HR policies for the modern workplace

Elise O’Halloran, solicitor at Tavendale and Partners, outlines her recommendations for essential HR policies and asks whether there are any ‘new’ and innovative ways we could consider implementing policies in the modern workplace.

As all business leaders, HR managers and people leaders will know, the world of work is rapidly changing. Many of these workplace changes have accelerated into existence as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Now, more than ever, workplaces need to ensure they implement or update their existing employment policies to reflect the new employment landscape they find themselves in.

Remote working has now become normal. New technologies such as Zoom, Slack and Teams are used for formal and informal communication between colleagues. A new appreciation has been found of the direct correlation between employee wellbeing and performance.

As a result of these rapid changes, employers need to consider having in place some essential policies.

Are they necessary?

As an employment lawyer, I am often involved in matters where a breakdown in workplace relationships has occurred, which in some cases has resulted in personal grievance claims being raised. In most instances, the events leading up to the relationship breakdown can be summarised as ‘communication failure’. Alternatively, employers have not followed fair or legally compliant procedures with their employees and, as a result, the employee becomes disadvantaged in their employment.

The advantage of having sound, up-to-date and robust workplace policies is that they provide an excellent platform to communicate with employees around expectations in the workplace and procedures that will be followed. As soon as any instances of concern arise, these policies can be relied upon to guide those involved back to a common understanding.

To protect an employer’s position in employment-related disputes, by setting clear expectations for acceptable behaviours in the workplace and avoiding communication failure, workplace policies are necessary.

The advantage of having sound, up-to-date and robust workplace policies is that they provide an excellent platform to communicate with employees around expectations in the workplace.

Today’s workplace

A recent study has found that the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds in 2021. We are now bombarded with technology, information, news alerts, notifications and emails. As a result, we need to consider how we are distributing content in our workplaces.

Historically, workplace policies have been long and complicated documents, often printed in hard copy and found collecting dust in the bottom drawer of the office.

If we want our workplace policies to be worthwhile having in place, they need to be tailored to the audience who is intended to be using them. Hard copy 100-page workplace policies are not what the modern workplace needs.

I like to make workplace policies practicable and accessible. This means using plain English, keeping the documents succinct and to the point while ensuring legal obligations and risks are covered. An employee or HR manager should be able to pick up a workplace policy and know quickly what procedures are in place and what the behaviour expectations are.

Creative and interactive digital ways are available in which workplace policies can be implemented. Some clients are moving towards an online ‘employee handbook’ that details the company culture and values, including videos and photos of the team and sections within the handbook that include their more formal policies.

Some employers are uploading all the workplace policies into a Trello Board. This then creates a simple one-page website that employees can visit, with drop-down tabs on the areas they want to read more about. Trello has created an employee manual template that can be accessed for free (see: https:// trello.com/b/HbTEX5hb/ employee-manual).

Absolutely essential

Below are key policies that are essential for the modern workplace.

Bullying and Harassment Policy

In 2020, Statistics New Zealand revealed that one-in-ten New Zealand employees feel discriminated against, harassed or bullied at work. We are seeing an increased number of employment cases and workplace investigations involving workplace bullying allegations.

WorkSafe New Zealand has expressed that bullying and harassment are common workplace risks from a health and safety perspective. Employers are under a duty to prevent these risks in the workplace.

At a minimum, this policy should set out:

• agreed definitions of bullying and/or harassment, ideally with examples of acceptable and non-acceptable behaviours

• the details of who employees should contact if they have concerns for themselves or someone they work with around bullying or harassment

• an explanation of what the organisation will do when they receive complaints, including what options are available for the complainant, details of employment investigation processes and disciplinary matters.

Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Research clearly shows that diverse workplaces are more likely to outperform less diverse competitors. To create truly diverse and inclusive workplaces, companies need to have a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion in all aspects of business operations from recruitment through to promotion, selection and executive teams.

A diversity and inclusion policy affirms the company’s position to ensure all candidates and employees will have equal opportunities to thrive.

Parental Leave Policy

The minimum entitlements to parental leave are set out in the Parental

Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987. This is an outdated and complicated piece of legislation, and it is often difficult for employees who are becoming new parents to understand their entitlements. Therefore, having this clearly set out in a policy can be beneficial.

Many organisations are implementing enhanced parental leave policies, offering their employees additional support and flexibility beyond the minimum entitlements provided for by the Act. This includes support such as extended time off, flexible working arrangements and/or increased payments while on leave.

Social Media Use Policy

Many employees are now using social media as part of building their professional reputation and networking. This includes posting to LinkedIn and using other platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. These platforms create several new networking and business opportunities for businesses, however, the risk is that employees will also comment or share content not inline with company branding or values.

For this reason, it is now essential businesses have a social media policy in place that sets out agreed expectations and guidelines around employees’ use of social media when this use is connected to their job.

Flexible and Remote Working Policy

Flexible and remote working has become the new normal in many workplaces, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many ‘informal’ working arrangements are now in place where employees work certain days of the week remotely or have more flexibility around their hours. This is often not recorded formally either by way of a variation to their contract or in a flexible and remote working policy.

Given the normalisation of flexible and remote working, several points should be included in a flexible and remote working policy. These include but are not limited to:

• expectations around any particular days of the week that you require employees to be in the office rather than working remotely

• agreed procedures and expectations for employees around health and safety risk assessments when working from home, particularly around ergonomic set-up and any hazards such as live cables

• eligibility to work remotely, agreed performance expectations and setting out the business needs

• agreed processes around requesting flexible working arrangements, who to contact and what information employees will need to be provided.

Privacy Policy

Changes came into force last year, with the updated Privacy Act 2020. From an employment perspective, this updated Act has included enhanced obligations for employers to collect, store and share employees’ personal information.

As a result, workplaces need to have privacy policies in place that are updated to reflect the changes to the Privacy Act 2020.

This policy should also provide the contact details and clearly set out who the Privacy Officer for the organisation is and what the procedure will be if a notifiable privacy breach occurs within the organisation.

If we want our workplace policies to be worthwhile having in place, they need to be tailored to the audience who is intended to be using them.

Other key policies

Along with the above policies, workplaces should have in place and regularly review other fundamental policies. These policies are:

• Drug and Alcohol Policy

• Disciplinary Policy

• Whistleblowing Policy

• Health and Safety Policy

• Performance Management Policy.

Elise O'Halloran is a dispute resolution lawyer with a speciality in employment law. Helping employers and employees understand their options and get a fair go is Elise’s specialty. Along with her Bachelor of Law, Elise holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in human resource management. This gives her a unique perspective to understand the complexities of employment relations and find the best outcome for her clients. When she’s not solving clients’ employment problems, Elise hosts her own podcast and online platform, ‘The Young Woman’ (TYW), with a mission to help ambitious young women increase their confidence and connect with other professionals.