Whether you are an employer or an employee, we can almost guarantee that you have come across a workplace policy or two over the course of your career.
Have you ever given any thought to the workplace policies that you have come across? As tempting as it is to scroll to the bottom of the policy and pretend you’ve read it like the Terms and Conditions section of most things you sign up for (we don’t recommend you ignore these either!), we cannot stress enough how important it is that you take the time to read and understand your workplace policies.
Regardless of what kind of business you run, you need workplace policies to communicate your expectations to your employees.
What is a workplace policy?
Employees have an implied duty to follow the lawful and reasonable directions of their employer. These directions are often captured in workplace policies.
A workplace policy is a statement which outlines an organisation’s practices and procedures concerning part of its business.
Workplace policies generally fall into three broad categories:
- Policies establishing expected standards of behaviour and performance of employers and employees (e.g. code of conduct, work communications, social media use, bullying and harassment);
- Policies that establish internal processes (e.g. internal grievance resolution, discipline and performance review); and
- Policies that govern the provision of employee benefits (e.g. redundancies).
Policies can be provided to employees as documents that are separate to the employment contract, sometimes combined into an ‘Employee Handbook’, or the policy itself may form part of the employment contract.
Should workplace policies form part of the employment contract?
As a starting point, workplace policies are often not enforceable unless they form part of an employment contract.
Workplace policies can be incorporated into an employee’s duties by:
- Including a general requirement in the employment contract that an employee must abide by the employer’s workplace policies, but keeping the actual contents of the workplace policies separate from the contract; or
- Directly incorporating the contents of the workplace policies into the employment contract to form part of the core contractual terms.
However, caution should be exercised in incorporating workplace policies into employment contracts, as this may:
- expose an employer to potential breach of contract claims if the employer breaches the policy; or
- create an administrative nightmare, requiring employment contracts to be updated each time workplace policies are updated.
The issuing of policies and employment contracts should occur at different times. For example, issuing the contract before the employee starts work and then providing the policies on commencement.
How can employers introduce workplace policies?
Employers, you should enlist the assistance of your senior management and HR professionals when constructing and implementing workplace policies.
Generally, the process for establishing and implementing workplace policies involves the following steps:
- Identify the need. Why do we need the policy? What issue is the policy addressing?
- Gather information about the legal responsibilities relating to the topic and take note of exemplar policies available online;
- Get support from senior management for the proposed policy. However, it is worth noting that in some circumstances the idea for the policy and some of its details may come from other staff;
- Consult staff about the proposed policy. This promotes stronger awareness and understanding of the proposed policy, and may help identify potential outcomes of the policy;
- Define the terms of the policy in a clear and concise manner:
- Define key terms at the beginning of the policy;
- Be clear about who the policy applies to (e.g. employees or contractors?);
- Explain the purpose for the policy;
- Clearly explain how to comply with the policy;
- Use examples where appropriate;
- Outline the consequences for not complying with the policy;
- Explain what needs to be done if an employee cannot follow the policy; and
- Invite staff to direct their questions and feedback about the policy (perhaps to a designated email).
- Publicise the policy with employees. Ensure staff understand the procedures that need to be followed in order to comply with the policy;
- Train staff on the policy regularly to ensure that they understand what the policy is, how it will work in practice and how it will affect them. Make copies of the policy easily accessible, so that people can refer back to the policy where needed. We like seeing policies available on a staff intranet or internal website, which allows businesses to ensure there is a single source of information;
- Implement the policy consistently throughout the organisation. A breach of the policy should be dealt with promptly and according to the procedures set out in the policy; and
- Evaluate and review the policy regularly to ensure it is current and in line with any legislative changes or changes within the organisation. Where such changes have occurred, an organisation should update the policy and publicise the updated policy to all employees, with the changes explained.
Care should be taken to ensure that the consequence for a breach of policy matches the severity of the breach. Failure to issue a proportionate consequence may lead to a finding that the disciplinary action was harsh or unjust, and in some cases may also constitute a breach of policy by the employer.
Examples of workplace policies
Workplace policies can in various shapes and sizes, and can be tailored to apply to just about any aspect of an employee’s working life (within reason). We have identified a few common workplace policies below:
- Code of Conduct;
- Workplace health and safety policies;
- Privacy and security policies;
- Work communications and social media policies;
- Bullying, discrimination and harassment policies; and
- Whistleblower policies.
