As business owners, we’ve all had to adapt and change in order to comply with constant restrictions and government enforced employment law changes over the past 2 years. One thing that may have been overlooked is HR policies for small businesses UK. In addition, we haven’t yet exhausted the array of problems the pandemic caused! Companies are busy scribbling ‘Making our policies out of date’ to the bottom of the list at the moment.
Along with the problems has actually come a great deal of good too. We’ve all become so much more flexible in the way that we do things; working remotely, holding video meetings instead of face-to-face, cutting down on commuting. We’ve even become more open about discussing our physical and mental health.
But of course, now that a lot of this change has become permanent, there are things that we as business owners need to do to keep both our and our employees’ best interests at heart, and of course protect ourselves if things should go wrong. And that means creating and updating policies.
It’s one of those jobs that seems totally overwhelming. There’s a lot of research to do if HR isn’t your forte. Then there’s the paperwork to create, and of course, employment laws to comply with. It’s enough to put you off before you’ve even started. But it’s really important that you have all of this covered.
Implementing Policies for Small Businesses UK
There are HR policies such as disciplinary, grievance, and dismissal that are a legal requirement in the UK. In addition, whether you’re a small or large business, it’s important you have up to date policies in place. Not only does it ensure you are following employment law rules, it also provides your team with structure, clarity, and a better understanding of what the business expects and offers.
Here’s an overview on implementing HR policies in your business:
- Make sure the policy is necessary for your business. If it’s not expected by law, it’s not relevant to your business, or you’ve already covered it in another fully up to date policy, consider if this is necessary.
- Ensure the document has all the correct information that will be understood by employees
- Managers must also understand and implement the contents
- Regularly review and update when necessary. This ensures you are more prepared if any issues arise in the future and set you up for better success as an employer and business.
It’s important to keep in mind that once a policy is written, it shouldn’t just live in a filing cabinet gathering dust. You must discuss this with your team and ensure they have read the document and know what is required of them. Policies such as grievance and disciplinary must be in the form of a written statement of terms and conditions that staff can easily read and understand. In addition, It may be a good idea for you to approach a professional to help you with this.
What would happen if policies aren’t in place?
Not having up to date hr policies for small businesses UK can have a negative impact on the success of your business. Not only does it send a message to your employees that their rights and wellbeing is not important to you, it also gives the impression that you don’t stand for anything meaningful as a business. Employees and candidates want to be part of a business that has an ethos that aligns with their morals and beliefs. In addition, not having certain policies can lead you to losing a lot of staff and struggling to attract candidates.
You will also be less prepared and covered if an employment tribunal or work related issue arises in the future.
Contact Us
If you would like support to write or review HR Policies, feel free to contact us on 01383 668 178 or info@thehrbooth.co.uk. We have written HR policies for Small business UK, and larger companies so you can feel confident that our HR experts will ensure you are fully compliant. We have also created an Employment Law checklist guide that you can download here.