Policies and Procedures in the Workplace: The Ultimate Guide 2021

Sometimes policies and procedural changes will be complex and require a complete new approach to work practices. When concepts are difficult to grasp, just writing them down and hoping for the best isn’t going to cut it.

• Implementing a font that is commonly used in the workplace is a method of letting your employees know that this document should be taken seriously.
• Policies and procedures are helpful for making your workplace run more efficiently, but they are only effective if you enforce them.
• While no two employee handbooks are exactly alike, most should cover the following areas.

My advice is that people are human — allow some occasional exceptions. Business dress in most workplaces today is considered fairly casual. Some companies that still have relatively formal dress may even designate a particular day, seasonally or year-round, as casual day. Remember that, according to the law, a person who looks and acts like a manager at a business can be considered a person who is an authorized purchasing agent. Academy Get free resources and everything you need to know to start, run, and grow your small business.

Policy Management – Best Practices

These guidelines also lay out how a worker is disciplined if rules are broken. Policies are to a company what rules are to the players of a game. They are the framework and constraints within which everyone can strive for individual and collective success.

Include enough details to make the company’s position clear, but don’t try to cover every potential situation. Many companies have substance abuse policies that prohibit the use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco products during work hours, on company property or during company functions. These policies often outline smoking procedures employees must follow if allowed to smoke on business premises.

The 5 company policies you need to have in writing

Workplace safety policies are a must to help prevent costly accidents. It’s especially important to safeguard your organization and your employees from sexual harassment, which can be detrimental both to the wellbeing of your staff and the integrity of your organization. Clear, thorough policies and training can set the tone for an inclusive, respectful work environment. They can keep your organization out of court and ensure that your employees feel safe and comfortable at work.

Though most schools are back in session, students can easily contract or be in proximity to a classmate who contracted COVID. In these situations, entire classrooms have to quarantine, meaning the kids are back at home. So throughout the year, employees may need the flexibility to work from home. Also called a telecommuting Company Policies or work from home policy, a remote work policy is increasingly important in the pandemic and post-pandemic eras. To learn more about this, read our article, Workplace tobacco policy. This often appears as an effort to undermine a company, and it breaks the trust inherent in the employer-employee relationship.

Business Know-How

Functional policies and procedures will bring to sharp relief failures such as misuse of funds, time, or business resources. Failing or outdated corporate policies will, on the other hand, become anomalies, killing morale and productivity. Some employee handbooks include key company contacts’ email addresses and phone numbers.

• It’s best to research other companies’ similar policies as a basis for a new policy rather than drafting one from scratch.
• The German vehicle manufacturing business had been installing software in its vehicles to defraud car emissions testing.
• Additionally, unnecessary miscommunications can be avoided, and behavior and standards throughout the company are upheld.
• You will be viewed as petty and, for this, employees will resent you.
• The people your company deals with expect fair treatment with no Conflicts of Interest.

It’s important for an organization because it lets employees know what illegal or inappropriate behavior won’t be allowed on the job. That sets clear expectations and makes it easier to maintain accountability. After investing time and resources creating these policies, make sure employees read, understand and apply them to their daily job responsibilities! Read the Guide on How to Ensure Employee Accountability & Compliance through Effective Policy Management.

Policies and Procedures every Business should have

As an illustration, have a plain policy on paid volunteer time or time off on appointments. If there are no clear-cut policies on workplace conduct, you will have mix-ups with the best-intentioned employees. Putting your policies and procedures down in writing establishes their authority. They become law and keep all employees up to date on their obligations and their rights. Your staff will understand the terrain better, and whenever there is a dispute, the written rules will provide a fair and swift verdict. As a new business owner, you’ll likely need an employee handbook to ensure your team understands your company mission statement, your vision of an ideal workplace, and your goals for your company culture.

That way, there’s less chance of confusion and misunderstanding. When your business expands quickly, it can be hard to stay on top of policy creation and management. Just like the telephone game, we played as kids, new rules heard “through the grapevine” are easily not shared correctly, misinterpreted, and misunderstood. For help writing or revising a company policy, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. https://www.wave-accounting.net/ UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb. If a policy could lead to any legal issues for the company or employees, it should be gone over by a lawyer before it’s ever sent out.

The policy could prohibit users from uploading or downloading certain types of files, harassing others, or leaking company information. Inappropriate behavior is often a source of cyber breaches, making it all the more important to control. Cyber attacks are increasing by 400 percent each year, and data breaches can cost businesses millions of dollars in ransom payments. If you’d like to learn more about conflict of interest policies, read our article Why you need a conflict of interest policy. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, harassment involves unwelcome verbal or physical behavior that is based on the factors above.

• Good workplace safety policies help prevent accidents in your workplace.
• You may not find an exact fit for your company’s circumstances, language, and culture, but you can use these as a starting point.
• For help writing or revising a company policy, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace.
• Workplace policies also set the tone for company culture, communicate expectations to employees, and guide day to day operations.
• Having the beginnings of a company handbook can help you explain to current and future hires what’s special about your company — as the games company Valve have done so well.