur’s Toolkit, so that any entrepreneurs can access guides and templates related to fundraising, accounting, legal and compliance, marketing, human resource management, and team management etc. all at zero cost.
Our Mentorship Program and Entrepreneur’s Toolkit would not have been possible without the generous funding support from the Hong Kong Club Foundation, just as this successful Impact Jam would not have been useful to early-stage under-resourced entrepreneurs without the skills-based support from Linklaters. If you share our passion for empowering under-resourced entrepreneurs through financial donation or skills-based volunteering, contact us at cbs@shared-impact.com.
Companies looking for meaningful volunteering opportunities to achieve their ESG and CSR goals while reinforcing their talent development endeavours can learn more about how FSI’s core programs can help. We welcome individual skilled volunteers too, so find out how FSI can match individuals with skills-based volunteering opportunities to accelerate their professional and personal growth.
Want to work with FSI for the next Impact Jam? Get in touch with us at info@shared-impact.com!
