sample policies

Introduction
Policies: Your Protection
and Guide
Policies are guidelines. Like routes on a map, they mark the way
through a given terrain—in this case, through the rules, standards
and benefits an organization sets for all its employees and
managers.
Employee policies save members of the organization time by offering ready answers
to questions about acceptable procedures, standards and on-the-job behavior. They
safeguard the company from ill will, regulatory hassles and lawsuits by helping ensure
that personnel decisions are consistent and lawful. In the event that an employee or exemployee
takes the organization to court—and data show employment litigation has
increased by more than 2,000 percent in the last 25 years—company policies can also
form the bulwark of an effective defense.
Policies are simply management’s choices about how the company will operate and
what it expects of its people. Are employees expected to live up to any particular ethical
standard Is their performance formally appraised Do they get rest breaks, paid or
unpaid holidays and vacation days, personal days, and time off for jury duty or religious
observances Can they be fired at will or only for cause Are they allowed to
telecommute, moonlight or work on flexible schedules Are job openings posted Are
applicants tested for skills, honesty or drugs
Put It in Writing
Those are just a few of the myriad questions that arise as an organization builds its
work force. Every company in its own way develops answers to them. Whether or not
management consciously weighs its choices and formally communicates them to
employees, over time it will develop a set of policies through its ongoing decision making.
Thus, policies exist no matter whether management chooses to write them down.
But even though policies need not be written, there are many persuasive reasons for
documenting them:
1