Along with the gradual loosening of lockdown restrictions comes hope for a brighter future.
This makes now an ideal opportunity for your organisation to look back over the upheaval of the past 12 months, translating the lessons you’ve learned into freshly updated employment policies.
You should look to ensure that your policies not only reflect any changed employment practices, such as home or remote working, but also that they take account of updated legislation and future plans.
Here are some key questions to consider as you review your policies.
Do your existing policies need to be adjusted for new ways of working?
While you may have a dedicated policy in place for remote working, your recruitment, training, and grievance and disciplinary policies may also need to be changed in accordance with the new procedures.
What new policy matters have arisen over the past 12 months?
If your staff are mostly working from home, it could be that you will need to introduce specific policies for related issues, such as cyber security, remote working risk assessments, and data protection.
Flexible working and mental health have been taking centre-stage recently, and with good reason. If issues like these are not adequately covered by your existing policies, they should be incorporated into your review.
What elements should you consider including for the future?
As far as possible, how will you future-proof your employment policies?
Think about upcoming employment legislation and the plans you’ve made for your business, as well as any residual impact from government guidelines.
Whatever the outcome of your policy review, make sure you clearly communicate any changes to your employees, seeking the appropriate consultation where necessary.
If you have any questions, or would like further advice about how to review and amend your employment policies, please get in touch.
