Office and business support compliance checklist

Work through every section that applies to your business. Tick off each item when you have confirmed it is in place.

Section 1 — Health and safety at work

• Have you identified your general duties as an employer (or self-employed person) under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974?
• Have you carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment covering display screen equipment, manual handling, noise exposure in call centre environments, work-related stress and lone working?
• If you employ five or more people, is the risk assessment recorded in writing?
• Do you have a written health and safety policy (required if you employ five or more people)?
• Have you appointed a competent person to assist with health and safety?

Section 2 — Fire safety

• Have you carried out a fire risk assessment for your premises?
• Are escape routes clear, signed and adequately lit?
• Is fire detection and alarm equipment installed and regularly tested?
• Have all staff received fire safety training?

Section 3 — Employers' liability insurance

• If you employ anyone (including part-time, contract or agency workers under your direction), do you hold employers' liability insurance with at least £5 million cover?
• Is the certificate from your insurer displayed at your premises or accessible electronically?

Section 4 — Equality and data protection

• Are you aware of your duties under the Equality Act 2010 (or equivalent Northern Ireland legislation) not to discriminate in employment or service provision?
• Have you considered reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and service users?
• Have you registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for data protection (unless exempt)?
• Have you identified the lawful basis for each type of personal data you process — client records, debtor data, credit histories, call recordings, employee records?
• Can you respond to a subject access request within one calendar month?

Section 5 — FCA consumer credit authorisation

• If you collect debts, administer credit or provide credit references, do you hold FCA authorisation (or are you an appointed representative of an authorised firm)?
• Are you complying with the FCA's Consumer Credit sourcebook (CONC), including CONC 7 on arrears, default and recovery?
• Are you treating customers in financial difficulty fairly and complying with the FCA's Consumer Duty?
• Are you avoiding misleading or oppressive debt collection practices?
• If you are a credit reference agency, can you provide individuals with their statutory credit file and correct inaccurate data on request?

Section 6 — Call centre outbound marketing

• If you run an outbound call centre with predictive diallers, is your abandoned-call rate below the Ofcom maximum of 3% per campaign (measured over 24 hours)?
• Do abandoned calls play a brief information message within two seconds, identifying the caller and giving an opt-out?
• Is calling line identification (CLI) presented on all outbound calls?
• If you send marketing by email, text or automated call, have you obtained prior consent from recipients (or confirmed the soft opt-in exception applies)?
• Do you screen against the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) before making live marketing calls?
• Do your marketing messages identify you as the sender and provide a valid opt-out mechanism?