Small Business Policy Template

The company's policies cover everything from employees' behavior to payroll and confidentiality. Some of them are imposed by labor regulations. Others state the company's values and principles. Others provide procedures for solving conflicts, increasing employees' satisfaction, and enhancing work relations. You can choose to write a single long document covering all the company's policies or writing a separate document for each of them. Also, it's important to update the documents and communicate changes to the employees regularly.

The company's policy can act as a legal document. Ensure your document respects the labor legislation and has the legal department's approval or upper management. The document should be dated and signed.

Before composing the company's policy document, you need to understand why it's necessary and what problems it solves. It has to be consistent and easy to understand and to ensure compliance with organizational values. Structure the information, define terms and concepts if necessary, and explain very well the role and responsibilities of the parties. Include the following:

1. Information about the policy – The document should include relevant data such as the policy's name, the name and contact data of the person who wrote it, and the effective date.
2. The purpose of the policy – Make very clear from the beginning the groups of employees affected by the policy. It may be just for a small group of employees or for all of them. Also, state the purpose of the policy. It should be evident if the policy has legal value or is an intern set of guidelines.
3. The description of the policy – Each company's policy should be described in detail. Mention everything, starting with the severity of the policy and ending with the consequences of not following the policy. Use standard language and avoid any misinterpretations and misleading. Within the document, detailed procedures, supervising methods, internal rules, and anything can help the employee comply with the policy.
4. Signatures – Make sure the document is approved by upper management and/or the legal department.

If you want a paperless office and your employees' well-organized records, we recommend you consider LeaveBoard. Using our employee self-service, the employees can access their work records, leave balance, and company policies. You can update the policies fast and efficiently, request approval from the management or legal department, and notify all affected employees at once. Sounds good? That's more! LeaveBoard is entirely free for businesses with less than nine employees.

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Download the Small Business Policy Template

Tip: If you're looking for more specific ways to complete your leave section within the company policy document, take a look at how Gitlab or the team at Remotecom does it. Their Handbooks are public and are very nice reads.