Get your Employment agreements and workplace policies whipped into shape.
Employment agreements and policies are not just documents for documents’ sake. We promise!
If the paperwork that supports your business operations seems excessive and irrelevant, it’s because it’s not being done properly. Employment agreements and company policies are crucial building blocks of your culture and HR operations, setting both you and your teams up for success.
What are Employment Agreements and policies?
Employment agreements
Individual or collective employment agreements include the terms and conditions of employment; each employee must have one that is signed by both parties. Most employees will be offered individual agreements unless they are in a unionised role where a collective or fair pay agreement exists.
A well-written and comprehensive employment agreement is an asset. It removes confusion, clarifying expectations on both sides of the relationship.
Company or workplace policies
Policies are a crucial tool for your operations. They communicate rules and expectations to all parties in a way that is clear, static, and does not require individual, repetitive conversations with each person.
They cover a range of areas which could include (but are certainly not limited to):
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Attendance and leave
- Privacy & Confidentiality
- Training & Development
- Performance management
- Overtime
- Remote work
Essentially, a policy is a document that you can refer employees to which will tell them “how we do things round here.”
As individual employment agreements are tailored to individuals and roles, policies should be tailored to your unique workplace. Cookie-cutter policies can miss the mark in two opposite ways: they might be too generalised and not contain anything specific enough to be helpful, or might include specifics that are not relevant to your business operations.
Why do I need both?
Employment agreements and policies should complement each other to create a framework of expectations for both the employees and employers. Rather than including the full list of expectations in an EA—something that would make these a lengthy and complicated document—you can refer to policies that are in place. While EAs are static documents, policies can be living. This allows flexibility in your frameworks. It permits changes to be made in line with organisational practices and in response to situations as they arise.
An EA defines and specifies the work that needs to be done, and the obligations of both employer and employee. The policies specify how the work should be done.
Risks: what do you stand to lose?
A workplace without clear policies in place is more prone to miscommunication, lost productivity, and legal liability. Employees who are not sure how to handle a situation or complete a task will spend more time than necessary trying to find out—alternatively, they will do it wrong and spend time fixing the avoidable error.
Failing to put policies in place for things like safety, compliance, and reporting/handling grievances leaves you more open to legal complications. Additionally, if something does happen, the fact that there was a well-publicised and readily available policy in place and it was ignored can reduce your legal liability. It demonstrates that you made an effort to provide a safe, compliant, professional workplace.
The benefits of good agreements and policies
Paperwork for paperwork’s sake is not what is on the table here. The benefits of having clear and comprehensive employee agreements and policies in place are tangible and real.
Here’s the list, and these are some big hitters:
- Clear expectations and guidelines as set out in EAs and policies reduce confusion and mistakes. Knowing what is expected on both sides improves efficiency and productivity—there’s less room for miscommunication
- A common framework for conduct and behaviour, as set out by company policies, should reduce conflict and disruption in your teams.
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Clear policies and agreements are a risk reduction measure! By outlining procedures for handling issues such as harassment and discrimination, organisations can protect themselves against potential legal claims and associated costs. This study conducted at a California medical center demonstrated how adding and changing evidence-based safety policies in the workplace reduced injury claims by 59%.
- Workplace policies and solid EAs make it easier for new hires to transition smoothly and cut some hassle out of the onboarding process. It’s all there to refer to, removing ambiguity at the start of a working relationship.
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Having solid policies in place and a clear outline of responsibilities can give employees more autonomy; with a solid foundation of expectations and guidelines in place they may feel equipped to take initiative. This Stats NZ survey of working life found that of employees with a higher degree of autonomy, 41% were very satisfied with their job compared to 27% of those with low levels of autonomy.
Take action—what you can do
The first step towards creating or improving your policies and agreements is to review what you already have. Take a look at the list we included above of areas that should be covered in workplace policies, and determine whether you have those in place. Ensure that any policies you do have are compliant with any relevant legislation, such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
Consider the goals and plans you have for your business, including what you want to improve on last year. Create strong policies that will empower your people to make progress towards those goals.
It might be tempting to use a generic policy or template, bang in some of your company’s specific details, and call it a day. However, taking this approach will mean missing out on many of the benefits outlined in the previous sections plus countless opportunities to improve and streamline your operations to increase productivity and therefore profitability. Time spent writing thoughtful, specific, forward-thinking policies is a great investment for your business.
TL;DR—What You Need To KNOW
If reading a whole article is not on your agenda, take heed—here’s what you need to do to make sure your business has the necessary frameworks in place.
- Collate your existing EAs and policies, or any workplace instructions you have for review, check for:
- If they reflect the current legislation (ie HSWA 2015 vs Health & Safety in Employment Act 1992)
- If they state instructions about workplace specifics or routines, are they current? (ie clear the blue tray by the red door every Wednesday at 9 am: do you have a blue tray? Does this occur realistically this often and at this time? By who?) - Not sure if you need or want a policy? Consider making a quick list of what goes well, or doesn't go well. How can you write a simple outline to preserve or prevent this?
- Just like this article, consider your audience! Will they read in detail, or is it more practical (and ultimately safer if it’s relating to a risk) to note simple steps or key points, even to start with?
- Always note that it’s not always what you write, but how you implement that is important. If it's new or changing, who is impacted that should have the opportunity to input? What does this impact look like? Risk or benefit? And based on this, what is the best way to communicate or proceed?
- Stuck? Ring us!
Need help?
How are your policies looking? Are they contributing to a strong workplace culture, minimising risk in your workplace, and creating a framework—in conjunction with EAs—that empowers your people and reduces confusion and conflict?
It’s a tall order, but your policies can do that for you. If you need help creating EAs and policies that work for your unique workplace, please get in touch with Emendas. It’s our job to create better business and empower companies to make their own success. We can conduct a review of your organisation's existing policies and agreements to identify any gaps or areas for improvement, then work with your leadership to develop a comprehensive policy suite and create clear, customised employment agreements. These should align with the organisation's values, culture, and legal obligations.
We know the importance of having systems and processes adapted to your unique business operations. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to keeping people safe and happy at work. Whether you need a better idea of what needs to be done for improvement or help putting your ideas into action, we’d love to help!