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• 25 Common (and Critical) HR...

25 Common (and Critical) HR Policies To Have in Place in 2024

What is an HR policy?

Why are hr policies and procedures important.

• A mechanism to help document, communicate, and administer company-wide standards
• Help ensure that policy issues or questions are handled in a timely and sensitive manner
• Provide guidance, fairness, transparency, and consistent treatment in employment decisions
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and other applicable laws and regulations and provide protection against employment claims
• Address employees’ complaints and grievances and define for employees how they can report issues.

25 HR policy examples

1. at-will employment policy statement, 2. non-discrimination policy, 3. anti-harassment policy, 4. retaliation, 5. social media policy, 6. remote work policy, 7. workplace violence policy, 8. drug and alcohol policy, 9. recruiting and hiring policies.

10. Compensation policy

11. workplace injury reporting, 12. ada reasonable accommodation, 13. religious accommodations , 14. discipline policies, 15. dress code policy, 16. attendance policies, 17. tardiness , 18. leave policies, 19. bereavement leave policy, 20. meals and break periods, 21. nepotism policy, 22. immigration policy, 23. supplemental workforce policy, 24. eeo policy.

• National origin

25. Electronic communications policy

How to write an hr policy.

• Establish clear language: When drafting HR policies and procedures, it is critical that the language used is clear and easily understandable. Clear language helps reduce confusion and ambiguity, allowing for a more consistent policy interpretation. It also helps avoid misunderstandings and potential legal issues. When writing policies, use simple language that can be easily understood by all employees.
• Provide examples: Providing examples of how a policy should be interpreted can help ensure consistency in its implementation. For example, if the policy states that employees must take their vacation time within a certain period of time, provide an example of what this might look like in practice (e.g., “Employees must take their vacation time within 12 months of earning it”).
• Use resources: There are many resources companies can refer to when drafting policies. Organizations such as the Society for Human Resources (“SHRM”), Indeed, and LinkedIn contain helpful information, as well as HR policy examples and templates. These resources can be used as a starting point when drafting HR policies.
• Allow flexibility: Policies are usually written in more general terms so they can’t cover every possible scenario that could potentially fall under the policy. This allows for some flexibility in policy interpretation. Questions on interpreting a policy or identifying policy precedents should be directed to the Human Resources department.

Essential elements of an HR policy

• Policy Statement
• Actions and Responsibilities
• Definitions
• Policy Owner
• Related procedures
• Effective Date
• Latest Review Date
• Accessibility (ensuring employees access to all policies via handbook intranet or employee training and acknowledgment).

Key takeaways

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41 Key HR Policies & Best Practices (With Examples)

As your organization grows, implementing HR policies will empower and protect employees and minimize business risks. Here I share some common policies and best practices for developing your own.

When any startup or small business expands, the human resource management challenges you face become increasingly complex.

As more and more people join the organization, it becomes harder and harder to ensure consistency and manage employee issues on a case-by-case basis. The solution is to create some company policies.

This article is going to help you do exactly that—providing you with an overview of human resource policies and procedures, complete with examples.

Let's start with the basics.

What Are HR Policies?

Human resource policies are rules and processes that govern the employment relationship between the employer and employee.

Why Are HR Policies Important?

HR policies are an important part of how your business is structured and regulated to ensure compliance and actions consistent with culture. Some benefits of HR policies include:

• Describe the rights and responsibilities of both employers and employees
• Guide employees and leaders, clarifying expected behaviors
• Help promote a happy and healthy workplace
• Provide a framework for resolving disputes and grievances
• Help streamline various HR processes
• Help remain compliant with laws and regulations.

Who Manages HR Policies?

An organization’s human resources team (or whoever is responsible for HR activities) is often responsible for creating and maintaining HR policies. Most HR policies apply to all permanent, temporary, part-time, and full-time employees.

In tandem with the HR policy creation, you'll need an HRIS platform or similar with HR policy management software features to help the HR team maintain, manage, and process detailed employee information and human resources-related policies and procedures.

HR Policy Types

There are many types of HR policies and procedures that a business (and its employees) may benefit from implementing over time, such as health and safety, security, use of technology, employee conduct , leave, recruitment and selection, and termination.

Here are some more detailed examples of HR Policies:

11 Benefits of HR Policies

HR (Human Resources) policies can play a crucial role in the effective management of an organization as it scales. Here are some of the benefits to consider.

• Consistency and Fairness : HR policies ensure that all employees are treated fairly and consistently which helps maintain a sense of justice and equality that’s important for employee morale and satisfaction.
• Clear Guidelines : These policies provide clear guidelines for decision-making and expected behavior. This clarity helps in reducing confusion and misunderstandings among employees and management.
• Legal & Regulatory Compliance : HR policies help organizations comply with employment laws and regulations , providing legal protection not just for the company but also for its employees—crucial to avoid legal issues and fines.
• Improved Efficiency : Standardized policies streamline various HR processes like recruitment, onboarding, and performance evaluations which can lead to improved efficiency.
• Conflict Resolution : They provide a framework for addressing and resolving workplace issues and conflicts. This helps in maintaining a harmonious work environment.
• Risk Management : Well-defined HR policies help in mitigating risks related to employment issues. They provide guidelines on how to handle sensitive matters like harassment, discrimination, and employee grievances.
• Performance Management : HR policies aid in setting clear performance standards and provide a basis for evaluating employee performance. This contributes to the overall productivity of the organization.
• Organizational Culture : Policies help in shaping the culture of an organization. They set expectations for behavior and interactions, which can foster a positive and productive work environment.
• Employee Development : Policies related to training and development ensure that employees have opportunities to learn and grow, which can increase job satisfaction and retention.
• Recruitment and Retention : Clear HR policies can make an organization more attractive to potential employees. They also play a role in retaining staff by ensuring fair treatment and providing a clear path for growth and development.
• Enhancing Employee Engagement : Policies that focus on employee wellbeing, diversity, and inclusion can enhance employee engagement and commitment to the organization.

HR policies are foundational to the smooth and efficient operation of an organization as it grows and changes. They provide the structure to effectively manage people in a happy, productive, and legally compliant workplace.

Potential Downsides Of HR Policies To Consider

Your HR policies can potentially backfire if they’re not properly written, implemented, or managed.

Here are some potential pitfalls to look out for.

• Over-regulation and bureaucracy : Excessive HR policies can create a rigid, bureaucratic work environment, stifling creativity and innovation, and leading to inefficiencies and frustration due to slow decision-making processes.
• One-size-fits-all approach : Standardized policies may fail to address the unique needs of different departments or individuals, leading to dissatisfaction and reduced effectiveness in addressing specific challenges.
• Resistance to change : Employees may resist policies they view as overly restrictive or unnecessary, particularly if implemented without sufficient communication or consideration of employee feedback, leading to a lack of buy-in and potential conflicts.
• Negative impact on morale and employer brand : Strict or punitive policies can harm employee morale and the organization's reputation as an employer, potentially making it difficult to attract and retain top talent.
• Legal and compliance risks : Poorly drafted, outdated, or non-compliant policies can lead to legal challenges and compliance issues, posing significant risks to the organization.

To mitigate these downsides, it's important for organizations to:

• Regularly review and update their HR policies
• Ensure they are clearly communicated and understood
• Maintain a balance between necessary regulation and flexibility.

Involving employees in the development of these policies can also help in ensuring that they are well-received and relevant to the needs of the workforce.

Is An HR Policy The Same As A Corporate Policy Or Guideline?

The terms “HR policy”, “corporate policy”, “company policy”, and “workplace policy” are often used interchangeably and refer to the same thing. 

However, some corporate policies may apply to more general operations of the organization, and may be created and maintained by a department other than HR (e.g. facility access, computer security, disaster preparation, etc.).

Policies are a set of rules, not guidelines. 

According to HR Expert Tim Reitsma , “ When I hear the word policy, it can be read as a restrictive word. But if we replace “policy” with “guideline”, unfortunately, it doesn’t hold the weight that needs to be there. ” 

Where Are HR Policies Usually Found?

A key part of a new hire checklist and orientation program is to review, together with the employee, the specific policies that could impact them on their first day or in their first week.

HR policies may exist as written policies, as digital and/or printable policies, and in locations that are easily accessible by employees. 

Typically they're saved within the HR software, but sometimes within a company intranet or shared drives. They are often found in employment contracts , employee handbooks, and company policy manuals. However, the level of detail in each of these will vary.

Why Aren’t All HR Policies Included In The Employment Contract?

Your company’s employment contract might define how much vacation a team member is entitled to, while a separate vacation policy would describe how an employee can request vacation, how it’s approved, what happens if it’s not all used, etc. 

The separation ensures that the employment contract isn’t overly long and complex. It also enables you to customize certain aspects of an individual’s employment, such as how much vacation leave they’ll receive (employment contract), and keep this separate from the general leave policy ( employee handbook ). 

Documenting policies outside the employment contract also allows policies to be updated over time, without updating each individual’s agreement.

When Should You Develop Human Resource Policies?

Some HR policies might be determined by organization needs, or when certain aspects of the employment relationship become too difficult to handle on a case-by-case basis. 

Other policies should be developed proactively to help guide, empower, or protect employees; bring clarity to organizational issues; or protect the broader interests of the organization.

Here are some general guidelines on when you should create HR policies.

Create Policies Directly Related To The Employment Contract

A good place to start is by creating policies that are directly related to employee benefits and the rights and responsibilities of both the employee and the employer, as outlined in the employment contract.

For example, many employment contracts will specify vacation eligibility, various types of leave benefits, and how the employment relationship can be terminated (e.g. at-will employment).

Related HR policies would go into deeper detail on the procedures related to these things.

Refer to the section below for some examples to help you understand how policy implementation differs between the employment contract and the employee handbook.

Create Policies Required By Employment Laws

When in doubt, use the applicable laws (provincial/state laws, federal laws) and common labor relations practices as another starting point to creating the policy. 

There are many pieces of employment legislation in both Canada and the USA that set out the minimum requirements of employers with respect to many of these policies, such as:

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Create Policies That Will Positively Impact Employees And The Organization

Joerg Clement , a senior leader in the machine vision industry, summarizes it best: 

“ Implementing processes and policies is the foundation of an organization’s commitment to continual improvement. Customer and employee requirements and expectations evolve over time. It is important to be able to respond to changes in markets quickly, and that comes from aligning your processes and policies to achieve successful outcomes. ”

Focus on those HR policies that have the greatest positive impact on employees and the organization. When considering a new policy, ask yourself these questions:

• How will this policy empower and protect employees?
• How will it create a strong and high-performing workplace culture ?
• Are the organizational values and principles supported?
• How does this policy help us create a successful and cohesive team ?
• Will this policy minimize risks to the business?
• Will this policy satisfy applicable legal requirements ?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, it's likely a policy worth creating!

What HR Policies Should Be In Your Employee Handbook?

You’ll need to create written policies directly related to the employment contract or required by employment law.

The following six policies can positively impact full-time and part-time employees, and the organizations that implement them.

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Policy

Harassment policy, remote work / telecommuting policy, social media policy, workplace health and safety policy, leave and time off work policy.

When in doubt, use labor laws, other applicable laws (local laws, provincial / state laws, federal laws), and common labor relations practices as a starting point 

For example, employment legislation like the Family and Medical Leave Act ( FMLA ) and the Americans With Disabilities Act in the United States, and the Employment Standards Act of BC in Canada, set out the minimum requirements of employers with respect to many of these policies.

The push toward workplace equality, whether it’s race or gender equality, has never been greater. Given recent worldwide protests against systemic racism and movements like Black Lives Matter, it should also be at the top of your mind.

Most research, such as this study from Glassdoor, shows that job-seekers want to know that prospective employers care about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

According to PwC, 87% of global businesses say diversity and inclusion is an organizational priority. 

Job postings requesting practitioners in diversity, equity, and inclusion have become more prevalent in recent years.

Job site companies Glassdoor and ZipRecruiter recognize this, with Glassdoor launching new products designed to help create more equitable workplaces. They recognize that creating a comprehensive policy and program, and making it public, can make the difference when hiring top talent .

Salesforce has a Chief Equality Officer, which demonstrates their commitment to equality and their support at the most senior levels of leadership, and their “Equality for All” policy is available on their website , describing their values and beliefs in equal rights, equal pay, equal education, and equal opportunity.

Like diversity, equity, and inclusion, policies against harassment have never been more important.

The purpose of a harassment policy, like this one from Google , is to outline your company’s position regarding appropriate and respectful conduct in the workplace and reinforce the responsibilities of all parties in achieving and maintaining a positive work environment.

According to the Canada Labour Code , harassment and violence is defined as: 

" Any action, conduct or comment, including of a sexual nature, that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee, including any prescribed action, conduct or comment. "

Sexual harassment is one of the most common forms of harassment. The #MeToo movement has brought to light many serious issues and the significant harm that harassment and violence can have on people.

As a result, consider having a separate company policy, or section within a more general policy, to address sexual harassment. 

A good harassment policy will also cover other types of harassment, including racial slurs, physical threats, and derogatory jokes.

The COVID-19 coronavirus has caused a crisis of global proportions, impacting individuals, businesses, and world economies.

As a result, many businesses have chosen to adopt work from home (WFH) and remote work policies to help manage through this crisis. 

It’s expected that this trend will continue beyond the current pandemic. A March 2020 survey of CFOs by Gartner, Inc. revealed that 74% of respondents will move at least 5% of their previously on-site workforce to permanently remote positions post-COVID-19.Big companies like Shopify, Microsoft , and Facebook are permanently shifting more employees to work from home. Canada-based Shopify has even posted many of their remote work systems strategies on their website.

A remote work HR policy, like this example provided by Remote.co, should include:

• Company history of remote work
• Who is eligible for remote work
• How often / long a team member can work remotely
• How to request a remote work arrangement
• Communication protocols and standards with team members
• Tools, equipment, and resources needed to support remote work.

Social media is an important component of any digital marketing strategy. How your business is represented online, by you and your team members, can mean the difference between brand success and failure.

Setting some rules for team members around how they use social media, both personally and professionally, minimizes risks to your business, your brand, and the motivation and engagement of your team members .

No one wants to be embarrassed about the organization they work for because of the social media activities of a co-worker.

Most HR policies are “living policies”; they need to be regularly updated and kept relevant. That said, social media HR policies generally need to be updated more often than most, due to the constantly changing social media landscape.

Vancouver-based Hootsuite, a social media management platform, offers some excellent guidelines for developing your own social media policy, as well as a helpful social media policy template.

An occupational health and safety policy, such as this one from Lyft , will often outline procedures, workplace conditions, emergency contact information, and other special requirements (e.g. COVID-19 safety protocols ) needed to protect employees.

Organizations such as the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also require certain minimum standards be in place to protect the well-being of employees.

Workplace violence is directly related to employee health, safety, and security, but typically has its own separate policy.

For example, Disney’s employee policy manual has an entire section dedicated to health, safety, and security, and includes a workplace violence policy.

The reality is that people occasionally need time away from work to deal with health issues or family emergencies, or just to go on vacation somewhere tropical!

Having clear and comprehensive leave policies can help your team members by removing the stress of knowing how you will support them through difficult times, such as those faced with the COVID-19 coronavirus.

These human resources policies outline employees’ eligibility for leave and the processes by which they take it.

Here are some of the different types of leave policies you should consider creating, in rough order of priority. (Note that all of these types of leave have associated employment laws that set out minimum requirements).

Types of Leave Policies

• Statutory Holidays : government-recognized holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas
• Vacation : scheduled time away from work to rest and relax
• Medical / Sick Leave : time away from work due to illness or hospitalization
• Family Leave : related to the care, health, or education of a family member
• Parental Leave : time for a birth parent to care for a newborn
• Bereavement Leave : related to the death of a family member
• Leave of Absence : extended, unpaid time away from work for personal reasons. 

Leave policies can also be somewhat controversial, depending on how they’re implemented. The next section on “policies to avoid” will talk about what to avoid when creating leave policies.

So that's what you should be including in your employee handbook. Many companies choose to use employee handbook software to help with creating, updating, and disseminating theirs.

Which Policies Should You Avoid Including In Your Employee Handbook?

In addition to those policies that are important and necessary to include in your employee handbook, it’s also important to know which ones could negatively impact your company culture , demotivate employees, or dissuade potential employees from joining.

You should avoid creating policies that are too bureaucratic and rigid, don’t demonstrate trust in your team members, or are simply outdated and no longer relevant in modern, people-focused, and progressive organizations. 

Following are some HR policies that you should leave out entirely, or approach with caution when it comes time to define them.

Strict Dress Code

There are some situations where dress guidelines are still appropriate e.g. at customer meetings or trade shows, but in general, the days are gone when it was OK for a company to dictate the color of a person’s trousers, or whether they could wear jeans or not. 

Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, reduced the automaker’s 10-page dress code to just two words that apply to most organizations: “ dress appropriately ”.

Inflexible Time Off

Provide your salaried employees with flexibility when they need to take a bit of time here and there to attend a doctor’s appointment, or go to a parent-teacher interview.

Unlike hourly employees, you don’t need to make them track every hour that they work and don’t work, like credit and debit entries on a bank account. 

Mistrustful Bereavement Leave

“Hmm, so did your grandma really die?” That’s the last thing any of us would want to hear after a devastating personal loss, but that’s exactly what you’re asking if you implement a bereavement leave policy that requires proof of death, like a death certificate.

Many progressive organizations also offer their employees paid bereavement leave , so that they don’t need to take precious vacation time (which should be spent resting and relaxing) or sick time to deal with a family crisis.

Personal Cell Phone And Internet Usage

Human resource policies that prohibit employees from using personal mobile phones at work, or using work computers to access the internet for personal use, are rapidly becoming outdated. 

Psychology research has shown that taking breaks at work is necessary to maintain energy, motivation, and focus.

Taking a walk, doing some stretching, or meditating are all great ways to take a mental break.

If the weather isn't accommodating, surfing the internet, cruising social media, or chatting with a friend outside of work are also good alternatives. 

Of course, doing too much of these things isn’t ok, but these cases are usually rare, and can be dealt with one on one with your team member.

And… Remember The Importance Of Clarity, Language, And Tone

Keep in mind that policies, no matter how positive their intent, can still be perceived as authoritarian and bureaucratic. 

How your policies are written and presented can therefore have a big impact on how they’re received by the people in your organization, and on the organizational culture you’re trying to develop.

Carla Nordean , Director of People and Culture at Squirrel Systems , notes: “ The overall tone of the handbook has a huge impact on the culture. If your handbook is worded with oppressive language ("employees must / must not..."), new hires may question whether they've joined the right organization. ”

Tim Reitsma adds: “ The language we use in our organizations matters when we write policies. There are some that are 'you must”, but we can soften the language to be something like, “you are responsible for” .”

How to Write Your HR Policies

Writing effective HR policies involves a thoughtful process that considers the specific needs of your organization, compliance with laws and regulations, and best practices in HR management. 

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you write HR policies:

1. Identify the Need

• Start by identifying the areas within your organization that require formalized policies. This could be driven by legal requirements, organizational needs, or employee feedback.

2. Research

• Research relevant laws and regulations to ensure compliance
• Look into industry standards and best practices
• Review policies from similar organizations for insights.

3. Consult stakeholders

• Engage with various stakeholders including management, employees, and possibly legal advisors to gather input and understand different perspectives

4. Draft the policy

Use this format to help you draft the policy. 

• Title: Clearly state what the policy is about.
• Purpose: Explain why the policy is being implemented and its importance.
• Scope: Define who the policy applies to (e.g., all employees, certain departments).
• Policy Statement: Outline the organization's stance or rules regarding the specific issue.
• Procedures: Detail the steps or procedures employees and management need to follow related to the policy.
• Responsibilities: Specify the responsibilities of different stakeholders (employees, HR, managers) under the policy.
• Enforcement: Explain how the policy will be enforced and the consequences of non-compliance.
• Review and Modification: Mention how and when the policy will be reviewed and updated.

6. Review and Revise

• Have the draft reviewed by HR professionals and legal counsel to ensure it meets legal requirements and organizational goals.
• Revise the policy based on feedback received.

7. Approve and distribute

• Obtain approval from top management.
• Communicate the policy to all employees through appropriate channels (e.g., email, company intranet, staff meetings).
• Offer training sessions if the policy requires changes in behavior or processes.

8. Implement and Monitor

• Implement the policy and monitor its effectiveness.
• Be prepared to address questions and provide clarification as needed.

9. Regular Review and Update

• Regularly review the policy to ensure it remains relevant and compliant with laws and regulations.
• Update the policy as necessary, informing employees of significant changes.

Best Practices For Writing HR Policies

1. align with organizational goals and values.

• Ensure that each policy aligns with your organization's mission, vision, and core values. Policies should support the overall strategic objectives and culture of the organization.

2. Be clear and concise

• Use simple, straightforward language. Avoid legal jargon or complex terms that might confuse employees. The goal is to make the policies as clear and accessible as possible to ensure understanding and compliance.

3. Ensure legal compliance

• Make sure your policies comply with all relevant local, state, and federal laws and regulations. This may require consulting with legal professionals or HR experts to avoid any legal issues.

4. Involve stakeholders in the development process

• Engage a diverse group of stakeholders, including employees from different levels and departments, in the policy development process. This helps ensure the policies are realistic, practical, and address the needs and concerns of the entire workforce.

5. Keep it flexible

• While policies should provide clear guidelines, they also need to allow for some flexibility to accommodate exceptional circumstances. Being too rigid can create unnecessary constraints and hinder effective decision-making.

6. Focus on the employee experience

• Consider how policies will impact the employee experience. Policies should be fair, promote a positive work environment, and support employee well-being.

7. Provide examples

• Where applicable, include examples to clarify the policy's application. This can help prevent misunderstandings and illustrate how the policy should be interpreted in practical situations.

8. Outline responsibilities and consequences

• Clearly define who is responsible for what under each policy, as well as the consequences of non-compliance. This accountability framework helps ensure the policy is taken seriously and adhered to.

9. Communicate and train

• Once developed, communicate the policies effectively to all employees. Consider training sessions or workshops to ensure everyone understands the policies and how they apply to their roles.

10. Review and update regularly

• Regularly review your HR policies to ensure they remain relevant, effective, and legally compliant. Update them as necessary, especially when there are changes in laws, organizational structure, or strategic objectives.

11. Ensure accessibility

• Make sure all employees have easy access to the policies, whether through an intranet, employee handbook, or another accessible format.

12. Promote transparency and open communication

• Encourage feedback on the policies and maintain an open-door policy for questions or concerns related to HR policies. This promotes a culture of transparency and continuous improvement.

Join The People Managing People Community

There are a ton of examples of HR policies , but how you word them is important and should align with company branding and mission statements.

For further support creating and updating your HR policies, join our supportive community of HR and business leaders sharing knowledge and expertise to help you grow in your career and make greater impact in your organization.

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Employee Handbook

The employee handbook is a document outlining a company’s mission, policies, and expectations. It provides clarity on employee rights and responsibilities, ensuring a harmonious work environment. The handbook covers employment basics, workplace policies, code of conduct, compensation, benefits, working hours, and termination procedures.

From a code of conduct to benefits and perks to employment details, this employee handbook template has everything you need to start your own company policies.

What is an employee handbook?

An employee handbook is a document that communicates your company’s mission, policies and expectations. Employers give this to employees to clarify their rights and responsibilities while they’re employed with the company.

To help you build the best employee handbook, we crafted a template to give you a headstart in creating your own document. Download the full Employee Handbook template in .doc and pdf format by clicking on the links at the bottom of this page.

The employee handbook policy should include:

• Employment basics: Definitions of employment-related terms, rules regarding attendance, and an overview of the recruitment process
• Workplace policies: Descriptions of the workplace environment, including confidentiality, harassment prevention, and workplace safety
• Code of conduct: Guidelines on employee behavior, including dress code, cyber security, conflict of interest, and workplace relationships

Words in brackets are placeholders — substitute them with your company’s specific guidelines. Also, feel free to modify this template’s language to match your company’s culture.

Here’s what should be included in an employee handbook; our template covers every important policy of an employee manual:

Employment Basics

Workplace policies, code of conduct, compensation and development, benefits and perks, working hours, pto and vacation, employee resignation and termination.

If you need to work only on specific parts of your handbook, click on each of the following sections to download them separately.

By tying these sections together, you can build a complete company employee handbook. The full template includes these sections plus an introduction so you can welcome new employees to your company.

To support your efforts even further, here’s our guide on what each section entails and tips to flesh out your own employee manual matching your company’s requirements:

Keep in mind that our employee handbook examples and relevant advice are not legal documents and may not take into account all relevant local or national laws. Neither the author nor Workable will assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of these templates. Please ask your attorney to review your finalized policy documents or Handbook.

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This section is mostly informative and helps you establish basic employment-related definitions. It’ll give your employees an idea of what the terms of their contract and job classification are. They can use this section as a resource to fall back on whenever they have basic questions.

Also, this is a good place to lay out rules regarding attendance. You could also explain your recruitment process to prepare future hiring managers in your company.

Here are the contents of our Employment Basics template :

• Employment contract types . Define full-time and part-time employees, and also interns, apprentices and other workers you employ.
• Equal opportunity employment . This is a necessary statement, not only for legal purposes, but also to promote a culture of meritocracy and respect in your workplace.
• Recruitment and selection process . Here, outline the usual steps in your hiring process . Also, if you often conduct pre-employment checks, define the stage hiring managers can order these checks and even how to handle them. Likewise, if you have a permanent referral program or if you issue referral rewards often, this is a good place to outline the procedure and related guidelines.
• Attendance . State rules regarding attendance : for example, what employees should do when they can’t make it to work or in which cases you may excuse unreported absence.

This section describes what your workplace is and should be like. It’s about the conditions your employees work in. Include policies such as anti-harassment and health and safety in your employee handbook to build a lawful and pleasant workplace where your employees can thrive.

We crafted a template to help you build out your Workplace policies section . Here are the policies included with tips on how to customize them to your own workplace:

• Confidentiality and data protection . Our template lays out basic rules about protection of information, but you need to modify it to account for any specific laws that apply to your company. Mention these laws and how you ensure you adhere to them, as well as what you expect employees to do.
• Harassment and violence . Respect to and from coworkers is an important part of a harmonious worklife. In this section, you can firmly state your commitment to eliminating harassment and violence in the workplace. You’ll also define what counts as harassment, as well as outline possible repercussions.
• Workplace safety and health . This section will present guidelines employees must follow to ensure a healthy and safe workplace. You can add actions your company has taken to comply with occupational health and safety laws, as well as protect employees in hazardous jobs or from emergencies. Our template specifically includes sections about preventative action, emergency management, smoking and a drug-free workplace. You could also add a  mental health policy if your company has relevant provisions.

Your Code of Conduct provides a framework for employee behavior. You’ll outline how you expect employees to treat others, whether they’re colleagues, partners, customers or external stakeholders. It’s about ethics and trust – and building a safe and professional space for everyone.

To work on your own Code of Conduct, use our complete template which includes the following sections:

• Dress code . Here you can state the dress code of your company — even if you don’t have one. Employees should know what they can or can’t wear. Describe requirements as much as possible; for example, what does ‘formal attire’ mean to your company?
• Cyber security and digital devices . Address internet usage, company cell phones, corporate email and social media use (both corporate and personal). Lay out guidelines without being overly restrictive toward employees; most people expect to have a certain freedom in these matters as long as they follow security and data protection guidelines.
• Conflict of interest . Here you can describe what constitutes conflict of interest, what employees can do when faced with one, and what the consequences are for wittingly breaking relevant laws or company rules.
• Employee relationships and fraternization . While many companies are flexible when it comes to employees becoming friends or dating, some rules are necessary to avoid gossip or unprofessional scenes.
• Employment of relatives . This section is important to avoid accusations of nepotism and favoritism. Give specific guidelines about working relationships allowed between relatives in your company.
• Workplace visitors . This is a matter of safety as well as protecting data and company property. Outline the process of bringing visitors on company premises to make sure employees are always alert and responsible.
• Solicitation and distribution . In this section, you can refer to attempts by outsiders or employees to solicit or distribute flyers, products or services and how employees can handle these cases.

This part explains how you pay and reward employees for their work and help them develop. Through these policies, you show you value employees and motivate them to keep working with you.

To work on this, see our compensation and development template , including these sections:

• Compensation status and payroll . This part is mainly important for the U.S. which has laws on exempt and non-exempt employees. You can explain the legal framework and clarify overtime rules. You can also mention on which days employees receive their salary or wages.
• Performance management . This section helps employees understand how their performance will be evaluated, and also prepares managers for managerial duties. You can mention the objectives of performance reviews and how you expect managers to lead their team.
• Employee training and development . This is your chance to highlight a big part of your retention strategy — making sure employees improve personally and professionally. You can mention training opportunities and education budgets, if any.

Have you ever had an employee say something like: “Gee, I didn’t know we had a gym discount”? It’s likely: often, employees aren’t aware of the full extent of benefits and perks your company offers. This section helps you keep employees well-informed in this matter.

Our benefits and perks template includes the following sections (but do add your own unique benefits and perks):

• Employee health . This could be anything from private health insurance to gym membership to wellness programs . Also, insert explanations of relevant laws like the FMLA and COBRA.
• Workers’ compensation . Outline the process employees should follow if injured at work and which benefits you’ll offer. Modify our template based on applicable laws in your area.
• Work from home . The ability to work from home is a benefit with increasing popularity. State how employees can ask for remote working and what rules they should follow (for example, cyber security at home). Also, outline rules for permanently remote workers.
• Employee expenses . Mention which work-related expenses you’ll cover and what the process of claiming reimbursement is.
• Company car . If you offer company cars as a benefit, make sure to inform employees how you expect them to behave when using the car and which expenses you’ll compensate (e.g. gas and tolls.)
• Parking . Similarly to the company car benefit, if you offer free parking at the office, inform employees how to manage their allocated space. If you have a limited number of parking spaces to give out, outline the criteria you use to allocate these spaces.
• Company-issued equipment . If you give equipment to employees (like phones, laptops etc.), inform them how they should take care of it. Also, mention what happens when that equipment is stolen or damaged.

Related:  Employee benefits: A guide on common and best benefits

This is one of the sections employees will care about the most. When joining your company, they want to learn how they can divide their time between work and leisure or out-of-work responsibilities.

Draft your own relevant policies by using our easy-to-modify template containing these sections:

• Working hours and Paid time off (PTO) . Mention your companywide working hours and any exceptions. Then, state the number of paid days off you provide employees and explain the process to request PTO.
• Holidays . List all holidays your company observes and explain how you’ll compensate them if employees need to work on these days.
• Sick leave . Outline what the law obliges you to offer employees and add any extra sick leave benefits you’ve decided to offer. You could include both the definitions of short-term and long-term illness.
• Bereavement leave . Give a few days of bereavement leave to employees who lose a loved one — this is a compassionate perk that can help you establish trusting relationships with employees.
• Jury duty and voting . Describe the law regarding leave for these civic duties and what documents employees might need to bring.
• Parental leave . This can include paternity and maternity leave mandated by law or company-sponsored for employees who have or adopt a baby. You could also include benefits regarding parental allowances, like a few hours off to attend school meetings.

If something doesn’t work out, employees need to have an idea of how their employment relationship with your company will end. Especially if there’s a disciplinary process involved.

We created a “Leaving our company” template to address relevant issues. Here’s an outline of the contents:

• Progressive discipline . Go over the steps of your progressive discipline process and how you expect managers to handle it.
• Resignation . In cases when an employee resigns, they need to know what their notice period ought to be as well as the resignation process. This is also a good opportunity to address issues like tuition or relocation reimbursement and to expressly prohibit forced resignation.
• Termination . Specify applicable laws and your own internal process of terminating employees . Mention the conditions of providing severance pay and how you’ll compensate remaining vacation and sick leave.
• References . Add a small comment about giving references to employees who resigned or were terminated. For example, if an employee was terminated for cause, you have the right to refuse to provide them with references.

You can use the conclusion to provide notice about future revisions and ask employees to acknowledge they read the handbook. Here’s our template to do that .

Close your employee handbook on a positive note though. Reiterate how happy you are that an employee is now working with you and welcome them on your team. Look at employee handbook examples for inspiration, but make sure you write in your own company’s tone and voice.

Download the employee handbook pdf and start building yours !

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HR policies

An overview of the purpose and benefits of HR policies and how to implement and communicate them effectively throughout an organisation

HR policies and procedures give guidance on a range of employment issues and help to effectively implement an organisation’s HR strategy. 

This factsheet looks at how organisations can benefit from introducing HR policies, the people responsible for developing policies in different-sized organisations, and the types of policies. 

• What are HR policies?
• Who develops HR policies
• What HR policies should organisations have?
• Sourcing information for HR policies
• Introducing and reviewing HR policies
• Useful contacts and further reading

HR policies are written guidance on how a wide range of issues should be handled within an organisation. They include a description of principles, rights and responsibilities for managers and employees. They play a key role in supporting fairness and consistency across an organisation, as well as potentially helping to protect the organisation against legal claims. However, it’s their effective communication and implementation, that’s crucial in ensuring their effectiveness.

Links between HR policies, procedures and strategy

HR policies should support the wider strategy through adopting a tailored approach that reflects the size and unique culture of the organisation.

An  HR strategy sets out how HR can support organisational objectives, focusing on longer-term people issues and macro-concerns about structure, values, commitment and matching resources to future need. Read our Strategic human resource management factsheet.

HR policies  provide general and practical advice and guidance for managers and staff on a range of employment issues.

HR procedures give a step-by-step account of specific arrangements that apply in particular circumstances (for example, setting time limits within which meetings must take place).

HR policies should flow from HR strategies and complement HR procedures.

Why introduce HR policies?

HR policies can support trust, fairness and inclusion by outlining the responsibilities of both employer and employee. They can impact employee motivation, organisation reputation and the ability to attract and retain talent, creating mutual benefits for employees and organisations.

HR policies can also provide clear guidance that reflects regulations, for a range of issues. This can help avoid involvement with employment tribunal claims.

Certain HR policies and procedures may be necessary to comply with the law. For example, in the UK a written health and safety policy is required for any organisation with five or more employees, while there are also important legislative provisions surrounding the setting out of formal disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Even where a policy or procedure isn't specifically required by law, employers often find it helpful to have a policy in place to provide clear guidance that reflects the legal framework for handling the issue in question and it also helps employees to be clear about the organisation’s stance on a particular subject.

Organisations introduce or review specific HR policies for reasons including:

• To reflect and comply with existing or new legislation and case law.
• To support business strategy.
• To follow the latest developments in effective people management.
• To deal with internal change.
• To comply with head office/parent-company guidance to keep up with competitors – for example, reward policies may be reviewed in order to attract or retain employees when operating in a different international market.
• For smaller organisations, a desire to develop a more formal and consistent approach that will meet their needs as they grow.

Organisations often develop formal HR policies as they increase in size.

Typical practice across organisations of differing sizes includes:

• Small organisations - HR policy development may be added to the existing duties of an employee or a specialist may be employed on a one-off consultancy or part-time basis to develop or review specific policies.
• Medium organisations - An HR generalist may be tasked with introducing new policies, reviewing the existing ones and communicating them to employees and managers.
• Large organisations - HR and other people professionals often deal with key issues such as reward, employee development, employment law or employee relations, supported by HR generalists and administrative support staff.

Our  Profession Map  has fuller details on different roles in the people profession.

HR policies should be based on the unique needs and characteristics of the organisation and its workforce.

Consider the type of policies that may be relevant during the course of the employment life cycle: 

Beginning employment

An organisation might have a policy setting out its criteria for selection, together with policies for new joiners on topics such as inductions and referral payments.

During employment

Policies might address areas such as how jobs are graded and how performance is rewarded; together with provisions for aspects of compensation packages, such as pensions/additional voluntary contributions and other benefits and allowances.

Health, safety and well-being

Policies might cover a disparate range of topics from prevention and management of work-related stress to handling hazardous materials.

Employee relations and general HR issues

As well as disciplinary and grievance policies, examples include: time off and leave for trade union activities, holidays, secondment, volunteering, parental or caring duties (such as maternity or paternity leave), communication, involvement and other employee behaviours, including employee voice and harassment and bullying.

Learning and development

Issues that might be covered by policies in this area would include courses and secondment opportunities, talent development, payment of professional fees and so on.

Other issues

Other policies that organisations may want to consider include diverse areas related to the wider business needs (for example corporate responsibility or anti-bribery measures) or those associated with technology and new ways of working (the use of social networking sites, for instance).

Ending employment

There are many reasons why employment ceases, from voluntary resignation to dismissal, redundancy or retirement – some or all of which might be covered by formal written policies (for example, including information on notice periods or the nature of redundancy consultation).

Managing equality, inclusion and diversity

Equality, inclusion and diversity should run through all aspects of an organisation's policies. In the UK, discrimination on many personal characteristics, such as gender or race, is unlawful at all stages of the employment life cycle, while managing inclusion and valuing diversity is central to good people management and makes good business sense. Good practice suggests that an overarching equality and diversity policy should expressly inform the organisation's vision and values. The issue might then also be incorporated into many other policies (for example, recruitment and selection and reward).

Beyond the organisation

HR policies may need to extend to partnering arrangements such as joint ventures, outsourcing, strategic alliances or public-private sector commissioning models. It's advisable to consider where common policies may need to be applied or reviewed in light of new organisational arrangements. Find out more about our Beyond the organisation research.

CIPD resources

For CIPD members, our employment law Q&As have fuller details on legal requirements - explore the Knowledge hub  to find these by topic.

In-depth guidance on HR policy development, together with a wide range of model policies, procedures, letters and forms, is available from our subscription service  HR-inform .

External resources

Some organisations (particularly in the public sector) make their policy manuals available online. These are often a good starting point, but it's vital to assess the reliability of the source (date of production, size of organisation, culture and so on).

Many commercial organisations offer ready-made policy solutions, usually for a fee, which can be tailored to suit individual employers. But, again, assessing the reliability and suitability of the source is essential.

It's particularly important to check any relevant codes of practice and ensure compliance with legal requirements.

These guidelines will help when introducing and reviewing HR policies:

Assess/audit current practices and what already exists, whether formal or informal.

Research and benchmark against other organisations' practice, particularly in the same sector or location.

Consult with staff representatives and/or unions.

Establish steering groups/working parties to develop the policy.

Set realistic timescales.

Pilot draft policies.

Give specific guidance to managers.

Include the policies as part of the induction process.

Have a continuous review process.

Ensure policies are complementary, flexible, practical and enforceable.

Writing and formatting HR policies

All policies should be written in plain language. When technical terms are unavoidable, it’s useful to include a short glossary. It’s also helpful to include the date of publication or review, as well as who to approach with queries. 

It’s important not to assume that the policies in place are always right. Some policies, for example, mileage allowances might be revised annually. Others might be reviewed in the event of legislative developments or on an ad hoc basis. For example, adjusting working practices during the COVID-19 pandemic meant creating new policies for many organisations.

Communicating HR policies

Turning HR policy into practice requires working across the business to ensure that leaders, line managers and employees fully understand the policies and expectations (including any updates). The format for communications will depend on the organisational culture and nature of the policies. See more on  employee communication .

Since line managers are pivotal in bringing HR policies to life, training and support are crucial to ensure that managers have a clear understanding of the policies, and have the capability to implement policies sensitively and fairly. Read our factsheet on  Line mangers’ role in supporting people professionals.

Induction  plays a key role in making sure new employees are aware of all the policies and procedures within an organisation.

Journal articles

CIPD members can use our  online journals  to find articles from over 300 journal titles relevant to HR.

Members and  People Management  subscribers can see articles on the  People Management  website.

This factsheet was last updated by Steve George: Digital Learning Portfolio Manager, HR and Employment Law, CIPD 

Steve manages content for all CIPD’s HR and Employment Law learning. He is a CIPD associate member. 

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10 Essential HR Policies and Procedures

Learn what guidelines need to be included in your employee handbook.

It may be tempting to put off the task of writing up your official HR policies and procedures, especially if you manage a startup or a small business. You may have other, more pressing things to take care of – or maybe you just have a small team and want to keep things friendly and informal.

But while trust between the employer and the employees is important, not having clear and transparent guidelines is guaranteed to eventually lead to misunderstandings. Don't wait for issues to arise to formalize your policies. Set out clear ground rules for your employees, protect your rights as the employer, and ensure your team stays on the same page.

Let's dive deeper into what essential HR policies need to be included in your employee handbook .

What are HR policies and procedures?

The purpose of human resource policies, how to write an effective hr policy, 10 hr policies to include in your handbook.

Human resource policies are formal rules and guidelines that businesses put in place to manage their employees. HR procedures , on the other hand, are step-by-step instructions that specify what actions should be taken to comply with these policies. Defining these policies and procedures is one of the core functions of human resource management .

HR procedures often take the form of standard operating procedure (SOP) documents. Here's an example of what a documented HR policy looks like in Nuclino , a unified workspace for all your team's knowledge, docs, and projects – create an account and start documenting your HR policies in one central place:

HR policy example in Nuclino

HR policies cover a variety of different aspects of human resource management, such as:

Recruitment

Overtime compensation

Sick days and personal leave

Performance evaluation

Termination

While some HR policies are required by law, it's not the only reason they are necessary. In addition to protecting your organization from legal claims, policies play an important role in fostering a culture of trust, fairness, and inclusion.

The benefits of having clear and comprehensive HR policies include:

HR policies provide legal protection to your company

They transparently communicate the conditions of employment

They set employee expectations with regard to their career growth

They help you address employee grievances and disputes

They speed up the decision-making process on various HR matters

They help ensure all employees are treated equally and fairly

They help create a safe and healthy working environment

They serve as a foundation for streamlining and automating HR processes

Keep the structure and formatting of your HR policies consistent. While every company has its own internal templates for writing HR policies, the content is usually quite similar and includes the following elements:

Policy name

Effective date of the policy (and dates of any revisions or updates)

Name of the person responsible for updating the policy and answering questions about it

Purpose of the policy

(Optional) Definitions of special terminology used in the policy

Main policy statement

Scope and applicability (including permissible exceptions)

To be effective and deliver on the goals mentioned above, the HR policies also need to be searchable and easily discoverable by employees. Publish the HR policies in your employee handbook or company intranet portal and share it with the entire team.

Use internal links to organize related policies together and let your team browse the employee handbook like your team's own internal Wikipedia .

The workplace is constantly evolving and modernizing, and it's important for your HR policies to reflect that. Not every business invests time in updating its policies and procedures, as demonstrated by the fact that 63% of Americans say their employer still has no social media policy.

The exact list of policies you need to include in your employee handbook will depend on a number of factors, the size, location, industry, the HRIS software you use, and the unique needs of your organization. However, there are several key policies that most organizations deem necessary to have, regardless of circumstances.

Code of conduct

Code of conduct outlines the company's expectations of its employees in terms of behavior, defining what is acceptable and what is not, and keeping the workplace safe and comfortable for everyone. It usually addresses issues such as:

Social media use

Punctuality

Alcohol and drug use

Harassment and bullying

Recruitment policy

The recruitment policy usually sets out criteria for candidate selection and outlines the new employee onboarding process . In case you have an employee referral program, include it in this policy.

Termination policy

The termination policy, on the other hand, describes how an employee is expected to give their resignation and the amount of notice required. It may also list the employee actions that may result in termination.

Working hours and overtime policy

This policy needs to state how flexible the work hours are, when breaks can be taken and for how long, and how to clock in and out. Explain how overtime work is handled and compensated.

Attendance and remote work policy

This policy specifies whether the employees are expected to work from the office or from home. If your team is allowed to work remotely, consider including relevant procedures, such as how to request a home office allowance.

Performance evaluation and promotion policy

The performance evaluation policies are there to transparently communicate to the employees how their jobs are graded and how performance is rewarded. It's there to ensure that all employees are treated fairly and can be a great motivational tool.

Health and safety policy

No matter what industry your company belongs to, workplace injuries can be a risk. The health and safety policy is there to outline the procedures and responsibilities of all employees to keep the workplace safe for everyone.

Expense policy

Explain how expenses should be handled, for example, when employees go on business trips or organize team events. In case they are expected to spend their own money, describe the costs they can be reimbursed for and the procedures for doing so.

Benefits and compensation policy

Your employees need to know when and how they will get paid and what benefits they will receive. The policy should outline the payroll frequency and payment methods, and list the additional benefits your business offers, such as medical benefits, wellness programs, bonuses, allowances, and so on.

Leave policy

Taking a certain amount of time off work is what helps your team stay healthy, happy, and productive. Let your employees know how long they are allowed to be away from work and how they can request leave. Include specific policies that pertain to vacation, sick leave, public holidays, childbirth, and so on.

Depending on your country and the industry you are in, there may be additional HR policies and procedures you are legally required to include in your staff handbook. Make sure to consult with a lawyer to make sure you haven't missed anything important.

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How to write HR Policies & Procedures for New HR teams

Introduction.

You are a startup. You work with a small team of people and treat them as a close family — and you want to keep it that way — friendly and informal. But as your team grows and the team members' roles evolve, things start getting complicated.

And this is exactly when you need a set of predefined HR policies and procedures. Employees need HR policies and procedures that can guide them to do their job effectively, especially in a complex work environment. 

TL;DR: HR policies and procedures

• HR policies and procedures are essential for guiding employees in a growing and complex work environment.
• HR policies are high-level statements that outline employee benefits, code of conduct, and desired results.
• Procedures provide step-by-step guides for achieving job outcomes and serve as reference documents.
• Important HR policies include attendance and remote work, benefits and compensation, employee training and development, recruitment, and disciplinary and termination.
• Best practices for HR policies include clear language, flexibility, stakeholder involvement, and alignment with organizational culture.

What are HR policies? 

An HR policy is a high-level statement drafted keeping the overall organization's goals in mind.

It includes general employee benefits, an acceptable way of working, and an employee's general code of conduct while on the job.

For example, a policy states what kind of discipline is expected on the job, the requirement of compliance and adherence to ethics, desired results that need to be focused on, standard guidelines for the employees, and so on. 

🎓 Related resource: How to Write Policies For Your Business

What are procedures?

Business procedures define how to achieve a job, who will perform the job, or when the job needs to be done.

While policy states the outcome, procedure states how to achieve that outcome. 

There are many examples of procedures in business , but essentially they are step-by-step guides that walk you through how to accomplish a job.

Procedures also serve as your go-to reference documents, especially when the organization is in a crisis. 

🆓 Free resource: Try out these Method of Procedure templates that your HR team can use today!

You can write the procedures on paper or create Scribe , where you can capture and record your screen while performing a task.

This is particularly a good idea to do as an HR manager because every time you onboard a new hire, you simply run them through your Scribe without demonstrating it repeatedly.

You can also create a Scribe page to collate all your Scribes and develop standard operating procedures or HR SOPs for your team. 

💡Learn more: Policy vs. SOP — what's the difference ?

Types of Human Resource policies & procedures & why they’re important (+ examples)

The workplace is evolving, and you want to constantly review your HR policies and procedures to keep them on par with the changing times.

While the types of human resource policies and procedures you may want to include in your employee handbook depend on the size of the organization, the industry you operate in, and employee geography, there are some standard key policies that you should be including regardless of the circumstances. 

Attendance & remote work policies

This is an important policy where you specify the employees' attendance and where they are expected to work.

After the pandemic, many organizations are now offering remote work for their employees. So, if you are offering remote work, set up the policy and the subsequent procedure for how the employee is expected to work when working remotely. For example, the procedure should cover how the employee can request a home office allowance. 

Here’s a checklist of things to include while drafting a remote work policy

Policy brief and purpose: Briefly describe the policy's purpose and the policy in a line or two.

Scope: Define for whom this policy is applicable. For example, employees whose primary work location is not in the office. 

Policy elements: What are the policy's important aspects that the employee needs to know? For example, remote working is a permanent or temporary agreement between employees and managers to work from a non-office location for more than three days.

Remote working agreement: Draft the detailed remote working agreement in this section.

Here’s an example.

Office-based employees may also work remotely for a maximum of two consecutive weeks per year if they want to visit family/ their birthplace. Our company has employed eligible employees for at least a year. Employees who are new parents or suffer from short-term/long-term disability may agree to longer periods of remote working with their manager and HR.

Equipment: Talk about the equipment the office will be providing/reimbursing/and what the employees need to arrange. Also, elaborate on the maintenance of this equipment and the consequences in case of damage.

Here’s an example. 

We will provide our remote employees with equipment essential to their job duties, like laptops, headsets, and cell phones (when applicable.) We will install VPN and company-required software when employees receive their equipment. We will not provide secondary equipment (e.g., printers and screens.)

The equipment that we provide is company property. Employees must keep it safe and avoid any misuse. Specifically, employees must:

● Keep their equipment password protected.

● Store equipment in a safe and clean space when not in use.

● Follow all data encryption, protection standards, and settings.

● Refrain from downloading suspicious, unauthorized, or illegal software.

2. Benefits & compensation policy

One of the important human resource policies and procedures includes benefits and compensation policies. 

Your employees should know how they will get paid, how they can reimburse expenses for business travels, and the payroll frequency and methods. You should also include all the other benefits you offer, like wellness programs, medical benefits, tech allowance, extra hour allowance, etc. 

Here is a quick checklist of what elements to include in this policy.

Purpose: Briefly outline the policy and its purpose of it. 

Scope: Who is this policy applicable? On-site employees, remote employees, all employees? 

Policy elements: Talk about the various elements of this policy. A compensation and benefits policy has a tangible part, like gross pay, basic pay, IT deductions, etc., whereas intangible pay includes leaving, bonuses, incentives, etc. 

The different categories of benefits and compensation policies are:

• Annual pay.
• Equity-based compensation.
• Non-monetary benefits.
• Severance pay.
• Post retirements pay.

3. Employee training & development policy

Employee training and development are important to any organization’s work culture. Create your policy around employee training and development. 

Here’s a quick checklist of what you need to include:

Policy brief and purpose: Outline the brief of your policy and its purpose of it. 

Scope: Who does it apply to? For example, employee training and development policies apply to all the employees currently working in the organization. 

Policy elements: Employee training and development is the collective responsibility of the HR team, managers and leadership team. So everyone must collaborate to build a strong organizational learning and development culture. 

🎓 Related resource: Copy These Winning Training Program Examples Today

A few of the elements of the policy should be:

• On-the-job training.
• Job shadowing.
• Formal training sessions.
• Conference participation.
• Employee coaching and mentoring.
• Individual training programs.
• Corporate training programs.

4. Recruitment policy

The recruitment policy talks about the criteria for recruiting a new employee.

Along with the selection process, it should also include the onboarding process. If you have an employee referral, the process is also included in the policy document. 

Here’s a quick checklist of what you need to include in a recruitment policy. 

Policy brief and purpose: Outline the policy brief and the purpose of the policy. 

Scope: Who is the policy for? For example, it can be for all the employees involved in the hiring process and all potential candidates.

Policy elements: What the hiring team needs to know

• Identifying a job role that requires hiring.
• Are you going to hire internally or externally?
• Create the job description and create a job aid . Use job aid templates to standardize them.
• Create a selection framework.
• Shortlist resumes.
• Conduct interviews and background checks.
• Select the most suitable candidate and make an offer.

⚡ Try our free Job Aid Generator to get started!

5. Disciplinary & termination policy

The termination policy describes how an employee is expected to give a resignation, how many days of notice they need to give to the company, or cite situations when the organization may need to take disciplinary actions against the employee. 

Here is a quick checklist of what you need to include in a disciplinary and termination policy

Policy brief and purpose : Mention the brief of the policy and what is the purpose of it. 

Scope: Who the policy applies to. For example, it can be termination/separation from employment for all the current employees. 

Policy elements: Include the different policy elements like:

• Resignation.
• Retirement.
• Completion of contract.
• Failure to turn up for work for a specified number of days without notice.
• Discharge with/without a cause.
• Continuously disregarding company policy.

Procedure: Talk in detail about the process of termination/ separation from employment. 

For example, in case of resignation, the employee has to return all the company assets, submit a written resignation letter, hand over work to the manager, etc.

In case of an involuntary dismissal, the manager must submit an employee termination document to the human resources department at the date of separation or before that.

Other important HR policies are:

• Leave policy.
• Health and safety policy.
• Unfair discrimination policy.
• Social media policy.
• Performance evaluation and promotion policy.

🎓 Related reading: Process Improvement Questions Every HR Team Should Ask in Interviews

HR policy & procedure best practices 

• Keep your policy jargon free. Since everyone in the organization needs to read and understand the HR policies, they should be written in clear and simple language.
• Your policy needs to be flexible. Ideally, you should review it regularly and make changes to adapt to the changes in the work environment.
• The onus lies with the HR team to educate all the employees on the policies and spread awareness.
• All the stakeholders should be involved while drafting the policies.
• Appropriate procedures should support each policy. 
• The best way to create your procedure manuals is simply by screen recording with an intuitive tool like Scribe. 
• The policy should be in sync with your organization's culture. 

🆓 Free resources: Steal These Free HR Policy and Procedure Templates today!

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12 Must've HR Policies in Your Workplace in 2022

  C reating HR policies for a workplace is a boring and time-consuming task. Therefore, startups and small businesses often put off the task of drafting HR policies for employees unless it's mandatory. 

That's where they make a big mistake. No matter how small an organization you have or how cordial your relationship with your employees, Human Resource management Software policies are essential for all workplaces today. 

Specially for Indian businesses, it is vital to have a proper HR policy to secure their employee's rights, build a transparent work environment and keep the whole team on the same page. 

Plus, when you have a simple HR policy portal like TrackOlap with you, creating and distributing different HR policies will hardly take a few minutes. 

So, let's dig out why HR policies are important for your business and which policies are important to have in 2022. 

  Why Do You Need to Create HR Policies in Your Workplace?   

Human Resource policies are basic frameworks for organizations to make business decisions and establish an equal environment in the workplace. These policies are required to practice diversity, equality, and ethics in the organization. 

Policies help you streamline your team and ensure that every team member is familiar with organizational goals. Having workplace policies can help remote and hybrid businesses improve communication and efficiency. Besides this, HR policies for booming Indian businesses are necessary to:

● Establish a clear line of communication between senior and junior-level staff members. 

● Forming a basis to treat all employees fairly and equally in the organization. 

● Providing a clear expectation roadmap to employees. 

● Setting guidelines for performance measurement and supervision. 

● Sharing standard rules and regulations to behave in the organization. 

● Creating a basis for regularly reviewing possible changes that affect employees.

● Providing details on how to deal with a specific situation and under what capacities for individual employees. 

● Setting the foundation for work delegation, accountability, and communication. 

● Creating contextual plans for onboarding, training, reward, punishment, and other employment-related activities. 

● Make sure that all business policies are aligned to legal frameworks set by the Indian government. 

● Establishing a healthy and harmonious work environment. 

● Align all sales and marketing operations to meet end company goals. 

● Paint a clear picture of the organization's standard workflow, employee's role, and operational area for every team member. 

  12 Must've HR Policies in Your Workplace in 2022   

Whether you are a startup or a well-established corporate firm in India, having proper Human Resource policies can help you grow better in the post-pandemic times. Your HR policies can build a progressive ecosystem in the organization to meet all upcoming business challenges. 

HR policies in India are mainly divided into two groups:

● General policies that organizations require to run their day-to-day operations. Some general policies are even mandatory under the Company Act for registered companies. 

● Special policies are the policies that every company creates based on internal requirements. For example, companies with remote staff need to draft a remote work culture policy for a smooth workflow. 

Usually, there is no limit on how many workplace policies one can create. You can create several HR policies based on your company structure, requirements, and goals. However, an organization must deploy these policies in the workplace in 2022:

1. At-Will Employment Policy

This is one of the main HR policies that every organization must've today. At-will employment policy states that employees and employers are free to terminate employment agreements at any time. 

It is important to define terms and conditions for employment termination to secure both employees' and employers' rights. Make sure that at-will employment policy is drafted after consulting executive and lower-level staff members. For this, you can use TrackOlap policymaker to get feedback in real-time from different team members. 

2. Recruitment Policy

Recruitment policy is yet another important workplace policy for businesses. This policy deals with different aspects of recruiting a new employee in the organization. Thus, it is vital for businesses to cover all recruitment operations through this policy, such as:

● O nboarding process 

● T raining period 

● P erformance evaluation 

● S abbatical period 

● E mployee referral programs 

● B uddy program guidelines, etc. 

A recruitment policy should be created thoroughly to help new employees understand their roles in the organization. The better you draft recruitment documents, the higher performance you can drive from your new recruits. 

3. Code of Conduct Policy

This HR policy sets the boundaries for employees to behave in the organization. The code of conduct policy will define employees what is permissible and what is not in the workplace. Having this policy will help to build a safe and comfortable environment for everyone working in the organization. 

  Under this policy, HR managers should cover the following heads:

● Dress codes 

● Use of alcohol and other drugs

● Use of phone and social media 

● Punctuality 

● Behavior towards other employees, etc. 

4. Employee Wage Policy

Payroll management is one of the most important parts of running a business. Having a clear set employee policy will help payroll managers calculate accurate salaries for each employee. 

Additionally, in India, several laws related to employee wage and remuneration are enforced by state and center. Thus, businesses are legally mandated to provide accurate wages to their workers based on industry-specific rules. 

Besides this, today, businesses deploy different types of employees in organizations like field workers, remote employees, freelancers, etc. Since payroll calculation rules are different for each employment type; thus, setting a proper employee wage policy will help payroll managers to calculate accurate wages. 

5. Anti-Harassment and Non-Discrimination Policy

These policies prohibit any type of harassment and discrimination in your workplace. Government and independent legal bodies constantly monitor harassment and discrimination signs in companies. It is a punishable act to support or suppress any sort of bullying or discrimination act at the workplace. 

Thus, you should make this clear to your employees that you will not tolerate bullying behavior. And a person found guilty in charge of discrimination will have to face severe consequences. 

6. Leave and Time-Off Benefits Policy

Every company must have a clear leave policy so that individual employees can get a clear idea about how many paid leaves they are allowed and what other time-off benefits they have. 

Make sure to write a proper leave policy with the bifurcation of the leaves into paid leaves, sick leaves, or casual leaves. You should also define holidays in the leave policy like religious festivals, a voting day off, and others. Also, if you have remote employees working around the globe, also define regional holidays in the policy. 

Time off benefits is important nowadays to retain your employees. You should create a separate time-off benefits document to impress your employees. Usually, companies offer paternity, maternity, and extended sick leave to their employees. 

7. Meal and Break Periods Policy

A clear meal and break policy will inform how long and frequent breaks they can take throughout the day. It will set the foundation to establish rules and regulations in your workplace. It is important to create a meal and break policy for remote employees to keep them productive. 

However, you should keep regional time and culture in mind while specifying your employees' lactation breaks, rest periods, and meal periods. 

8. Timekeeping Policy

If you are using time tracking software to record your individual team members' work efficiency, it is important to have a proper timekeeping policy in order. This will help you define your employees, how you will monitor their time working hours and why it is beneficial to track their time. 

A transparent timekeeping policy will build up trust among your employees and resolve any hesitation regarding the Employee time tracking software in their minds. Therefore, you should create a proper timekeeping policy, including all the important bifurcation to provide clarity to your team. 

9. Safety and Health Policy

You can create separate safety and health policies in your organization or can combine them together. But no matter what, you should definitely create this policy today. Especially after the pandemic, employees are more concerned about their health. 

 So, you should write down all the safety and health protocols that you are following to create a safe workplace, such as a sanitization schedule, vaccination records, etc. 

If you deal with any kind of hazardous substances on your worksite, it is your responsibility to define your employees on how to safely dispose of such materials and how to stay safe while dealing with toxic substances.

10. Remote Workers Policy

Remote work policy is one of the newest and much-needed HR policies today. Since employees are not familiar with the remote work environment much; thus, it is essential to define all the remote work norms to your staff. 

While creating policy for remote workers, you should consider the following points:

● How will you monitor remote workers' performance?

● What are your expectations from remote employees?

● Are there any limitations on remote work?

While creating remote work policies, make sure to consider regional factors in your mind, such as time zone differences, holidays, and other cultural factors.

11. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy

Lately, IT organizations are deploying bring your own device policy to reduce their expenditure and improve cyber security. Under this policy, employees will use their own devices to perform office work such as laptops, cellphones, etc. 

In BYOD policy, you should describe device maintenance, usage, and programs that they can install on their computer system. BYOD work policy has become more common after the remote work environment, so you should get this in order. 

12. Social Media Policy

Are you worried about your employees wasting their work time on social media? Then, it is important for you to have a social media policy. This policy will make sure that you don't tolerate employees wasting time on meaningless social media scrolling. 

However, if it is part of your employee's job to promote your business on social media, you have to draft a policy in a way that won't affect their work in any way. For this purpose, we suggest you use application usage tracking software that can provide you with real-time data on applications used by your employees.

Let's Draft HR Policies Today!

HR policies are the foundation for business managers and executives to run organizations to achieve preset goals. The absence of HR policies can derail the efficiency of employees and put your organization behind. Therefore, no matter how small or big an organization you have, draft your HR policies today. 

To make an HR policy-making process proficient and faster, you can use our HRM policy dashboard. Using our software, you can easily draft different policies and procedures after consulting every member of your team. Additionally, you can quickly make changes in your policy document and get approval from your team. 

You can book a demo session with our team today and start making efficient HR policies with a click.

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Policy management: What is it and what does it look like for HR?

By Gustav Anderson

Sep. 8, 2022

Policy management involves the creation and maintenance of administrative procedures and guidelines within an organization — More

There are four circumstances in which hr management should introduce new policy — more, policy management automation is becoming increasingly common with frontline hr teams — more.

Below the surface of any organization is a process that, perhaps while not the most glamorous, serves to create order, fairness, and standardization. Few people like to talk about it, and even fewer enjoy directly working with it. 

This, of course, is policy management. While sometimes an afterthought, its importance cannot be overstated and it ought to be carried out efficiently and effectively throughout a workforce. 

But let’s back up a second. How about we first pinpoint a clear definition for policy management? Beyond that, where is policy management even going, particularly for HR teams? And how do you automate it? Well, let’s take a look.

What is policy management?  

Policy management involves the creation, distribution, and maintenance of different administrative procedures and guidelines within an organization. Modern approaches to policy management seek to not only manage but also automate how policies are applied across different business functions. 

The purpose of policy management is to essentially ensure HR compliance , reduce risk, and protect stakeholders at every turn of a business’s operations. It achieves this by introducing the standardization and centralization of different policies in the workplace. Implementing and properly following these policies creates an audit trail that can protect an organization from all kinds of liability. 

The different kinds of policy management

Since policy management spans a wide variety of industries, what it looks like can change drastically – this naturally obfuscates how one should manage it properly within their own business.  

You’ll typically find that the organizations most concerned with compliance and risk management tend to lean heavily on policy management – think local government , public safety , IT , and legal services . However, there is a certain kind of policy management that often gets overlooked: hourly employee HR.

While HR policy management for hourly workers may not be as technical as IT policy management or as critical as public safety policy management, it nonetheless affects the lives of countless hardworking people and frontline businesses. To understand it is one thing; to get it right is another matter entirely. Let’s take a closer look at what policy and procedure management mean for your human resources department. 

HR policy management for hourly employees

Streamlining the creation and application of HR policies is becoming increasingly important for hourly workforces, particularly in hospitality, retail, and QSR. While quite extensive, HR policy management in these areas is extremely important to get right in order to protect both employers and employees alike.  

Unfortunately, frontline employees can often experience a disconnect with HR when it comes to understanding and following policy; this can lead to breaches in labor compliance , codes of conduct, and much more. To avoid these issues, it’s best to understand where your company needs to implement policy as well as how to easily communicate and follow that policy. 

Here are some of the most common areas where HR policies are put into place for hourly workers:

• Leave and time off: Covering such things as vacation, sick leave, and holidays, time off policies should be clearly communicated in an employee handbook and fall in line with state and federal labor laws. More than this, employees should be able to easily interact with and utilize leave policies within a scheduling system. 
• Meal and rest breaks: Every state has its own laws regarding the length and frequency of breaks in the workplace. HR policy needs to account for these laws by transparently meeting all requirements throughout the scheduling process. 
• Time tracking and pay: Employees should always have an understanding of how their work hours are being tracked, as well as what their pay rate is, the frequency of paydays, and any special procedures for holiday pay , overtime rates, or absenteeism. At the same time, management needs to be able to apply and follow these policies across their workforce accurately. 
• Health and safety: Beyond the obvious equipment and food safety protocols, health policy recently has impacted the way COVID-19 is dealt with in the workplace . Procedures can be put in place to track and manage things like vaccine status, exposure, and symptoms. 
• Attendance and tardiness: Attendance policies can vary greatly between organizations. Clear guidelines mapping out how tardiness, unexcused absences, call-outs , and no-shows will be interpreted should be communicated to all employees and closely followed. 
• Job and shift qualifications: Some organizations may require specific training, licenses, or qualifications to work specific shifts/roles. It helps to have policy that manages, records, and enforces these requirements within the scheduling process so that work standards are met and laws are followed. 
• Training and handbook acknowledgments: Organizations should have a central repository of training material and other important documentation for employees to refer to whenever needed. More than this, they should have a simple attestation process and a clear paper trail to ensure all workers are complying with the required materials. 
• Disciplinary actions and termination: As a tremendously sensitive area of employment, termination procedures and disciplinary documentation should be clear, concise, and followed very closely. Effective policy management here prevents lawsuits and removes the volatility of human emotion from difficult situations. 
• Tipping: F&B and hospitality businesses can choose from a variety of unique ways to distribute tips , but it should be based on sound and accessible policy. 
• Overtime: Employees should understand their overtime rates as well as their employer’s tolerance for overtime occurrence . Moreover, the employer should have procedures in place to closely approve, track, and pay overtime accruals. 
• Incident reports: Without strict procedures and reminders in place, it is sometimes easy to forget about documentation amidst the chaos of a workplace incident. However, it is crucial for liability reasons that organizations have policy in place to remind and guide employees through the reporting process. 

When to introduce new HR policies

While the purpose of HR policy is to introduce order to how people are managed in the workplace, it would be a mistake to assume that all policy is static and unchanging in nature. In fact, according to a Forbes quote from veteran CHRO Rohit Manchua, “Policies ought to be living documents that are reflective of collective human consciousness … [they] ought to be updated on an ongoing basis.” These updates should be relevant to employee sentiments and should align with the overall strategic initiatives of the company. 

Indeed, examples of policy management updates can be seen everywhere. In 2019 a study of C-suite executives in the healthcare industry found that more than 50% of those surveyed would be revising their privacy policies and conducting new training regiments to comply with new data privacy regulations in the industry. 

So this begs the question, when is the right time to introduce new policy? Well, here are a few circumstances according to Forbes’ Human Resource Council:

During the launch of a strategic initiative

During growth and decline periods, in response to employee feedback, if an urgent matter arises.

HR managers should use any of these situations as an opportunity to review, rework, and roll out new policies and procedures to guide their hourly workforce. 

But the work should not stop there. Beyond simply updating policy, managers should utilize the four circumstances listed above to introduce automation in any way they can to improve policy adherence and streamline procedural workflows. 

Policy management automation – the future for HR teams?

Particularly in larger organizations, policy management can often swell into an unwieldy behemoth filled with red tape and bottleneck. Ensuring all employees and managers follow carefully planned policy procedures is no easy task, often resulting in countless errors when done completely manually. It’s not enough anymore to simply write down policies and hand out booklets. 

Luckily there seems to be an emerging answer for these HR issues. 

In recent years there has been a growing push to automate many policy management functions. Things like attendance strikes , overtime approvals, meal breaks , qualification-based scheduling, and more are now being handed over to policy management software. 

These tools often come with a high degree of configuration, allowing HR professionals to create and manage nearly any kind of policy workflow. Automation like this reduces human error, increases employee accountability, and speeds up administrative tasks at every point of the policy lifecycle. 

Perhaps most importantly, policy management automation understands the living and breathing nature of policies – they cannot sit idle in a notebook collecting dust. Instead,  policies and procedures are automatically applied to your employee scheduling and time-tracking processes to ensure compliance and improve employee engagement . 

For more information about how to perfectly sync policy management with things like scheduling, check out the free webinar below about employee call-out policies:

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How to Successfully Implement HR Policies in 5 Easy Steps

Implementing HR policies without proper documentation is like sailing without a compass. Just as a compass helps sailors navigate rough waters, well-documented HR policies provide clear guidance and direction to the organization and its employees, ensuring smooth and compliant operations. With proper policies, HR decisions may be consistent, leading to clarity, disputes, and potential legal issues.

Implementing effective HR policies can help you make hiring decisions easier, reduce risks, and create a positive work environment for your employees.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the steps and how to implement HR policies to help you find and keep top talent, avoid legal issues, and promote a respectful and inclusive workplace.

First, let’s understand

Why are HR Policies Important?

HR policies are one of the core parts of any organization, and they bind the whole organization and employees together. They provide a framework for managing employee behavior, expectations, and interactions. They ensure equitable treatment of all employees, regardless of their position, status, or background. HR policies help to establish a positive work culture that promotes respect, transparency, and accountability.

Here are some crucial reasons why HR policies are essential .

#Legal compliance

HR policies ensure that the organization complies with all pertinent laws and regulations, reducing the risk of legal liability.

It provides clear expectations for employee behavior, helping to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts.

#Accountability

Outlines consequences for violating company rules, ensuring employees are held accountable for their actions.

#Employee Satisfaction

HR policies that promote work-life balance , benefits, and a positive workplace culture can lead to higher employee satisfaction and retention.

#Recruitment and Retention

HR policies that offer competitive salaries, benefits, and growth opportunities can help attract and retain top talent.

#Risk Management

HR policies can help mitigate workplace health and safety risks, data protection, and other potential organizational threats.

Why Should You Implement HR Policies?

Let’s say you’re running a small startup with 25 – 50 employees and need formal HR policies. Your employees come and go as they please, there need to be clear guidelines for handling conflicts or performance issues, and there needs to be a consistent process for hiring or onboarding new employees .

As your company grows, these issues become more and more problematic. Employees may feel unsure about what is expected of them or their rights, and there may be inconsistency in how various situations are handled. It can lead to dissatisfaction, misunderstandings, and even legal problems.

Here are 5 concise points on why you should implement HR policies in your organization :

1. Compliance : HR policies ensure compliance with employment laws and regulations, reducing legal risks.

2. Expectations : HR policies establish clear expectations and standards of behavior for employees.

3. Consistency : HR policies support consistent decision-making in employee management.

4. Employee Rights : HR policies outline employee rights and responsibility , promoting satisfaction and loyalty.

5. Organizational Culture : HR policies shape and enhance the organizational culture, fostering a positive work environment.

Complete Guide on How to Implement HR Policies

1. You need to visit the StartupHR Toolkit website and sign up for the Gold membership

2. Once you have signed up for the StartupHR Toolkit Gold membership, you will need to purchase it to gain access to the dashboard.

3. Toolkit Gold dashboard contains a variety of HR resources, such as templates, policies, and documents. You can download these.

4. You can browse through these categories to find the specific document you need to download.

5. Once you have downloaded the document from the StartupHR Toolkit Gold dashboard, you can edit it as per your needs

7 Must-Have HR Policies for Your Organization

Effective HR policies are crucial for organizations to ensure compliance, establish expectations, and promote a positive work environment.

Here are 7 must-have HR policies that every organization should consider implementing .

1. Workplace Safety and Health Policy

This policy outlines the organization’s commitment to providing a safe and healthy work environment for employees, including procedures for reporting and addressing workplace hazards. Without this policy, employees may be exposed to unsafe working conditions, leading to accidents, injuries, and potential legal liabilities for the organization.

2. Code of Conduct Policy

This policy sets expectations for employee behavior, including guidelines on professional conduct, ethical standards, and the use of company resources. Suppose you don’t have a clear code of conduct policy . In that case, employees may engage in unethical behavior, misuse company resources, or violate professional standards, resulting in reputational damage, employee conflicts, and legal issues.

3. Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy

This policy prohibits discrimination and harassment based on protected characteristics, such as gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Imagine not having an anti-discrimination and harassment policy in your organization. In that case, the employees may be subjected to discriminatory or harassing behavior, leading to a toxic work environment, low morale, and potential legal liabilities for the organization.

4. Leave Policy

This policy outlines the types of leaves available to employees, such as sick leave, vacation leave, and family/medical leave. If you have a clear leave policy, employees may be able to understand their entitlements, leading to consistent leave management, employee grievances , and potential non-compliance with labor laws.

5. Performance Management Policy

This policy establishes performance expectations, evaluation criteria, and employee feedback processes. For example, without a performance management policy, employees may be unclear about their performance expectations, leading to inconsistent evaluations, lack of feedback, and potential demotivation or disengagement.

6. Employee Benefits Policy

This policy outlines the benefits offered to employees, such as health insurance , retirement plans, and other perks. The reason behind implementing a clear employee benefits policy is that employees may have a limited understanding of their benefits, leading to confusion, incorrect utilization, and potential dissatisfaction or turnover.

7. Data Privacy and Confidentiality Policy

This policy sets guidelines for protecting sensitive and confidential information, including employee data and company proprietary information. Without a data privacy and confidentiality policy , employees may not be aware of their responsibilities in handling sensitive information, leading to data breaches , privacy violations, and potential legal and reputational risks for the organization.

Risks of Downloading HR Documents from Google

As tempting as it may be to download HR documents and policies from Google for convenience, it’s essential to be cautious. Using generic templates found on Google may not be the best approach for your organization.

Here are five reasons to refrain from downloading HR documents and policies from Google .

1. Not legally compliant

HR policies and documents found on Google may not legally comply with local, state, or government laws. Using outdated or inaccurate templates can expose your organization to legal risks and liabilities.

2. Outdated Information

HR policies and documents available on Google are not updated regularly. Employment laws and regulations are subject to change, and using outdated information may result in non-compliance and legal issues.

3. Limited Scope

Generic HR documents and policies from Google do not cover your organization’s needs and requirements. Each organization is unique and may have its own policies, procedures, and guidelines that generic templates cannot adequately address.

4. Lack of Customization

HR documents and policies should be designed to your organization’s needs and culture. Using templates from Google lacks the customization required to reflect your organization’s values, vision, and mission and may not effectively address your HR needs.

5. Lack of Structure

HR documents and policies downloaded from Google need a proper structure or format. However, they may need to be more comprehensive and organized in an easily understandable way for employees and may not align with best practices in HR documentation.

FAQ’s

1. where to find legally compliant hr documents and policies.

Finding legally compliant HR documents and policies is easier than finding a parking spot in Mumbai. Here is a solution, you can easily find legally compliant HR Documents and policies from StartupHR Toolkit, which provides more than 3000+ HR documents and policies at affordable prices.

2. How to train managers to enforce HR policies effectively?

To train managers in enforcing HR policies effectively, provide comprehensive policy training, clarify roles, foster communication, use real-life scenarios, monitor performance, and provide recognition .

3. How to update HR policies to reflect changes in laws and regulations?

To update HR policies for changes in laws and regulations, regularly review and assess policies for compliance, consult with legal experts, communicate changes to relevant stakeholders, provide training , and maintain updated policy documentation.

4. How to effectively communicate HR policies to employees?

Effectively communicate HR policies to employees, use clear and concise language, provide written and visual materials, conduct training sessions, and use multiple communication channels. But most importantly, you need to implement legally compliant HR Documents and policies in your organization.

Now you will know how to implement HR policies effectively in your organization. Following the steps outlined earlier, including identifying the needed policies, conducting research, and drafting comprehensive policies. StartupHR Toolkit can help you streamline the process of implementing HR policies and customize them to meet your organization’s unique needs.

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Startuphr Toolkit comprises ready-to-use HR templates for different stages of the HR process. The aim is to help you manage your HR processes independently. The toolkit has been carefully structured and designed by SutraHR based on our experience of managing the HR operations for startups and established companies. You can customize them as per your preferences and need.

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HR Best Practices Can Lead to a Better Expat Experience

Mentoring employees before and during an expat assignment is among the effective preparation strategies for adjusting to a new country

Employees who have accepted international assignments adjust and perform better in the host country when effective HR management practices are implemented, according to a report included in a compilation of research that the SHRM Foundation recently released.

The findings in Crossing Cultures: Unpacking the Expatriate Learning and Adjustment Process over Time are based on responses from 171 expatriates surveyed 30 days before leaving for their assignments and then nine more times over the first nine months of their international assignment. The respondents—nearly three-fourths of whom were men, and most of whom had a spouse and children moving with them—were from three multinational organizations. Their assignments spanned 38 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.

The study found that the expat’s psychological well-being, language fluency and training before relocation had a positive overall effect on adjusting in the first nine months of the international experience. The findings, the researchers wrote, underscore the importance of HR practitioners understanding the expat’s adjustment process. HR professionals must make sure their organization:

• Addresses the employee's need to develop language fluency in the international assignment.
• Offers psychological screening to assess readiness for an international assignment, including an individual’s openness to having an international experience.
• Provides strong support before and during the assignment, including setting clear expectations about the employee’s role and performance and giving feedback and assistance.
• Provides the employee with a self-assessment tool prior to the international assignment to help set realistic expectations for adjusting to the host country.
• Provides a mentor in the host country. A former, current or more experienced expatriate to offer an insider’s perspective can be especially helpful; a host-country national who is a distinguished organizational leader also would be a good choice.
• Maintains a connection between the expatriate and the home-based organization.

Mentors, Support Team

Cynthia Biro, global co-head of Skills Village at PeopleTicker, an information provider based in the New York City area, found that mentors in the host country helped her when she opened offices in various international locations. In preparation, her employer arranged for expatriates in those countries to contact her about a month before she left the U.S. Once she was in the host country, each expat spent several hours, on different days, introducing Biro to the area, including showing her where to shop for food and taking her on tours of the city to expose her to various areas and to learn the city’s history, she noted in a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) discussion on LinkedIn.

“I cannot tell you how much it helped me in my management and expansion efforts whilst [I was] onsite. Everyone was much more approachable in the office, because we had ‘off time’ and ‘warm introductions’ beforehand. I highly suggest this strategy for others. I also had language classes, and they helped, but the introducing of expats prepared me best.”

At defense technology company Raytheon, a support team is assigned to an employee who accepts an international assignment, said Randa G. Newsome, vice president of HR and based in Waltham, Mass. The team includes a sponsor, an in-country supervisor and an HR point of contact and it remains active throughout the employee’s preparation, deployment and repatriation.

“The support team is responsible for understanding the employee’s assignment and career aspirations, and for engaging in regular communication and activities to help the employee fulfill development goals throughout their assignment,” she said in an e-mail to SHRM Online. “Most important, the support team works to place the employee in a meaningful company role upon their return—one that aligns with their career aspirations and benefits from their international experience and acumen.”

Pre-Selection Criteria, Screening

Spell out pre-selection criteria for expat assignments, said Suzanne Garber, CEO of Gauze, a Philadelphia-based global database of hospitals, in an e-mail to SHRM Online. She has been an expat and has managed and helped other expats prepare for their assignments.

“The onus is on the hiring manager to ensure that cultural compatibility is one of the determining factors to awarding an expat assignment. Without fully understanding this component of the expat assignment, it may be doomed to fail,” she noted. “Many rising executives know that obtaining an expat position is one way to propel one’s career into super-stardom. ... However, all who are chosen are not best suited. Why not? Because while the job specs were carefully crafted, the cultural aspects were not. Culture, in an expat position, trumps credentials.”

Not everyone will adapt well to a new country or culture, wrote Vancouver, Canada-based HR consultant Debra Walker in an e-mail to SHRM Online.

“Tests that show adaptability, resourcefulness, problem-solving, thinking on one’s feet, ability to work in grey [areas]—and even introversion vs. extroversion review—are good to incorporate, so that individuals that will not adapt well will have a clearer picture before they even leave home soil.”

Most multinational firms do not have a standard screening process to identify traits—such as resourcefulness and a high tolerance for ambiguity—that make for a successful expat, said James P. Johnson, Ph.D., professor of international business at Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business in Orlando, Fla.

“These qualities cannot be taught in a brief pre-departure cross-cultural training program. Instead, efforts should be made to identify candidates that have these traits, and to train them in the technical aspects of the international assignment, rather than select the person who has the technical skills and assume that he or she can acquire the necessary soft skills that are essential to international success,” he said in an e-mail to SHRM Online.

Language, Cross-Cultural Training

Learning the host country’s language is important, said Johnson, who has worked in Finland, Great Britain, Mexico, Spain and the former Yugoslavia.

“It can go a long way in developing relations with employees, colleagues, customers and neighbors,” he said, but advised being realistic in one’s expectations. “Traditional language training is time-intensive and crash courses can be expensive. In addition, many firms that offer language training require the employee to do it in his or her free time or take vacation days to attend a crash course.”

He also thinks cross-cultural training should be a mandatory component of an international assignment.

“Less than 50 percent of firms require it, although many are getting better in realizing that training is not only essential for the employee, but for spouses [or significant others] and family members” accompanying the employee, he noted in an e-mail. Family members should have access to training as well for help securing a driver’s license, for example, and locating babysitters, schools and English-speaking medical providers.

And Gauze’s Garber stressed that additional cultural training is a must, even if the assignee has visited, worked in or previously lived in the host country.

“It is imperative to get a briefing on what’s going on in the country now. This includes an update from a political, gastronomical, religious and security perspective.”

Richard Phillips, managing director at Britam, a risk management and training consultancy in London, has employed more than 1,000 staff members in expatriate roles over the last 11 years—most commonly in "quite challenging environments," he said in an e-mail to SHRM Online.

“The single most important part of their preparation is making absolutely sure they understand the living and working environment they are about to enter—warts and all! To avoid wasting time and money, do this first and check as part of your quality process. It is human nature to look at the positives of a role and skip the bits you don’t know much about.

“Make sure your candidates are fully appraised of the challenges, issues and differences to their previous experience to avoid them wanting to return five minutes after arrival.”

Kathy Gurchiek is the associate editor at HR News. Follow her @SHRMwriter. Join the SHRM LinkedIn discussion on preparing expats for their assignments.

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9 Essential HR Policies of a Company: A Comprehensive Guide

• Employee Handbooks
• September 20, 2023

A successful company thrives on the strength of its employees, and HR policies of a company lay the foundation for fostering a positive work environment that nurtures growth, productivity, and satisfaction. But what exactly are these essential HR policies, and how do they benefit both the organization and its workforce? In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the core HR policies of a company that every organization should have in place, their importance, and how to adapt them to suit your unique business needs.

Key Takeaways

• HR policies provide a structured framework for handling employee-related issues and ensure compliance with legal regulations.
• Every company should have core HR policies in place to treat employees fairly and consistently.
• Regular training, communication, monitoring and enforcement of HR policies are essential for creating an effective work environment that is tailored to the organization’s unique culture.

Understanding HR Policies

Human resources policies are the backbone of an organization, providing guidance on a wide range of employment matters, from hiring processes and workflows to remuneration and vacation entitlements. These HR policies serve to establish a structured and uniform approach to handling workforce-related issues, including addressing workplace violence.

HR policies set a robust framework for organizational accountability and employee engagement by delineating career growth opportunities, promoting a healthy work environment, and adhering to legal requirements. Companies typically house their HR policies in employee handbooks, employment contracts, and company policy manuals, making them easily accessible to employees in various formats.

In essence, these policies work as a compass, guiding both employers and employees through the complexities of the employment relationship and providing clarity on disciplinary measures, workplace policies, and federal regulations.

Importance of HR Policies

HR policies play a pivotal role in acknowledging employee needs and offering guidance in various areas, including:

• Conflict resolution
• Problem-solving
• Equitable compensation

By establishing clear guidelines and expectations, companies can create a strong foundation for employee engagement and satisfaction while adhering to corporate governance and business practices, addressing employee expectations in the process.

Moreover, having well-defined HR policies for small businesses  in place helps protect employees and ensures that the company remains compliant with federal laws and employment regulations. The absence of HR policies can lead to legal issues and inconsistent application of standards towards employees, resulting in a negative impact on the overall work environment.

A transparent compensation policy, for example, can foster a culture of trust within the organization. Companies can foster a more efficient and cost-effective work environment when HR policies promptly and effectively tackle employee concerns.

Legal Compliance in HR Policies

Ensuring compliance and circumventing potential issues necessitate the alignment of HR policies with legal requirements at various governmental levels. Companies must adhere to federal employment regulations, such as the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), EEO-1 reporting for federal contracts, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), among others. By incorporating legal requirements like providing reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs, companies can create a more inclusive work environment.

Maintaining up-to-date and legally compliant HR policies allows companies to:

• Adapt to the ever-evolving workplace landscape
• Protect employees and the organization from potential legal disputes
• Stay abreast of pertinent laws and regulations
• Keep their policies up-to-date, effective, and in sync with current industry standards.

Core HR Policies for Every Company

Every organization, regardless of its size or industry, should have a set of core HR policies in place to establish a framework for company operations and guarantee that employees are treated fairly and consistently.

In the following subsections, we will explore nine essential HR policies that every company should implement.

• Recruitment and Hiring
• Compensation and Benefits
• Attendance and Punctuality
• Workplace Conduct
• Health and Safety
• Remote Work and Telecommuting
• Leave and Time Off
• Performance Evaluation and Disciplinary Action
• Confidentiality and Data Security.

1. Recruitment and Hiring Policy

A well-conceived recruitment policy guarantees a fair and consistent hiring process. It also ensures that the hiring decisions are made solely on merit, thus protecting individuals from discrimination due to their race, gender, age, religion or other protected characteristics. This policy should outline the procedures for attracting, screening, and selecting job applicants, as well as the required documentation for new hires, such as new position requisition forms and information regarding the onboarding process.

Additionally, an employment classification policy is vital for avoiding worker misclassification and costly legal disputes. By clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of employees and employers, companies can ensure that the employment relationship is properly established and that both parties are aware of their respective rights and obligations. This policy should include the concept of at-will employment, also known as the at will employment policy or simply will employment policy. This means employers can terminate an employee’s contract at any time, as long as it is not in violation of any applicable laws.

For comprehensive guidance on creating such policies, consult a HR policies and procedures manual to streamline the process.

2. Compensation and Benefits Policy

The Compensation and Benefits Policy is instrumental in detailing employee benefits, payroll procedures, and performance-based incentives. It should include the following information:

• Clear communication of paydays
• Methods available for receiving payment
• Any relevant special procedures in case a payday falls on a holiday or an employee is absent from work

When constructing a compensation policy, factors to consider include:

• Employee benefits
• Payroll frequency
• Payment methods
• Additional benefits such as bonuses and education reimbursements

A transparent and fair compensation policy not only ensures that employees are adequately rewarded for their work, but also fosters a culture of trust within the organization.

3. Attendance and Punctuality Policy

The Attendance and Punctuality Policy includes the following:

• Employee attendance expectations
• Repercussions of not meeting attendance standards
• Rules and guidelines for attendance
• Reporting lateness
• Repercussions for multiple violations, such as disciplinary action

By outlining these details, companies can ensure that their workforce remains productive and engaged.

To guarantee compliance with federal, state, and local laws, companies must also implement policies regarding break periods for meals, rest, and lactation. These policies should clearly outline the restrictions and rules associated with break periods, including their duration and frequency. By establishing a comprehensive attendance and punctuality policy, companies can maintain a productive work environment and keep their employees informed about their obligations.

4. Workplace Conduct Policy

A Workplace Conduct Policy is vital in cultivating a work environment that fosters respect, inclusivity, and diversity. This policy should cover anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and codes of conduct to ensure that all employees are treated fairly and with respect. A well-defined workplace conduct policy fosters a positive company culture and helps protect employees from potential conflicts and disputes related to employee conduct.

Implementing an Anti-Harassment and Non-Discrimination Policy that prohibits harassment and discrimination in the workplace is essential for creating an inclusive work environment. Companies should also:

• Review and comply with applicable federal, state, and local provisions to ensure that all necessary protections are in place.
• Maintain a comprehensive and well-enforced workplace conduct policy.
• Foster a healthy and positive work atmosphere that encourages growth and productivity.

5. Health and Safety Policy

The Health and Safety Policy plays a central role in safeguarding the well-being of employees, customers, and visitors, which is of paramount importance. This policy should cover emergency procedures, accident reporting, and industry-specific regulations to guarantee a safe work environment for all. Companies must also adhere to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA), which mandates certain minimum standards for workplace occupational safety and health. In addition, implementing effective safety policies can further enhance the overall safety standards within the organization.

If specific workplace hazards are present, such as the use of hazardous chemicals, companies should implement a Hazard Communication Program as part of their Health and Safety Policy. By prioritizing employee safety and implementing appropriate safety procedures, companies can reduce the risk of accidents and create a secure work environment that promotes employee satisfaction and productivity.

6. Remote Work and Telecommuting Policy

The Remote Work and Telecommuting Policy facilitates work from home or other remote locations, offering flexibility and versatility in today’s dynamic workplace. This policy should outline the roles suitable for remote work, any restrictions on remote roles, and the company’s prerogative to terminate telecommuting arrangements at any time.

Monitoring remote employees is crucial for maintaining productivity and ensuring that company expectations are met. The policy should provide guidance on how to monitor remote employees and maintain a healthy work-life balance while working from home.

By implementing a well-defined remote work policy, companies can attract top talent and support a more diverse and flexible workforce.

7. Leave and Time Off Policy

A comprehensive Leave and Time Off Policy is necessary to address the various types of leave employees may need, including vacation, sick, parental, and bereavement leave. The policy should clearly outline the process for requesting time off, the authorization process, the maximum amount of leave permitted, and any legal prerequisites such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Companies may use time-tracking tools to monitor employee time off and ensure compliance with leave policies. By providing a clear and fair leave policy, companies can support employee well-being and maintain a healthy work-life balance within their workforce.

8. Performance Evaluation and Disciplinary Action Policy

Performance evaluations are indispensable in assessing employee success and pinpointing areas for enhancement. The Performance Evaluation and Disciplinary Action Policy should outline the procedures for conducting performance appraisals and implementing disciplinary actions for misconduct or rule violations. This policy ensures that employees are aware of company expectations and the consequences of failing to meet those expectations.

Disciplinary and performance events should be documented in employee records, allowing for transparency and consistency in the evaluation process. By implementing a fair and comprehensive performance evaluation and disciplinary action policy, companies can foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement within their workforce.

For assistance in creating such policies, consider using an HR policy and procedures template , which can serve as a valuable resource in ensuring your policies align with best practices and legal standards.

9. Confidentiality and Data Security Policy

Every organization must prioritize the protection of sensitive information and maintenance of data security. The Confidentiality and Data Security Policy addresses the measures in place to safeguard company data and ensure compliance with privacy regulations. This policy should outline the topics that must be kept confidential by employees and provide guidance on how employees can discuss unethical practices with HR teams without fear of negative repercussions.

Furthermore, the policy should address the use of company property and the rules and restrictions surrounding its use. By implementing a robust confidentiality and data security policy, companies can prevent security breaches and maintain the integrity of their sensitive information.

Implementing and Updating HR Policies

For HR policies to remain relevant and effective amidst the ever-changing workplace environment, their efficient implementation and regular updating are critical. The process for developing HR policies includes researching best practices, consulting with stakeholders, and drafting the policy. Once the policies have been developed, they should be communicated to employees and properly enforced.

Regular reviews and updates of HR policies are necessary to maintain their effectiveness and adapt to changing legal requirements and industry standards. By staying informed about the latest developments and best practices in HR management, companies can ensure that their policies continue to support their employees and contribute to the overall success of the organization.

Training and Communication of HR Policies

It’s vital to train employees on HR policies to ensure they comprehend and adhere to the company’s expectations. Providing instruction on the policies, illustrating examples of how the policies should be followed, and verifying that employees comprehend the policies are all essential aspects of the training process. Maintaining open communication channels for addressing concerns or questions related to HR policies allows employees to feel supported and informed.

Regular training and communication of HR policies have several benefits.

• Ensuring that employees are aware of their rights and responsibilities within the organization
• Fostering a culture of accountability and transparency
• Promoting a clear understanding of HR policies
• Creating a more efficient and harmonious work environment
• Benefiting both employees and the organization as a whole

Monitoring and Enforcing HR Policies

HR professionals shoulder the crucial responsibility of overseeing compliance with HR policies and enforcing them uniformly across the organization. Utilizing a system that facilitates the monitoring and recording of employee adherence to HR policies, such as HR software or tracking systems, can be an effective way to track and document policy compliance.

Regular audits of HR policies should involve an evaluation of the policy’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and an assessment of the policy’s impact on the organization. By diligently monitoring and enforcing HR policies, companies can ensure that their workforce remains compliant with established guidelines and maintains a high standard of performance and conduct.

Adapting HR Policies to Company Culture

The interplay between HR policies and company culture significantly contributes to the creation of a work environment that buttresses and amplifies desired organizational values. To align HR policies with company culture, it is important to understand the company culture, recognize disparities between current policies and the desired culture, and involve employees in policy development.

Customizing HR policies to suit an organization’s unique culture involves:

• Reviewing existing policies
• Consulting with stakeholders
• Formulating customized policies that reflect the organization’s particular needs and objectives

By adapting HR policies to complement company culture, organizations can create a harmonious and dynamic work environment that fosters growth, productivity, and satisfaction.

Customizing HR Policies for Your Business

Given the unique needs and characteristics of every business, it’s vital to customize HR policies to fit the specific requirements of your organization or industry. To assess your company’s needs when customizing HR policies, consider factors such as your company’s size, industry, and goals, and analyze the current HR policies and procedures to identify areas that require improvement or updating.

When customizing HR policies, follow these steps:

• Involve key decision-makers in the process and consult with stakeholders to gather their input on the current policies and desired changes.
• Research best practices and comply with legal requirements and industry regulations to ensure that your customized policies align with your business strategy.
• Create policies that create a supportive and effective work environment for your employees.

In conclusion, implementing comprehensive and customized HR policies is vital for fostering a positive work environment that nurtures employee growth, productivity, and satisfaction. By understanding the essential HR policies, adapting them to suit your unique business needs, and maintaining open communication and training, companies can create a harmonious and dynamic work environment that benefits both employees and the organization as a whole. Remember, the success of your company relies on the strength of its employees, and effective HR policies lay the foundation for nurturing this invaluable resource.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the hr policies of an organization.

HR policies are the rules and processes that govern the employment relationship, outlining rights, responsibilities and expected behaviours of both employer and employee, as well as covering important functions such as hiring, compensation, leave, training, promotion, work environments, termination and more.

These policies are essential for any organization, as they provide a framework for how the employer and employee should interact and behave. They also help to ensure that the organization is compliant with relevant laws and regulations. Additionally, they can help to create a positive work environment and foster a culture of respect and trust.

What is an example of a HR policy?

HR policies are rules or guidelines that provide structure and consistency for employment and workforce matters. Examples include ensuring fair compensation, addressing employee grievances and providing breaks in accordance with federal, state, and local laws.

What are the 7 HR processes?

The 7 core processes of Human Resource Management include Recruitment & Selection, Performance Management, Learning & Development, Succession Planning, Compensation & Benefits, HR Data & Analytics.

What are the 4 C’s of HR policies?

The 4 C’s of HR policies refer to competence, commitment, congruence, and cost effectiveness as a model to evaluate the effectiveness of an organization’s Human Resources Management (HRM) process.

What are the core HR policies that every company should have in place?

Every company should have Recruitment and Hiring, Compensation and Benefits, Attendance and Punctuality, Workplace Conduct, Health and Safety, Remote Work and Telecommuting, Leave and Time Off, Performance Evaluation and Disciplinary Action, and Confidentiality and Data Security policies in place to ensure a safe and productive workplace.

Tehsin Bhayani

AirMason was born when Tehsin was trying to create a digital culture book, but couldn’t find any solutions in the market that had all the features he needed. In 2016, AirMason officially launched. In five years, AirMason has created thousands of handbooks for more than 1,000 clients around the world.

Modern Work Dynamics: Flexible Working Hours Policy

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