Table of Contents
- What Are Workplace Policies?
- Differences Between Workplace Policies and Employment Agreements
- When Should New Employees Accept Workplace Policies?
- How Should New Employees Accept Workplace Policies?
- How Should Existing Employees Accept and Access Workplace Policies?
- How Often Should I Update Workplace Policies?
- Key Takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions
Workplace policies can be a valuable tool to communicate with employees and reduce legal liability effectively. You must ensure employees know, understand and agree to comply with your workplace policies. Otherwise, you could face legal disputes ranging from workplace injuries to bullying and harassment claims. Hence, this article sets out:
- what workplace policies are;
- differences with an employment contract; and
- when and how new and existing employees should accept and access them.
What Are Workplace Policies?
In short, policies are written directions from the employer to workers, which include contractors and volunteers. As an employer, you are entitled to make lawful and reasonable directions to employees verbally or in writing, including using policies.
Ultimately, workplace policies are helpful as a way to efficiently communicate necessary items to your employees without having to direct each employee individually. There are two types of policies, including:
- operations policies; and
- core policies.
Operations Policies
Operational policies speak to any business matters you wish to communicate efficiently. These may include policies relating to:
- parental leave;
- expenses; or
- company car usage.
Core Policies
Core policies may speak to your legal liability by demonstrating that you took reasonable steps to prevent certain conduct you are otherwise vicariously liable for. Such conduct could include:
- bullying;
- harassment; and
- conduct which would put workers’ work health and safety at risk.
The core recommended policies are:
- a work health safety (WHS) policy;
- an anti-discrimination harassment and bullying (ADHB) policy; and
- an information technology (IT) policy.
Differences Between Workplace Policies and Employment Agreements
An employment agreement includes the terms of the employment between you as the employer and the employee. It includes essential items such as:
- intellectual property;
- confidentiality;
- probation;
- termination, including the notice period; and
- specifics of the engagement, such as remuneration, duties and hours of work.
By contrast, policies are not an agreement but written directions from you to the employee. They can vary at any time as long as changes are meaningfully communicated to employees. It is best not to include promissory language or create unnecessary obligations on the employer in the policies.
Continue reading this article below the formWhen Should New Employees Accept Workplace Policies?
On that basis, employment agreements should be separate from policies and should not incorporate policies. If your employment agreement attaches policies, this has the potential to expose you to breach of contract claims where the employer breaches the policy.
Although employers may like to issue policies along with the employment contract as a starter pack, that can risk the policies forming part of the contract. The best practice approach is to issue policies and contracts at different times. For example, a good approach would be to issue the contract before the employee starts work and then provide the policies on commencement.
How Should New Employees Accept Workplace Policies?
You can provide your policies to new employees in hard copy or over email on commencement. You should require them to read and respond in writing that they have read, understood and will comply with the policies. They can complete this by signing a declaration at the end of the policies or confirming via email.
How Should Existing Employees Accept and Access Workplace Policies?
You should maintain your policies in one easy-to-find place. This is typically on your company intranet page. In addition, you should regularly send them to employees to receive confirmation in writing that they will comply with the policies.
In some circumstances, you might need to do more than just seek confirmation from your employee. For example, for a construction business, you may wish to undertake regular training on employees’ WHS obligations, including concerning your WHS policy. In addition, if you have recently investigated workplace harassment, you may also wish to respond by undertaking training on workplace harassment, including your ADHB policy.
How Often Should I Update Workplace Policies?
There is no hard-and-fast rule regarding how often you should review your policies. For example, it may be in response to changes to the law or if something changes in the business that could affect a part of the business. For example, a new piece of machinery may be relevant to a work health and safety policy.
Nevertheless, for new policies or changes, you should send a business-wide email updating employees and require them to read the new or amended policies and agree in writing to comply with them.
As an employer, understand your essential employment obligations with this free LegalVision factsheet.
Key Takeaways
As an employer, workplace policies can be essential to manage and discipline employees and reduce liability. It is vital to ensure you communicate these policies to your employees and keep the policies distinct from the employment agreement. You should also maintain easy access to the policies, regularly communicate existing policies and update employees on policy changes.
If you need help writing your policies, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Workplace policies are written directions from the employer to employees (and other workers such as contractors and volunteers). As an employer, you are entitled to make lawful and reasonable directions to employees verbally or in writing, including using policies.
You can provide your policies to employees in hard copy or over email. You should require them to read and respond in writing that they have read, understood and will comply with the policies. They can complete this by signing a declaration at the end of the policies or confirming via email.
An employment agreement can only be varied by written agreement and should not create unnecessary obligations on the employer to avoid breaching the agreement. By contrast, policies are not an agreement but written directions from you to the employee. They can vary at any time as long as changes are meaningfully communicated to employees. It is best not to include promissory language or create unnecessary obligations on the employer in the policies.
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