Employment policies - Codifying protocol

A policy sets out your rules and procedures and is an ideal way to communicate to your staff what you expect from them. Codifying areas such as health and safety help your employees to understand how they should carry out certain activities, while others, for example regarding e-mail, outline the rules that need to be adopted and followed. Introducing policies and procedures will help you to establish a business culture and help ensure that issues are dealt with fairly and consistently, while at the same time ensuring that your company follows the letter of the law.

Policies may not be contractual but, where specific rights and responsibilities are stated, they may be enforceable. Your regulations may form part of your employee handbook or be issued as a separate document. Rules differ depending on the nature of a business, yet there are some standard policies that all companies should implement.

The law protects everyone from direct and indirect discrimination on grounds that include race, sex and disability among others, so establishing an equality policy is paramount. Having these regulations in place will help to represent your intention to operate in a diverse working environment. The document also acts as a reference point in the event of any subsequent disputes on any of the grounds covered within it. As with all your policies, make sure that it is up to date and enforced consistently and fairly.

Additionally, a health and safety policy is extremely important and, if you have five or more employees, then it is compulsory to have it. The policy needs to be managed in a way that is most beneficial to you, your employees and visitors. It is important to ensure that health and safety policies are correct.

Your staff will want time off and how you deal with such requests as a business depends on numerous factors, including what your contracts of employment state, the applicable legal rights and the requirements of the business. Staff consultation is always a good idea so that all parties can agree on the content of such policies through mutual agreement. If you do reject a holiday request for a certain date then it is important to inform the employee of your reasons for doing so; they will then be able to better understand why their request was rejected.

Harassment and bullying is a major issue and so regulation governing these issues is imperative. You are responsible for ensuring the prevention of any form of bullying in the workplace, including harassment and victimisation. Policies need to dictate to employees that bullying will not be tolerated and should detail the consequences and disciplinary procedures. All of your disciplinary, grievance and dismissal procedures should be set out in writing and made clear to all of your employees; by failing to put in writing your disciplinary procedures, you open up the possibility of litigation should a disgruntled employee decide to take you to tribunal.

There are other areas that you may need to consider introducing policies for and legal advice is always prudent when doing so. However, it is worth remembering that, when drafting such policies, it advisable to consult with your workforce and listen to their ideas. You may not always agree with what they are saying but their ideas may be logical and benefit the business. Where applicable, involve the relevant unions. Your policies should also be specific to your business and reviewed regularly to ensure that they are current and free of inaccuracies.

- Peter Done, managing director, Peninsula.