Company policy or just common sense?

I have recently been tasked with reviewing and updating our company handbook and have been surprised by some of the policies that have creeped in over the years e.g. Hygiene code – We have a detailed policy of what employees are expected to do in order to meet hygiene requirements. To what degree do you think company policy should be made and where do you stop and hope common sense will prevail?

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  • Policies are not just about common sense and prescribing how employees do & don't act. They might sometimes state the obvious but that can be useful for the company to refer to when something goes wrong; to show that essential procedures are embedded properly (e.g. for audit or accreditation purposes); and for the company to refer to and quote from when handling a case where an employee has strayed from the expected/required procedure. As long as they're kept up to date of course... I work in a school and we have a rolling programme to review our 80+ policies every three years or sooner if necessary.
  • Hi Hanna

    Thanks for posting such an interesting question, I guess the answer is it is all about context so for example I have a client who manufactures medical equipment products and they have really strict policies around what you can wear on the shop floor to avoid cross contamination of their products etc.  So someone wearing nail varnish or chewing gum would be a real issue for them.  Likewise I also had a client who manufactured fireworks and they insisted that all mobile phones, lighters etc. were left at security prior to working on site.

    I think also it depends on the sector e.g. public v private, the culture of the Company and the extent to which it is unionised, I understand from colleagues who have worked in the public sector that the policies can be quite prescriptive.  Likewise when I worked in a heavily unionised industry I found that really detailed policies covering all eventualities were the norm.

    So to answer your summary as with all great HR dilemmas the answer is it depends!

    Not sure if this helps you but thanks for posting a great question.

    Regards

     

    Sarah

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