What HR policies do I need by UK Law?

As a busy business owner tasks can slip down the to-do list when you’re busy building your business. HR isn’t a nice-to-have ‘extra’ – employment law applies to every business, regardless of its size, or the number of years trading and non-compliance risks your business facing serious legal action.

Now I’ve got the scary bit out of the way…….there are huge benefits of having legally-compliant written policies and processes in place for your business. It can make life so much easier when a people query or issue comes up, as you know exactly where to go for guidance rather than being on the back foot.

What must I have?

You can download free policies from somewhere you’ve never heard of on the internet, but to meet UK requirements, this could lead you into hot water if they don’t meet your needs as a business. Your people policies need to reflect your individual business needs and be up-to-date with current employment law. It is always worth reviewing following updates in April and October. 

At the moment the three policies you need to have in place to be compliant are:

• Health and Safety Policy (for any organisation with five or more employees)
• Disciplinary or Dismissal Policy
• Grievance Policy

Do I need an Employee Handbook?

It’s not a legal requirement, but it is good practice. Your handbook can reflect your company values, and you can make your people policies reflect the kind of culture you want to build within the business; you might want a policy on mental health support, or on hybrid working or buy and selling annual leave.

Your employee handbook helps your employees understand what’s expected of them, and having this in writing gives you greater protection should you need to handle a grievance or disciplinary.

A new staff member?

It’s critical that you work through each stage of recruitment carefully to make sure you stay compliant and are fair to prospective candidates. You need to think about

• Your shortlisting and interview process and questions
• Check Right to Work documentation (you should have a copy of this for all employees) and seek references
• Have detailed offer letters, legally compliant contracts ready and an onboarding process in place

The Employment Contract

It needs to cover:

• Start date
• Job title
• Hours and pattern of work
• Employee compensation
• Confidentiality
• Intellectual property
• Termination of employment
• Details of probationary periods
• Training to be provided
• Pension scheme

Getting the wording of your contract right is crucial, especially if there is a dispute further down the line.

Having an HR professional draft your contracts will give you the peace of mind that you’re protected against legal action. If you would like to discuss any aspects of this blog please email me today.