Article No.3 - Most Essential HR Policies which needs to be established within an Organization

Essential HR Policy Bundle for Every Organization should established

No matter the size, space, or culture of organization, there are some HR policies and procedures that are universal in ensuring employee health, safety, and happiness. Therefore, we need to make sure you cover these policies in your HR materials, and you should be fine. Also, it’s important that you make these policies easily accessible for everyone in the form of a digital handbook. Here are 20 essential HR policies and procedures for your organization:

1. Anti-Harassment and Non-Discrimination

Rules about discrimination and harassment are absolutely essential, especially in the current context. Your HR materials should clearly stamp out any tolerance of harassment, hate speech, and discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, physical/mental disability, sexual orientation, religion, or any other factors.

If an employee feels that they have been targeted by another employee or client, your HR materials should clearly outline the procedure for reporting the issue, tackling the problem, and getting everything resolved. It’s essential that you give harassed employees a way to document and process the problem. Check out these top employee policies that should be in your employee handbook to ensure a safe and comfortable workplace for all employees. Whatever the issue, your harassed or discriminated-against employee needs to have the tools to tackle it. You might wish to outline the various types of harassment an employee may come across, as well as what may or may not constitute harassment. It may also be worth explaining the grey areas of sexual harassment, such as the difference between Hostile Work Environment and Quid Pro Quo.

2. Recruitment Policy

Your recruitment policy basically outlines the way in which your company selects new hires and vets different potential employees. While things can always slightly vary depending on the job role and the candidates applying, it's good to have a recruitment policy that serves as a guideline for those team members working in recruitment. For example, this policy should include information like terms of recruitment, sources of recruitment, placing agent guidelines, payment terms for placing agents, the candidate selection process, how contracts are drawn up, and much more. A solid recruitment policy gives your team a strong vision of how to hire for your organization.

3. Leave and time off benefits

Depending on your country and/or state, your entitlements to time off will be different. For example, US workers are legally entitled to 2 weeks paid vacation every year, while UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday every year. However, your organization may decide to offer slightly more annual leave than the legal minimum as a way to entice potential talent. If this is the case, you must clearly state how much annual leave your employees are entitled to and whether it is paid, unpaid, or partially paid. Many sectors also offer jobs with flexible working hours and work days, so be sure to outline how the time off and annual leave operates for workers in this type of system.

4. Workplace break policy (Meal and break periods)

If you re working in a traditional office building (or even remotely for some roles) then you need to define strict times for lunchtime and breaks. You might also have rules around these periods, such as no eating in the office which should be spelled out and adhered to. If you have got employees who smoke, you might also want to outline your policy on smoking breaks if you allow them. Remember to try and compensate for your employees who are non-smokers to make sure that everyone is getting a fair amount of break time.. whatever their smoking habits may be.

5. Employee Conduct Policy

Employee conduct policies are pretty much common sense rules that demonstrate how someone can act in a polite, professional manner while in their role. Most professionals will consider this to be common sense, but it's important to have it all down in writing just to be on the safe side. A sample of an employee conduct policy would be something like this: Every employee is expected to act in a professional, responsible, and courteous manner at all times. An employee’s conduct is not made acceptable solely because the employee believes it to be.

6. Employee Safety Policy

Employee safety policies vary greatly depending on your organization and the kind of work it carries out. The employee safety policy of a factory would be very different from that of a travel agency, for example. Your employee safety policy should cover everything there is to know about health and safety in your workplace, such as your employees rights, the correct PPE, reporting hazards, complying with rules, health insurance coverage they may be entitled to and more.

7. Social Media Policy

It s become necessary in the modern age to have social media policies that make it clear what your employees can and cannot do online. For example, you need to highlight whether you think it s acceptable to post unruly or lewd photos online, especially if they can be traced back to your company as an employer. You should also have strict rules regarding posts about the workplace – it s not uncommon for disgruntled employees to get fired about complaining about their job/boss/employer publicly on Twitter or Facebook. Essentially, whether you re using social media in a personal or professional capacity, you should be careful to not sully the brand name of the company that employs you. You partially represent that brand on the internet, so you need to act responsibly so as to make both you and the brand look good and professional at all times. It's common sense, but anything too racy, offensive, or unprofessional is a no-no. Be clear about what is and is not okay.

8. Privacy Policy

Like your customers, your employees have a right to privacy. Essentially, this policy tells your employees what you do with their information and data, assuring them that their confidential information is kept just that – confidential. They have a right to it! Your privacy policy should document how your employees data is handled, including what happens to it if they leave the organization. In the wake of tighter data privacy laws and restrictions like GDPR, it s essential to make sure your privacy policy is up to scratch.

9. Disciplinary and Termination Policies

Different organizations have different policies for disciplining and terminating employees who have made mistakes or poor judgements. Some companies will terminate employees as soon as they make a big mistake, whereas others have a three-strike system where they give employees 2 warnings before a final termination. Depending on your country/state, termination laws can be different, so be sure to check the legal requirements in your region before settling on your disciplinary policies. Be sure to include information about warnings, strikes, suspension, and any offences that will result in an immediate termination. Well, there we have it! These 9 HR policies and procedures are essential for every single workplace, so hopefully this list gave you some things to think about as you draw up your HR materials for future and existing employees at your organization.

10. Employment Classifications

In organizations' employees are classified as exempt or non-exempt and full-time or part-time. Employees will be advised of their employee classification at the time of hire (e.g. via their offer letter) or at the time of promotion or transfer if any change in their current position occurs. Because most employees are hired for an unspecified duration, assignment to any classification does not guarantee employment for any specific length of time. Regardless of classification, employment is at will.

All employees are classified as non-exempt or exempt according to the following definitions: 

*. Non-Exempt: Full-time or part-time employees who are subject to the payment of daily and weekly overtime as required by government law based on job responsibilities and duties

*.Exempt: Full-time and part-time employees who are exempt from overtime provisions of government laws due to job duties and responsibilities that meet the exemption criteria established under the government acts.

Furthermore, employees may be classified as Regular Full-Time (RFT) or Regular Part-Time (RPT):

*. Regular Full-Time (RFT): Employees who are regularly scheduled for 30 hours or more of work per week.

*. Regular Part-Time (RPT): Employees who are regularly scheduled for less than 30 hours per work week.

11. Company Property Policy

To minimize lost of equipment, employees need to sign for receipt of company property. It Provide rules for the use, maintenance, safety & handover of equipment, especially computers and phones.

12. Workplace Attire Policy

Employer may not want to regulate employee clothing, but it’s difficult to safely address inappropriate clothes without an existing policy to reference. Avoid relying on ambiguous terms like “business casual” and include specific exceptions for social employee events and casual Fridays. Some industries will need to emphasize safety requirements and equipment. 

13. Business Expenses Policy

Whether employees are traveling or equipping a home office, Business expenses policy defines how employees can request reimbursement for expenses. Also it Provides examples and guidelines for which expenses can and cannot be covered by the company. For transparency and to limit the excess paperwork, it includes the maximum reimbursement amounts.

14. Accommodations Policy

Check out the government guidelines that apply to your industry. In most cases, you’re required to make reasonable accommodations for anyone with disabilities or sincere religious beliefs.

For example, a female Muslim employee’s headscarf might technically violate your dress code, and it would be reasonable for you to simply make an exception. On the other hand, if the employee operates machinery where a loose headscarf would create a safety hazard, then you may have to work with employees to find a mutually acceptable compromise. 

15. Performance Review Policy

Every employee expects a performance review. Therefore, every organization should have a defined policy for this aspect as well.  Because it describes your evaluation process, performance metrics and any incentives for stellar work. 

16. Remote Work Policy

When an organization develops a long term remote work plan expecting a hybrid office to be more flexible, include an overview with other HR policies & need to establish the Remote work policy. It will illustrates How to handle company equipment and email response times. This will help to set up clear guidelines related to the remote work arrangement to the employees and the employer.

Importantly, there are significant WHS risks associated with the failure to have and properly implement a working from home policy. Employees may suffer physical and psychological injury without proper remote working arrangements, which can in turn affect their productivity. There may also be an increased likelihood that employees will misuse company property.

17. Drug and Alcohol Policy

Explain your policies for testing job applicants and employees. Drivers may have mandatory testing after an accident. Most companies will have rules against bringing drugs and alcohol onto company property. Include an overview of the disciplinary consequences for testing positive or bringing banned substances to the office.

18. Weapons in the Workplace Policy

Plan ahead to prevent violent and threatening behavior. Taking government laws into consideration, you may choose to ban all weapons in the workplace. Define which types of items would be considered weapons. Give examples of disciplinary measures for responding to incidents.

19. Non-Compete Agreements Policy

It’s hard to enforce confidentiality agreements if ex-employees go to work for the competition. Usually lasting from six months to two years, non-compete agreements keep former employees from immediately working for your direct competition.

20. Office Relationships Policy

How will you handle office relationships? What if relationships develop between managers and their subordinates? Define what constitutes a consensual relationship and how it differs from harassment. Use a relationship disclosure statement to protect the company and clarify your expectations about appropriate behavior.

List of References

HR ASSURED Smarter Workplace Solutions (2023) 12 HR policies all businesses should have. [Online] Available at: https://www.hrassured.com.au/blog/hr-policies-for-small-businesses/. [Accessed on 21st of August 2023].

myUSF (2023) Employee Classifications. [Online] Available at: https://myusf.usfca.edu/human-resources/policies-procedures/employee-classifications. [Accessed on 21st of August 2023].

NETCHEX (2022) 20 Essential HR Policies Every Company Must Cover. [Online] Available at: https://netchex.com/20-essential-hr-policies-every-company-must-cover/. [Accessed on 21st of August 2023].

AirMason, Employee Handbook Checklists (2020) 9 Types of HR Policies and Procedures Every Workplace Must Have. [Online] Available at: https://blog.airmason.com/types-of-hr-policies-procedures-workplace/. [Accessed on 20th of August 2023].