Step 6: Implement the Policy

Ways to Implement and Communicate About Policies

Employees, managers and key stakeholders must have access to up-to-date copies of the policies that are relevant to their role in the organisation and be advised of and understand any new policies or changes to policies coming into effect.

When selecting methods to communicate policies consider:

• Will employees be able to easily access electronic copies, or will they need hard copies?
• What concerns and issues are likely to be raised about the policy and how will they be dealt with? If concerns are likely to be significant an initial face to face communication through an information session or manager communication will be a more effective approach than an email.
• Does the policy provide enough information for managers and staff to be able to effectively implement and comply with the policy or will they need training or additional information?
• The methods below are often used in combination to develop a strategy to ensure employees are aware of, understand and have the skills to implement and comply with the policies that underpin how they work.

Employee Handbooks/Policy File

An employee handbook/policy file describes the organisation's policies and procedures. The handbook may also contain general information about the organization such as its priorities, the organization chart, the job classifications, whether positions are covered by a collective agreement and the bargaining status for all groups of employees.

You may have separate handbooks/files for managers and staff or you may have one handbook that applies to both groups. For the employer, the handbook can form part of the documentation that your staff were made aware of the organisation’s rules and standards and understand the consequences of not complying with the policies. Of course, this is dependent on your employees have received and understood the policies contained within the handbook so it is often a good idea to ask employees to sign a statement confirming this.

Benefits of having an employee handbook include:

• A comprehensive source for understanding the practices of the organization
• Useful for orienting employees
• Employees can independently find answers to their questions, supporting confidentiality
• Saves management time spent on clarifying expectations
• Helps others quickly understand your workplace practices
• Supports communication and accountability
• Allows you to tie in the broader context, such as the organization’s vision, objectives and values

A few points of caution:

• For the handbook to serve as valid documentation, it must be updated as policies are updated and changed. For this reason, it is often a good idea to designate someone with this responsibility.
• Often a handbook will be written in a less formal style and include only summaries of each policy. In order to be able to rely on the handbook for documentation that your employees were made aware of the organization’s policies, it needs to include all the key points of the policy and references where staff can access the full versions of the policies.
• Since the policies and procedures and content of the handbook may change from time to time, include a statement that the employer has the right, in its sole discretion, to add, amend, or delete any policy or procedure in its handbook.

Information Sessions

Holding an information session is a good way to ensure that employees understand a new policy and have the opportunity to ask questions. It is particularly useful when concerns may be significant. The session covers the following:

• Business decisions that led to the development of the policy.
• The goal of the policy.
• The process has been taken in developing the policy (e.g., consultation, research, benchmarking).
• How the new policy impacts employees and expectations.
• It is a good idea to keep a record of attendance for the session so you can follow up with anyone that was not able to attend and have documentation that the policy was communicated.

Policy Training Sessions

Some industries have legislation where employers are required to train employees on certain policies. Additionally, training sessions for managers are a good option for policies that are complicated or have extensive procedures, such as disciplinary, dispute resolutions and health and safety. When developing a policy training session include the same topics as you would for the information session plus the following:

• Training on the specific skills that are needed to implement the policy
• Specific procedures, guidance and resources are available to managers and employees to help them implement the policy
• Clear expectations of behaviour
• How the policy will be monitored
• Any specific training requirements of the legislation if the training session is required

Statement of Understanding

Ongoing Communication:

Your policies will underpin how much of your work is done. The principles should become integrated into how your company accomplishes its work. Use bulletin boards, newsletters, Internet home pages and emails to remind employees of key principles of the policies. Encourage managers to review the values that underpin your policies during the performance review.

Unilaterally Introducing Policies

As part of its management rights, the employer is permitted to introduce a unilateral policy without negotiating the terms of the policy with the bargaining agent for the employees. To do so, however, the policy must:

• Be consistent with the terms of the collective agreement.
• Be reasonable.
• Be clear and unequivocal.
• Be brought to the attention of the employee before the employer can act upon it.
• Be consistently enforced from the time it was introduced.
• Make employees aware that breach of the rule may result in discipline, up to and including discharge from employment.