Write a Policy for Employment Law
This page describes how to understand new employment legislation and write and implement a suitable policy to protect your business against employment tribunals.
Contents
Steps
- Understand the jargon. New legislation is never written in plain English. It is always full of legal jargon and long-winded explanations. So, how can we make sense of it all?
- Hire an external Human Resources consultant (often more cost effective than a solicitor) to translate the legislation for you. This is by far the easiest and quickest way of ensuring your organisation is ready to adhere to new legislation. They will also be able to write and implement a policy that will suit the individual needs of your organisation. This also gives peace of mind because all consultants should have insurance to give businesses advice.
- Search the internet for as much information as you can find on the new legislation. Other companies may have published information in a straightforward format that is easy to understand. This can be very time consuming and you might find contradictory information. It can be very difficult to know what is right and relevant to your business.
- Keep an eye on the local media. New national legislation guidelines will always be printed in the media as well as reported on the news. This will give a correct overview of the legislation, however, it will only be published as the deadline date draws near, which may not give you enough time to prepare and implement a policy.
- Network with other local similar businesses. People often take different views from the same thing. It may be that a similar business has picked up on a specific detail of the legislation that you missed, or vice versa. This form of benchmarking is very useful and helps to reinforce good relationships with like-minded businesses.
- Bear in mind that all new legislation will be read and understood in different ways. A policy written for one business will not necessarily be suitable for all businesses. Your organisation’s structure and culture must always be taken in to consideration when writing a policy whether for legislation or best practice.
The Relevance of Legislation
- Think about how the legislation affects your organisation and how to implement the changes or policies needed to comply with the legislation. Most legislation will affect businesses in some way, even it is just in a minor area. In most cases, this will mean an update to an existing policy or practice that is already in place. In some cases it may require a whole new policy written specifically to meet the legislation. Either way it is important to plan how you are going to implement the changes.
- Keep employees informed of any changes in the organisation that will affect them or the work they do. A policy provides employees with guidance to their own and the organisation’s responsibilities. Policies also help to develop a fair and consistent structure to assist in managing your employees.
- Consider the current structure and culture of your business. All policies should be linked to your overall organisational strategy so they are helping the business to reach its full potential and meeting the goals of the business. Smaller businesses will have a smaller selection of policies to suit their needs and comply with legislation, while larger organisations will have a wider selection of policies to help them support their business objectives.
- Write a policy, communicate it to all members of staff and implement it.
Writing a Policy
- Make sure your policy is clear and consistent, written in plain English and communicated to all employees. Policies must be easily accessible and regularly reviewed to ensure they are fit for the purpose.
- Do your research. It is helpful to benchmark with similar type businesses particularly in the same area. Conduct an audit to assess what is already in place in your organisation both formally and informally. You must have a good understanding of the subject for which the policy is regarding as well as the organisation in which the policy is to be implemented. What’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander. There is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to policies.
- Decide who will write the policy. If you do not have a Human Resource department, it may help to set up a work group or team to assist with the writing and implementation of the policy. Policies must be kept in line with the business strategy and must complement other policies to avoid conflict.
- Start with a Purpose so people understand immediately what the policy is about. It should then list the contents of the policy broken down in to segments that are easy to follow and understand.
- Consider the subject and the size of your organization when determining the length and content of the policy. A Recruitment and Selection policy may be straightforward in a smaller organisation because there are fewer variations of positions to be filled, whereas larger organisation will have a huge range of positions and may need a more complex policy.
- While writing the policy, bear in mind that it must be kept flexible so it can be reviewed and possibly changed in the future either before or after implementation. Remember to write the policy with the whole organisation in mind. It must apply to all members of staff and they must be able to understand the language. Set a realistic timescale for the policy including research and benchmarking time and allow for unforeseen set backs such as a vital colleague being off sick.
- Send a first draft to all managers for review. Any suggested changes must be seriously considered and the policy reviewed and amended. If the organisation recognizes a union, they must also be consulted at this stage.
- Once all amendments have been made and the policy has been agreed to by all managers and union representatives, it is then time to implement the policy. But, no matter how well the policy is written and communicated, it is the implementation, particularly by line managers, that is crucial in the policies and procedures being really effective.
Implementing a Policy
- Make sure that all managers have the same understanding of the policy, its reasons for creation and its desired outcomes, so they can effectively communicate this to all members of staff in their teams. The front line managers also have the responsibility of ironing out any minor performance issues with the new policy. All problems should be reported back to either the HR department or the higher management team.
- If a policy is particularly large or complex, consider introducing it in several stages. For example, to introduce an absence management policy where there has not been anything in place previously may cause a lot of resistance to change due to employees feeling that they are not being treated fairly. It is therefore practical to implement it in stages. In larger organisations, it may be advisable to concentrate on single departments or branches at time and implement the policy throughout the organisation over a set period. You may decide to pilot the policy in one area of your organisation in order to identify any issues and review the policy before rolling it out through the whole organisation.
- Make sure the policy is accessible to all employees. The format in which it will be made available to staff will depend on the structure of the organisation. It may be by hard copy to all employees, hard copy in key areas of the work place such as staff rooms or by soft copy available on the intranet. It may even be all three.
- Review the policy at key stages of the implementation. For example, as long as there are no serious issues that require an immediate review, it is advisable to review the policy after three months, six months and one year. After this, it is normal practice to review all policies by a Human Resource audit annually.
Tips
- If you can afford it, get a local human resource consultant. They will have a better understanding of the local labour markets and economy.
- Ask for a small to medium sized business discount. consultants will often agree to this depending on the size and turnover of your business.
- If you are doing it yourself, read as much as possible about the new legislation so you can make informed decisions.
Warnings
- If you get this wrong, you could be facing an employment tribunal which will not only cost a fortune in legal expenses, but it will also bring down the reputation of your business.
