Create a company policy

The term “human resource management policy” refers to a relatively formal and detailed set of rules, regulations, procedures, and practices. An HR policy deals with the methods and systems that are employed in an organisation to handle employee relations.

A COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) policy is important for your business for a number of reasons. Firstly, it will make you aware of what hazards are present in your workplace. This is especially important if the work you do is likely to lead to the exposure of employees to hazardous substances or potential hazards. Secondly, having a COSHH policy will enable you to meet the legislative requirements. Finally — and perhaps most importantly — having a COSHH policy that provides practical advice on how to minimize exposure to any hazards present will keep your employees safe from harm.

An employee wellbeing policy is important because it helps your business to grow and develop in a healthy way. HR/People Ops leaders who create a clear wellbeing policy can attract and retain the best talent more easily, which ultimately impacts the success of your organization. The most successful businesses understand that focusing on the wellbeing of their employees in the long-run, despite short-term deadlines and work demands, is crucial to successful day-to-day operations.

Having a comprehensive health and safety policy for your small business is essential. Health and safety is an ongoing, evolving venture and involves every employee of a company. It takes into account every aspect of the environment in which the company operates, including training, equipment and procedures.

In the world of GDPR, even small businesses can't skip past the importance of creating GDPR-compliant business policies as surprising as that might seem. This small business GDPR policy helps you to think about how you'll protect sensitive data, and allow you to highlight your compliance with GDPR and provide transparency to your users.

An information technology policy is a document, created and maintained by an organisation, which outlines the rules relating to the use of software, hardware, data and other forms of information. These rules are essential to ensure that risks are highlighted and mitigated. Users involved with accessing information technology in your organisation will benefit from clear guidance on how they can minimize the downside risks associated with hardware or data loss. An IT policy may also cover general information regarding handling of laptops, and refer to policies such as hybrid working policies, remote working policies and the idea of "BYOD" or bring your own device. This template will allow you to customise this IT policy to reflect your own business culture and set up, whether you have a physical office premises or you are fully remote.

A UK GDPR privacy policy will also be referred to as an “information security” or “information handling” policy. It's a document that describes the steps your business will take to ensure compliance with the GDPR. In essence, it's a way to communicate how your business protects data and how it will react in cases of a breach. It covers answers to the following issues: What information do you collect? What do you use that information for? How are you storing data and what security measures are in place to keep it safe? Who has access to this data and when? How does your business communicate with clients about data protection and security measures? Issues such as data retention, and data subject access requests may also be referred to. While GDPR is synonymous with EU law, since Brexit the UK's GDPR is slightly different and this policy takes that difference into account. If you are someone that manages personal data belonging to people who live in the United Kingdom, then you need a UK GDPR compliant privacy policy.

An equality policy is important for organisations who provide goods and services to the public, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation and disability. An equality policy could be used as evidence that an organisation is committed to treating all people equally, has an inclusive culture within their business, and does not discriminate against employees or customers in any shape or form.

A security policy is an important document that outlines controls and procedures that need to be in place to protect your business against threats and other incidents. A security policy acts as a guide for you and your staff to follow when it comes to security when running your business. By having a security policy template, you can be sure that everyone is on the same page, both from a communication and from a compliance point-of-view. It should cover everything from securing assets on your premises, physical and digital access management systems, data protection and theft of information as well as data loss and disposal.

In brief, a covid, coronavirus or covid-19 policy is a legal document that provides guidelines for the prevention and handling of possible cases of “covid-19” or related disease-causing viral infection within your premises. It can be considered as a contract between employee and employer to take care of one another, and reduce the risk of spread and contamination.

A fire safety policy template is a vital document to have in place for your organisation. In the event of a fire, such a policy will help you to react quickly and efficiently. This policy template allows you to outline information about your premises and the various actions which should be taken in the event of fire. It also focuses on how you can prevent fires from happening in the first place. As well as this, it should also include information on what to do in case of fire at the workplace. A good policy should concentrate on both real fires and false alarms. Here is a template you can use to draft your own fire safety policy. Some may just refer to this as a fire policy, rather than fire safety policy.

Rather than an IT policy which is a document outlining your organisation's approach to information technology, and information security policy tackles solely the cybersecurity and general security of your IT assets, secure usage of personal devices in the office (BYOD), cloud storage and data handling, permitted software installation and usage. This could also be referred to as an InfoSec policy.

Equality and diversity (E&D) is a legal requirement. All employers, including the public sector, must protect a person's existing rights and prevent discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. This is an ongoing process and it is important to demonstrate you’re taking the issue seriously. The purpose of a policy is to ensure everyone in your organisation agrees to adhere to these standards. An equality and diversity policy gives an outline on how an organisation will protect E&D rights against discrimination, harassment or victimisation.

A refund policy is a written statement which explains when and why you will refund customers for their purchases. A refund policy is a critical part of your business structure, and provide transparency to your customers. It details how you will manage and process returns, handle shipping costs and cite which conditions warrant a refund. With proper planning, your refund policy can be created in just a few minutes. A refund policy will give your customers the confidence they need to buy more of your goods or services. If customers know that they'll get their money back if they don't receive what they've paid for, then they're more likely to buy.

The Modern Slavery Act is a United Kingdom law from 2015 defining slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour, human trafficking and exploitation. There are several reasons why a modern slavery policy is important for your organisation to implement. A modern slavery policy is about embedding best practice human rights through the entire value chain of your organisation in order to raise the bar for every stakeholder across all industries. A modern slavery policy properly implemented can also help to protect your organisation from disrepute and even prosecution. This policy is also a way for your organisation to officially and publicly commit to not using any products or services from industries, suppliers or even countries involved with modern slavery. You can cusotmise this policy to reflect your organisations needs.

A hybrid working policy is important for organisations that want to attract talented employees who want flexibility and control over their working environment. A hybrid working policy is a flexible system in which employees can enjoy various aspects of their work-life balance, such as the ability to work from home two days per week for example. By working within the guidelines of a policy, this type of system can benefit both employer and employee by ensuring that all parties are satisfied with the arrangement. Other examples which are seen as progressive and desirable in a hybrid working policy are offering employees a monthly budget to use more local co-working spaces so they get an office environment without the commute, or working contracted hours over fewer days rather than the typical Monday to Friday.

A key holder policy can help you provide guidance to groups of employees who handle keys to the organisation's facilities and buildings. This policy will help you to keep all your keys accounted for, as well as ensuring that everyone knows what actions to take if a key is lost or stolen.

An IT policy is a document that outlines a company's approach to IT. It can also be referred to as an "information technology policy" or "technology policy." A typical IT policy includes, cybersecurity and general security of your IT assets, secure usage of personal devices in the office (BYOD), cloud storage and data handling, permitted software installation and usage.

This mental health policy aims to outline the values, responsibilities and approach of an organisation with regards to employee mental health. Raising awareness of mental health issues in the workplace gives your employees confidence that you take their mental health and wellbeing seriously.

A recruitment policy can helps your organisation to implement recruitment procedures which help to bring in the most talented people on board. It also ensures best practice recruitment principles are followed and provides guidance for recruitment staff. Inside a recruitment policy you'll also find an outline who might make the hiring decisions, what criteria will be considered when hiring, reasons for hiring and not hiring candidates, and forms and procedures to be used throughout the recruitment process. Even if you have a small organisation a recruitment policy can help you meet government standards and move towards achieving your hiring goals.

A lone worker is anyone working alone regardless of their surroundings. Studies have shown that lone workers can be more at risk of psychological distress and physical injury, particularly when working in the health, education or charity sectors. This lone worker policy template will enable you to put in place the necessary guidance and procedures to protect lone workers. Delivery drivers, estate agents and office cleaners are all typical examples of lone workers, but there are many more.

Menopause is an inevitable and life altering process for women and it will therefore affect the lives of your employees. Many employers are failing to handle these situations appropriately. Step up to the plate and start creating an all inclusive menopause policy with this template.

A working from home policy is an important document for allowing flexibility and freedom in your business. It provides safeguards that protect you, your employees and your company. This working from home policy is a way to organize information such as the procedures, rules and guidelines your organisation has put in place regarding employees and contractors working from home or on the road. As businesses become increasingly online, it may also be a document which outlines your organisation's policies regarding the employment of remote workers.

This whistleblowing policy template makes it clear to employees that your company has a culture of speaking up. It’s important to protect the confidentiality of whistleblowers. Your whistleblowing policy should outline what kind of information can be reported, who employees should report to and in which circumstances and what happens afterwards. Without a whistleblowing policy, your business will struggle to comply with the law. The Employment Rights Act 1996 provides the right for a worker to take a case to an employment tribunal if they have been victimised at work or they have lost their job because they have 'blown the whistle'. A whistleblowing policy can therefore help your organisation to comply with the law and protect your business from legal action.

A training policy helps to ensure that employees receive the necessary training to do their jobs correctly, and improves the overall quality of work performed within an organisation. Although this is especially important for a small business, training policies are useful for larger ones as well. Providing opportunities for staff to development professionally (CPD) is key to maintaining high employee engagement and retentino rates. This training policy template provides a training policy that can be used in any business, and be tailored specifically to you too.

In a world experiencing an urgent climate crisis, your customers and your employees see sustainability as an increasingly important issue. In future, sustainability could become crucial for your business's survival. This clear sustainability policy template will allow you to set goals and track your progress, as your business takes steps towards being a more environmentally conscious business.This sustainability policy will become a written statement of your company's values, priorities and intents regarding issues like environmental, social, and/or governance (ESG) standards and regulations, as well as more optional environmental conservation. Your stance on these topics may impact your ability to procure investment or deal with certain stakeholders who uphold high ESG standards for their business dealings.

Businesses are increasingly investing time into the world of social media marketing, employee advocacy and social media management, while others still shy away from it. However, no business can afford to completely ignore the potential of social media marketing, or the damage a negative event on social media can cause to your organisation's image and brand. As such, having a social media policy is now an absolute necessity for every business out there. This template guides you through the areas you can customise to your specific organisation in order to regulate and restricts employee's usage of social media. For example, although sharing vacation photos from last week’s trip or linking to an article that you read is not problematic, disclosing confidential information your organisation wouldn’t want to share or posting abusive comments on competitor pages could have dire consequences for your organisation's professional image. Everyone at work should understand what is acceptable behavior on social platforms and what isn’t.

This small business privacy policy template is your guide to lawful and ethical data management. A privacy policy is essential for small businesses that operate online and want to build trust with their customers. Regardless of how small your business is a privacy policy is a mandatory requirement of the UK & EU's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). A privacy policy also benefits your organisation in case there is ever a complaint or a dispute pertaining to personal data. It can also help you build trust with website visitors, users and customers and it can help you to demonstrate transparency.

A sickness policy can help you to offer consistent support for all sick employees with centralised guidelines, rules and procedures. As well as outlining the in-house social support systems available to an employee should they become sick, a sickness policy can cover what your employees may need to do if they become infected with Covid-19. Regardless of the illness you may want them to work from home so as not to risk the illness being transferred to other employees in the workfplace. Your sickness policy may also help to reassure an employee of their rights, including under which conditions they will still receive their income if and when they become sick. As well as reassuring your team, a sickness policy can help you make sure your company is legally compliant on issues relating to sickness.

A safeguarding policy is an essential piece of documentation for any organisation that works with children, young people or vulnerable adults. It should cover the following issues: DBS checks, whistleblowing, staff code of conduct, bullying, harassment and victimisation, discrimination, health, safety and welfare, and perhaps off-site inspections (depending on your type of business) your business has a duty of care to both employees and customers. A safeguarding policy allows you to build trust and confidence in your brand and services as it provides evidence of your commitment to preventing harm and abuse. It also helps reduce the organisation's risk of prosecution, regulation or litigation and it prevents any confusion about what is expected from everyone who works for your business.

A returns policy is tells your customers what your business returns procedures, terms and conditions are and therefore what you will do if they return a product. Having a solid returns policy for your business will set expectations for your customers and also protect your business from potential complaints and possible disputes in extreme cases.

Your organisation (this could be a for-profit business or a charity) should have a written explanation of how and when to use cash reserves including your savings target, contribution schedule, and policy statement. A well written reserves policy will protect your organisation against drops in income and allow it to take advantage of new opportunities. Reserves can be spent on any of your organisations core aims but could also include a break down of what percentage will go toward different categories, such as taxes and new equipment. Ultimately, a good reserve policy will prepare your organisation and the board for rainy days.

A health and safety policy template is a set of guidelines that outline how a company will promote the safety, welfare and physical well-being of all employees, contractors and other workers. Although most businesses are required to have a strategy in place regarding the health and safety of their employees, there is currently no universal standard for exactly what should be included in the document.However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does provide employers with a set of guidelines to follow when formalizing their policies. In line with those guidelines, this template helps your organisation to 1. commit to providing a safe and healthy working environment 2. Carry out periodic risk assessments in order to identify potential hazards and develop appropriate safety measures, 3.Have an emergency plan in place and 4. Ensure employees understand all health and safety practicesAlthough specific details may vary based on your business, following this template and these basic guidelines will help you to create an effective health and safety policy in minutes.

A flexible working policy template is a tool that can be used by a business to outline all of their flexible working options for the staff. As different businesses have different needs and requirements, it's important to create your own flexible working policy from a template tailored to you, rather than just copying someone else's.Note: You should also include information on employee rights regarding this policy.

A good expense policy covers employees and managers responsibilities, as well as guidance around which expenses will and will not be reimbursed (e.g. subsistence, hotels, phone, internet, air rail and taxi travel, entertainment and client meetings). They also touch on key elements of anti bribery, fraud and corruption policies.

An ethics policy acts as a guideline on ethical standards for an organisation's employees and contractors to follow. Typically they stipulate doing the right thing and behave at a high standard at all times. They help organisations to align on values and demonstrate integrity to the organisation's stakeholders.

A disciplinary policy outlines the guidelines for expected conduct by an employee. It can also help to protect you and your organisation from allegations of wrongful termination. Disciplinary steps tend to involve formal letters, meetings, decisions and appeal processes

A data retention policy will help you keep track of how long information should be kept, and why. It should also outline the purposes for processing personal data.

A data protection policy sets out how your organisation protects data, specifically personally identifiable information (PII) as per the UK and EU's GDPR.

Used to outline your organisation's cyber security strategy, a cyber security policy can set out the security standards for business activities for which a part or all if it is carried out online. It can also be written in terms of the assets which need to be protected against cyber security threats.

A conflict of interest policy outlines the handling potential and actual conflicts of interest which could come about during the course of your business activities. They may also include details about the disciplinary actions which will be taken if a party to the contract is found to have violated the policy.

A complaints policy outlines a formal complaints procedure for customers and clients. As part of this it will explain how complaints can be formatted, where they should be sent, and most importantly how you will aim to resolve their issues.

CCTV in the workplace and in public areas follow different rules to when you install CCTV in your own home for household purposes. This policy explains why and where CCTV is recorded, who can see recordings, and how an individual can request images that have been recorded of them (and when this right expires).

If you host events or manage client bookings and appointments in any way, then you'll likely need to have a cancellation policy. Cancellation policies can be anywhere from strict to lenient, and can also take into account mitigating circumstances. Some clients may directly read your cancellation policy before weighing up if they need to cancel on you, so it's worth publishing after you complete this template.

If you are an organisation with employees who use their personal devices for work purposes then you need to be thinking about implementing a Bring your own device or BYOD policy. This template will also help you to consider the security measures you may need to implement to mitigate the various cyber security risks to your organisation.

Money laundering can be defined as acting to conceal or disguise the origin of illegaly acquired funds so they appear to have originated legally. This anti money laundering template can help your firm to establish an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Program.

Designed to be compliant with the Equality Act 2010, this anti bullying policy is good practice for all organisations. It covers how you will provide an environment free from bullying and harassment. It covers all levels of staff including agency and contract workers. Breaches of this policy can be handled informally with the protagonist, discussed with your line manager or could be managed as part of your existing grievance or disciplinary policies.

Implementing this anti-bribery policy can help prevent illegal and unethical business practices from occuring within your business.

An anti bribery and corruption policy sets out how your business will be run in an honest and ethical way. In the UK, there is criminal law relating to bribery called the Anti-Bribery act of 2010.

Access control policies set out the controls which are put in place to limit groups of stakeholders to certain levels of access to sensitive information. For example, preventing all employees from accessing personal information of users that they do not need in order to do their job.

An acceptable use policy is simply a contractual agreement between the provider and user of a service. They stipulate the guidelines that a user must agree to before they gain access to something. This might be a internet service provider's bandwidth, such as downloading no more data than allowed to within a month. It may also relate to what you do with the information you have access to once you enter a gated area such as a database, social network or directory. If you have a clear acceptable use policy, then you are able to put forward specific criteria for when users who voilate your policy can be removed.