Set up employment policies for your business

It makes good business sense to have workplace policies on issues such as:

• intellectual property
• confidentiality
• social media usage
• use of company facilities
• dress and appearance
• whistleblowing
• the right to search

These help you protect both your tangible and intangible business assets, which, once lost, may be difficult to regain.

Policies on intellectual property protection and confidentiality

If you design products or create other original output, eg music or printed matter, it is important to protect your intellectual property.

Therefore you need a workplace policy that states that:

• any original product or material developed in the course of an employee's work remains the property of the business
• employees have a duty to keep company information confidential

If you intend to rely on any kind of penalty clauses, you should always seek legal advice.

Read more on protecting intellectual property.

Social media workplace policy

The use of social media at work presents responsibilities regarding employees using various sites. Having a written social media policy for your business provides clear guidelines for employees.

Read more on managing employee use of social media. Read the Labour Relations Agency's advice on social media and the employment relationship.

Policies on dress and appearance

You are entitled to set out a code covering how you expect employees to dress and generally present themselves. This is particularly important where there are health and safety issues involved, eg in factories, building sites, or kitchens.

However, you must ensure that these codes are non-discriminatory, particularly in relation to gender and religion/belief. Read the Fair Employment Code of Practice from the Equality Commission.

Policy on the use of company facilities

It's a good idea to set up clear policies about the use of company facilities. In particular, you should have a policy on the use of the internet, email, and telephone.

Most email and internet policies aim to strike a balance between business and personal use. Setting out boundaries will help to minimise the risk of:

• having to take disciplinary action against staff
• a third party taking legal action against you
• harm to your IT system
• leakage of confidential information

In addition, if you intend to monitor staff usage of company facilities then you should carry out an impact assessment in advance of this.

To access templates that you can download, tailor, and use, see other key HR policies and templates.

Read more on monitoring and security of staff.

Whistleblowing policies

It is a good idea to have a policy on making protected disclosures - or 'whistleblowing'. This is because it will encourage workers to raise concerns about illegal activities and bad business practices internally - and prevent your business from receiving negative publicity.

Note that you do not need to treat the making of a protected disclosure as a grievance unless:

• the disclosure relates to a matter that the employee could raise as a grievance with you
• the employee intends for the disclosure to constitute the raising of a grievance

Read more on whistleblowing - qualifying disclosures.

Also see discipline, grievance, bullying, and harassment policies.

Right-to-search policies

You may only search an employee if this is allowed under their terms and conditions of employment.

Therefore, if you have a right-to-search policy, you should state that it is contractual. It is also important to remember that you should get an employee's consent before conducting a search.