Policies for SME's and Startups
Katy Cracknell • September 10, 2020
For many business owners, the thought of writing policies and procedures can be over whelming. With a deluge of information and advice available and more free templates than you can shake a stick at, we’ve simplified the policies you are required to have by law, those that we recommend you have and those that are optional and should be based on your own individual circumstances.
The legal minimums
Let’s start with the legal minimums. UK legislation dictates that you must have the following 3 policies in place:
• Health & safety policy (if you have more than five employees).
• Disciplinary and dismissal policies.
• Grievance policy.
When it comes to considering additional policies, our advice is make sure they are on specific topics and are aligned to your business. As an example, there is no need to have a lengthy Dress Code policy if you have employees that work remotely, or you have a small number of employees. Common sense should be allowed to prevail in these situations!
Beyond the 3 policies above it is up to each business to decide what other policies
they have in place. However, there are some additional policies which we think should be standard within in any business and, in addition to the above, we’d recommend that you also have the following in place:
- Equal opportunities
Although this is not a legal requirement it is best practice to have an Equal Opportunities policy in place (as for starters a tribunal are likely to take a negative view if you don’t have a policy in place and you need to defend yourself against a claim) Having an Equal Opportunities policy will show your intent to employees that you are committed to ensuring fair treatment and preventing discrimination in the workplace.
- Flexible working
With the shift in working habits that we have all experienced during 2020 there is no doubt that we are likely to see an increase in flexible working requests over the next 12 months. If you operate informal flexible working, allowing employees to work from home on a regular basis or to work flexible hours with core working hours throughout the week, then this should be documented so that employees understand how they are able to work.
But remember, the statutory legislation means that employees (who meet the relevant criteria) are able to apply for a permanent change to their terms and conditions if, as an example, they want to reduce their working days from 5 to 4 and this is separate to any informal flexibility that you may offer to employees. To avoid confusion between informal and formal flexible working arrangements you should document how employees can apply for flexible working, what the process is and on what basis you may decline such a request.
- Time off
Although you may think that it’s obvious how to take time off it can become complicated when dealing with situations such as sickness, especially if you are not applying the same rules to all employees. As an example, if you have a situation where 2 employees are absent from work due to sickness and you pay one in the full but not the other you can leave yourself vulnerable to a discrimination claim. To ensure consistency and set expectations it’s best to document your policies and procedures when it comes to holiday, sick absence, compassionate leave and other types of leave (such as parental leave)
- Data processing
The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which have been in place since 2018 and means that you must inform employees of how you will be managing and processing personal their data. To make sure you comply with these requirements we recommend that you put a policy in place which outlines what data you collect, how you will store it, how and when you dispose of it and how an individual can ask to see the records that you hold.
Remember that having policies and procedures in place not only helps employees understand what is expected of them and how you operate but it also helps to protect your brand and your business from painful employee relation issues in the future.
Where possible work with a HR provider
to ensure that you have the essentials covered and to ascertain what other polices are best suited to your individual circumstances. We know that it may seem like an admin heavy activity, but, we’d always recommend that you avoid downloading template policies and instead take the time to get your policies right from day 1.
Need more help?
For our latest, free fact sheet on what policies to consider putting in place in your business, including legal minimums and recommended policies in line with best practice, please provide your details here and we'll send it straight to your inbox.
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