What are company policies?
Company policies outline how employers should deal with the health, safety and accountability of employees, as well as their interactions with customers and clients. Business policies can also be used in accordance with UK government law, for legal issues and other situations that can lead to severe consequences for employees.
Some company policies have to adhere by UK law; these are:
- Equal opportunities
- Health & safety
- Discipline/dismissal and grievance
Although the above workplace policies must be adhered to, there are very few laws in the UK that a company must comply with; the rest you can decide on the basis of what you deem to be suitable for the type of company you own.
Why are company policies important?
Company policies put in writing what you expect from your employees. These may be related to performance, values or behaviour. Additionally, company policy can serve as a pre-warning for employees, as they outline the consequences of failing to abide by the rules.
Company policies are important for a variety of other reasons, including:
- Setting expectations
- Keeping management accountable
- Ensuring compliance with the law
- Helping defend against legal claims
- Assisting with fair treatment of employees
List of company policies to consider creating
Here are some of the policies that your company should consider putting in place:
Health and safety
According to UK law, every business must have a health and safety policy.As laid out by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, you must:
- identify potential hazards, i.e. what could cause illness or injury in your workplace;
- decide the likelihood of someone being harmed and the level of risk; and
- specify how to take action to prevent the hazard, or if in the case this is not possible, reduce the risk.
The more high-risk your business is, the more detailed arrangements for managing risks you will need. This should all be stated clearly in your company policy.
Equal opportunities In the UK, everyone is under the protection of the Equality Act 2010, which stops its citizens from discriminating on the basis of age, sex, race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and pregnancy/maternity. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you create an equal opportunities policy in accordance with this. Companies without such a policy might become involved in legal cases if an employee alleges that your company has been discriminatory against them. During the onboarding process, having this policy will make you more attractive to future employees, and shows how dedicated you are to creating a progressive workplace where they will feel safe and confident.
Code of conduct policy A code of conduct outlines your company’s ethical standards for the workplace, and protects your long-term reputation as a business. It should outline all of your workplace policies in a way that is clear, concise and easy for your employees to understand.
Your code of conduct policy may include an equal opportunities policy and an attendance policy, but it will be useful to consider and include these further policies:
- Social media, email and internet usage
- Dress code
- Behaviour
- Flexibility
- Company property
- Rules for following GDPR
Having a conclusive code of conduct is invaluable in cases made against you by employees or clients, and is useful to refer to during a disciplinary procedure. It will also protect your employees from claims made by clients, and should be referred to by both you and your employee during an employment tribunal.
Attendance, holiday and time-off policies
In the UK, there is statutory holiday leave and minimum statutory sick pay (SSP). You must give your employees 5.6 weeks of paid holiday, according to Working Time Regulations, alongside any additional holiday that you draft into your company’s holiday policy. Your employee can claim SSP if they have started working for you, they earn £120 before tax and they have been following your rules for receiving sick pay. In this case, you are required to pay them £96.35 a week for up to 28 weeks. Additionally, in England and Wales,
UK Research and Innovation states that there are eight bank holidays which must be taken on the following days:
- New Year’s Eve
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- May Day
- Spring Bank Holiday Monday
- Late summer (during August) bank holiday Monday
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
If you decide to include an unlimited holiday policy, the rules for receiving holiday pay must be written into your company’s policy. You must encourage staff to take statutory holiday leave on top of this.
Employee disciplinary action policy
Having a clear employee disciplinary action policy will give your employees rules on how to behave in the workplace, what warnings they might receive in the case of misconduct and how they might be disciplined if poor behaviour or performance continues. You should state the different stages of your disciplinary procedure; in your employee disciplinary action policy, you should advise employees on informal and written warnings, and your company’s process for investigating misconduct. According to the Acas code, only a written warning is in accordance with the law; a verbal warning is simply an informal first step in disciplining your employee.
Employee complaint policy
Your formal grievance procedure should follow the Acas code, and should be written into your employee complaint policy. Your employees should be able to find a copy of this in writing.
According to Acas, employers should adhere to the following during a grievance process:
- Outline how they will deal with the procedure fairly.
- Investigate the grievance as thoroughly as possible.
- The employee can bring any relevant people to the meeting.
- Everyone involved has their fair say before you finalise a decision.
- Actions and decisions are made as soon as possible.
- The employee is allowed to appeal against the outcome.
If you decide to dismiss an employee, it is important to acknowledge they have the right to take their case to an employment tribunal. The UK government says that as an employer, you must give both a valid reason to justify why you have dismissed the employee, and that they have acted reasonably in the circumstances. Furthermore, you must have thoroughly investigated the situation, and you cannot dismiss them for something you would allow other employees to do in your workplace.
How to develop company policies as an employer
If you want to develop business policies to address important workplace issues, consider following the steps below:
Identify the need for the policy
Observe the way your management and employees deal with workplace issues, and identify which areas could use improvement. For instance, if employees consistently violate unwritten rules, you may consider adding a new policy that addresses this and other related issues.
Determine the content needed for the policy
Write down key areas that need to be addressed within the policy. For instance, you can include different sections or clauses that prevent you or your employees from finding loopholes. Respectively, you will need to make sure that the content you include is compliant with UK law, in the case of equality and diversity, health and safety, discipline/dismissal and grievance. It is worth taking a draft of your policies to a legal document review with a UK law firm to make sure that they are in accordance with the law. Consider all aspects of the policy, what you would like your employees to do and what you would like them to avoid doing. It is also a good idea to include what form of disciplinary action will be taken if a policy is violated.
Communicate the new policy to employees
Current employees need to be notified of new policies when they are released or added to the employee handbook. You may even consider adding a signature line to the new policy to make sure employees know that they must follow the rule from the date when they sign it. This prevents conflict later on if an employee states they were never aware of the policy after receiving disciplinary action for violating it. It’s also important to review and discuss company policies with new employees when you have hired them. Consider having them sign a form stating that they were given an employee handbook or a list of your policies, rules and regulations.
Update and revise the policy as necessary
You may consider amending or revising your policies as necessary in accordance with laws and regulations or according to your company’s objectives and any employee feedback. Learn how to create a clear company policy that works for both you and your employees, while sticking to UK laws.