Human Resources

HR Policies

Your HR Policies and Procedures will help support the business as they will provide clarity to employees (and the organisation) about standards (and expectations), and processes and basically set out how you will generally deal with any matters.

There are also legal requirements to provide certain policy documents (see below).

Non-Contractual

Policy and procedures will generally be 'non-contractual'.  This means that they can be changed and amended by the Company should the need arise, without the requirement to consult with employees (unlike the contract of employment).  And as the organisation grows and develops, policies may well need to be changes and/or developed and new policies and procedure introduced.

Any changes or new policies must be communicated to employees as employees need to know what the current policy is if they are going to comply (see Your HR Services for the ultimate way to update and communicate information to employee).

Policies and procedures should be appropriate to the organisation. They should NOT be overly bureaucratic or lengthy or so rigid as to be inflexible - but they need to provide enough clarity to communicate clearly. Therefore the polices often found in large corporates or public sector organisations would NOT be appropriate for SME's.

To summarise some of the key reason to have 'appropriate' policy documents.

  • There is a legal requirement to have certain policies  in place - e.g. disciplinary and grievance.
  • Having clear policies (including rules and standards and codes of conduct) will help communicate what is expected to employees and therefore you are more likely to get what you want! And  if you don't you can more easily take appropriate action. You cannot 'reprimand' someone if they didn't know that what they were doing was wrong or unacceptable. 
  • If you have a policy (and procedure) it makes it easier to manage any situation as you simply follow the procedure.
  • Policies make up your 'rule book' and the clearer people are about the rules the better (please see HR & Football for a further explanation!). 

Employee Handbooks 

Many organisations provide an Employee Handbook. This is simply a handbook that incorporates all of the required HR policies and standards, as well as giving some general information about the Company. An Employee Handbook is a great way to make sure your employees have access to all the relevant information they may need. You can build your own handbook by picking out the policies you want from the list below. Alternatively you can consider handbooks in-a-box which provides comprehensive templates for the full handbooks. And if you want an all 'singing and dancing' solution, you can consider Your HR Services that provides you with your own bespoke HR website that includes all your policy documents (and is updated when the law changes).

How?

There are example policies available covering the key areas that most organisations need to have in place. The policy entitled Standards includes a number of short statements covering different areas (e.g. from mobile phones, dress code, clear desk policy) that you can amend as appropriate.

The list of policies available is summarised below. Click here to go to the policies page to be able to download any policy.

Essentials (and legal requirements)

  • Disciplinary & Capability
  • Grievance
  • Equal opportunities

General (choose which are relevant) 

  • General Information - New Employees
  • Standards (and general rules / codes of conduct)
  • Holiday Entitlement
  • Absence Notification & Certification
  • Absence & Payment
  • Absence Other Reasons
  • Computer and Internet
  • Social Networking
  • Bribery and Corruption
  • Whistleblowing
  • Bad Weather
  • Harassment and Bullying
  • Social Events

Family Friendly

  • Maternity
  • Paternity
  • Parental
  • Adoption
  • Emergency Leave
  • Flexible Working
 Alternatively consider Handbooks in-a-box or Your HR Services