Does your organization need a policy manual? Yes and no. While there is no legislated requirement for organizations in Canada to have an employee policy manual, they are a very important document for the following reasons:

Legislative Compliance

It can vary slightly by jurisdiction, but generally, occupational health and safety legislation such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that organizations have for example, a policy on harassment in the workplace. Other policies that are required to be in place might include the right of employees to disconnect from work, policies regarding pay equity or accessibility. Not having these legislatively-required policies in place will probably result in your organization falling afoul of regulatory officers eventually, so it is important to not only have them but to keep them updated as legislation evolves.

Expectation Setting

One of the biggest advantages of having an employee policy manual is that is manages expectations between employees and the employer. What are the “rules of engagement”, so to say. What is and what is not expected of employees? What is the company’s code of conduct? How much time off are employees entitled to and how are they to go about requesting leave? How is compensation handled? Are uniforms provided? Giving employees and managers clarity on various aspects of the workplace, be they broad expectations or the more specific details, establishes standards of how the employer and the employee will interact from a policy perspective. Having an employee policy manual may also help insulate your organization from claims or disputes arising from the inconsistent application of company standards (often by well-intentioned supervisors or managers). Ensuring your employee policy manual is well-written is also key. If for example, the company policy states that staff will be provided with a yearly clothing allowance, can Bob in Accounting put in for the boots he recently bought or was the policy intended to cover only employees working at job sites? Is your policy worded tightly enough to eliminate any ambiguity about who is entitled to what?

Onboarding and Education

New employees understandably have questions–sometimes a lot of them. A comprehensive, well-structured and well-written employee policy manual should walk new hires through all the essentials of their new workplace. An employee policy manual can be incorporated into your HR information system (HRIS) and be sent out to new employees automatically. Verification of having read the document can also requested of the employee, allowing them to “micro-commit” to its contents. Having employees acknowledge review of the document can also save managers time when getting employees up to speed and reduce possible disputes later arising from the classic, “well, nobody told me!” In addition to assisting with onboarding, keeping your employee policy manual up to date as legislation evolves can also serve as an education tool for all employees, including managers. Is there a new form of leave for example, that may need to be granted in certain situations because of a change in legislation? Updating your manual and communicating the change through your employee base will be an important first step to changing practices inside your organization.

At resolveHR, we’ve developed countless employee policy manuals across a range of industries. But we just don’t write policy, we work with you to help you understand when and why to write it. Depending on your organization, industry, culture and management style, it may be preferable for certain organizations to write extensive policy around a certain issue and others to remain silent on it. There is no “one-size-fits-all”. Give us a shout, we’ll help get you sorted.