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40
HR policies

K E Y CO N C E P T S A N D T E R M S
Diversity
Equal opportunities

L E A R N I N G O U TCOM E S

On completing this chapter you should be able to define these key concepts. You should
also know about:
● The reasons for having HR policies
● Overall HR policy
● Specific HR policies
● Formulating HR policies
● Implementing HR policies

Introduction Why have HR policies?

HR policies set out the approaches that the organ- HR policies define how the organization wants to
ization adopts to dealing with key aspects of HRM handle key aspects of people management. As
and provide continuing guidelines on how these guidelines the aim is to ensure that any HR issues
approaches should be applied. They define the phi- are dealt with consistently in accordance with the
losophies and values of the organization on how values of the organization and in line with certain
people should be treated, and from these are derived defined principles. All organizations have HR policies.
the principles upon which managers are expected to Some, however, exist implicitly as a philosophy of
act when dealing with HR matters. management and an attitude to employees that is
HR policies should be distinguished from HR expressed in the way in which HR issues are handled;
procedures. A policy provides generalized guidance for example, the introduction of a new grade and
on how HR issues should be dealt with. A procedure pay structure. The advantage of explicit policies in
spells out precisely what steps should be taken to terms of consistency and understanding may appear
deal with major employment issues such as griev- to be obvious, but there are disadvantages: written
ances, discipline, capability and redundancy. policies can be inflexible, constrictive, platitudinous,
510 Part 10 HRM Policy and Practice

or all three. To a degree, policies have often to be the provision of fair feedback to people on
expressed in abstract terms and managers do not how well they are performing.
generally care for abstractions. But they do want to ● Quality of working life – consciously and
know where they stand – people like structure – and continually aiming to improve the quality
formalized HR policies can provide the guidelines of working life. This involves increasing the
they need. sense of satisfaction that people obtain from
Formalized HR policies can be used in induction, their work by – so far as possible – reducing
team leader and management training to help par- monotony; increasing variety, autonomy and
ticipants understand the philosophies and values responsibility; avoiding placing people under
of the organization and how they are expected to too much stress; providing for an acceptable
behave within that context. They are a means for balance between work and life outside work.
defining the employment relationship and the psy-
● Working conditions – providing healthy, safe
chological contract. HR policies can be expressed
and – so far as practicable – pleasant
formally as overall statements of the values of
working conditions.
the organization or in relation to specific areas, as
discussed in this chapter. These values are espoused by many organizations in
one form or another. But to what extent are they
practised when making ‘business-led’ decisions
(which can, of course, be highly detrimental to em-
Overall HR policy ployees if, for example, they lead to redundancy)?
One of the dilemmas facing all those who formulate
The overall HR policy defines how the organization HR policies is: how can we pursue policies focusing
fulfils its social responsibilities for its employees on business success and at the same time fulfil our
and sets out its attitudes towards them. It is an obligations to employees in such terms as equity,
expression of its values or beliefs about how people consideration, quality of working life, security and
should be treated. The values expressed in an overall working conditions? To argue, as some do, that HR
statement of HR policies may explicitly or implicitly policies should be entirely business-led implies that
refer to the following concepts: human considerations are unimportant. Yet organ-
● Equity – treating employees fairly and justly izations have obligations to all their stakeholders,
by adopting an ‘even-handed’ approach. This not just their owners.
includes protecting individuals from any It may be difficult to express these overall policies
unfair decisions made by their managers, in anything but generalized terms, but employers
providing equal opportunities for increasingly have to recognize that they are subject
employment and promotion, and operating to external as well as internal pressures and moral
an equitable payment system. imperatives, which act as constraints on the extent
to which they can disregard the higher standards
● Consideration – taking account of individual
of behaviour towards their employees that are
circumstances when making decisions that
expected of them. What needs to be done to avoid
affect the prospects, security or self-respect
accusations that general HR policy statements are
of employees.
mere rhetoric is to convert them into reality through
● Organizational learning – a belief in the need specific HR policies and enforce their application.
to promote the learning and development of
all the members of the organization by
providing the processes and support
required. Specific HR policies
● Performance through people – the
importance attached to developing a The most common areas in which specific HR poli-
performance culture and to continuous cies exist are age and employment, AIDS, bullying,
improvement; the significance of discipline, diversity management, e-mails and the
performance management as a means of internet, employee development, employee relations,
defining and agreeing mutual expectations; employee voice, the employment relationship,
 Chapter 40 HR Policies 511

equal opportunity, grievances, health and safety, that if a complaint is received it will be thoroughly
new technology, promotion, redundancy, reward, investigated.
sexual harassment, substance abuse, whistleblowing
and work–life balance.
Discipline
The disciplinary policy should state that employees
Age and employment have the right to know what is expected of them
The policy on age and employment should take into and what could happen if they infringe the organ-
account the UK legislation on age discrimination ization’s rules. It should also make the point that,
and the following facts: in handling disciplinary cases, the organization will
treat employees in accordance with the principles of
● Age is a poor predictor of job performance. natural justice. It should be supported by a discipli-
● It is misleading to equate physical and nary procedure (see Chapter 41).
mental ability with age.
● More of the population are living active, Diversity management
healthy lives as they get older.
A policy on managing diversity recognizes that
there are differences among employees and that
AIDS these differences, if properly managed, will enable
work to be done more efficiently and effectively.
An AIDS policy could include the following points: It does not focus exclusively on issues of discrimina-
● The risk through infection in the workplace tion but instead concentrates on recognizing the
is negligible. differences between people.
Managing diversity is a concept that recognizes
● Where the occupation does involve blood
the benefits to be gained from differences. It is not
contact – as in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries
the same as equal opportunity, which aims to legislate
and laboratories – the special precautions
against discrimination, assumes that people should
advised by the Health and Safety
be assimilated into the organization and, often, relies
Commission will be implemented.
on affirmative action. A management of diversity
● Employees who know that they are infected policy could:
with AIDS will not be obliged to disclose the
fact to the company, but if they do it will ● acknowledge cultural and individual
remain completely confidential. differences in the workplace;
● There will be no discrimination against ● state that the organization values the
anyone with or at risk of acquiring AIDS. different qualities that people bring to
their jobs;
● Employees infected by HIV or suffering
● emphasize the need to eliminate bias in such
from AIDS will be treated no differently
areas as selection, promotion, performance
from anyone else suffering a severe illness.
assessment, pay and learning opportunities;
● focus attention on individual differences
Bullying rather than group differences.

An anti-bullying policy will state that bullying will The policy can be strengthened by the development
not be tolerated by the organization and that those of diversity networks. These act as support groups
who persist in bullying staff will be subject to disci- for minority staff to share problems and swap tips.
plinary action, which could be severe in particularly But they can additionally help organizations to
bad cases. The policy will make it clear that understand the people who work for them and help
individuals who are being bullied should have the the business to perform better:
right to discuss the problem with another person, a ● At Cisco, the women’s network helps
representative or a member of the HR function, and business development by hosting events for
to make a complaint. The policy should emphasize prospective and existing customers.
512 Part 10 HRM Policy and Practice

● At PwC there are four main networks: for their potential, advance their careers and increase
women, ethnic minorities, disabled people their employability, both within and outside the
and GLEE (an inclusive business network organization. The policy could also express the
for gays, lesbians and everyone else). belief that age should not be a barrier to learning
● At BT a disability network focuses on opportunities from which everyone can benefit,
awareness raising about different disabilities irrespective of how old they are.
to help managers understand them and get
the best from people living with a disability.
‘Knowledge calls’ are provided, which Employee relations
consist of presentations done via conference The employee relations policy will set out the
calls and desktop technology with expert organization’s approach to the rights of employees
speakers on particular subjects such as to have their interests represented to management
Parkinson’s and migraines. They typically through trade unions, staff associations or some
include someone who has experienced the other form of representative system. It will also
condition, a Q&A session and inputs from cover the basis upon which the organization works
HR relating to the condition or disability. with trade unions, eg emphasizing that this should
There are online forums and subgroups be regarded as a partnership.
offering support.

Employee voice
E-mails and use of the internet
The employee voice policy should spell out the
The policy on e-mails could state that the sending organization’s belief in giving employees an oppor-
or downloading of offensive e-mails is prohibited tunity to have a say in matters that affect them. It
and that the senders or downloaders of such should define the mechanisms for employee voice
messages are subject to normal disciplinary such as joint consultation and suggestion schemes.
procedures. The policy may also prohibit internet
browsing, for example of social networks, or
downloading material not related to the business, The employment relationship
although this can be difficult to enforce. Some
companies have always believed that reasonable Employment policies should be concerned with fun-
use of the telephone is acceptable and that policy damental aspects of the employment relationship.
may be extended to the internet. They should take account of the requirements of
If it is decided that employees’ e-mails should relevant UK and European legislation and case law,
be monitored to check on excessive or unaccept- as covered in Chapter 43.
able use, this should be included in an e-mail policy,
which would therefore be part of the contractual
arrangements. A policy statement could be Equal opportunity
included to the effect that: ‘The company reserves The equal opportunity policy should spell out the
the right to access and monitor all e-mail messages organization’s determination to give equal opportu-
created, sent, received or stored on the company’s nities to all, irrespective of sex, sexual orientation,
system.’ race, creed, disability, age or marital status. The
policy should also deal with the extent to which the
organization wants to take ‘affirmative action’ to
Employee development redress imbalances between the numbers employed
The employee development policy could express according to sex or race or to differences in the levels
the organization’s commitment to the continuous of qualifications and skills they have achieved. The
development of the skills and abilities of employees policy could be set out as follows:
in order to maximize their contribution and to give 1 We are an equal opportunity employer.
them the opportunity to enhance their skills, realize This means that we do not permit direct or
 Chapter 40 HR Policies 513

indirect discrimination against any employee compulsory redundancy or adverse effects on other
on the grounds of race, nationality, sex, terms and conditions or working arrangements.
sexual orientation, disability, religion,
marital status or age.
2 Direct discrimination takes place when Promotion
a person is treated less favourably than A promotion policy could state the organization’s
others are or would be treated in similar intention to promote from within wherever this is
circumstances. appropriate as a means of satisfying its require-
3 Indirect discrimination takes place when, ments for high-quality staff. The policy could, how-
whether intentional or not, a condition is ever, recognize that there will be occasions when
applied that adversely affects a considerable the organization’s present and future needs can
proportion of people of one race, nationality, only be met by recruitment from outside. The point
sex, sexual orientation, religion or marital could be made that a vigorous organization needs
status, or those with disabilities or older infusions of fresh blood from time to time if it is
employees. not to stagnate. In addition, the policy might state
4 The firm will ensure that equal opportunity that employees will be encouraged to apply for
principles are applied in all its HR policies internally advertised jobs and will not be held back
and in particular to the procedures relating from promotion by their managers, however reluc-
to the recruitment, training, development tant the latter may be to lose them. The policy
and promotion of its employees. should define the approach that the organization
adopts to engaging, promoting and training older
5 Where appropriate and where permissible
employees. It should emphasize that the only crite-
under the relevant legislation and codes of
rion for selection or promotion should be ability to
practice, employees of under-represented
do the job.
groups will be given positive training and
encouragement to achieve equal opportunity.
Redundancy
Grievances The redundancy policy should state that the aim
of the organization is to provide for employment
The policy on grievances could state that employees
security. It is the organization’s intention to use its
have the right to raise their grievances with their
best endeavours to avoid involuntary redundancy
manager, to be accompanied by a representative if
through its redeployment and retraining pro-
they so wish, and to appeal to a higher level if they
grammes. However, if redundancy is unavoidable,
feel that their grievance has not been resolved
those affected will be given fair and equitable treat-
satisfactorily. The policy should be supported by a
ment, the maximum amount of warning and every
grievance procedure (see Chapter 41).
help that can be provided to obtain suitable alterna-
tive employment. The policy should be supported
by a redundancy procedure (see Chapter 39).
Health and safety
Health and safety policies cover how the organization
intends to provide healthy and safe places and systems Reward
of work (see Chapter 36).
The reward policy could cover such matters as:
● providing an equitable pay system;
New technology ● equal pay for work of equal value;
A new technology policy statement could state that ● paying for performance, competence, skill
there will be consultation about the introduction or contribution;
of new technology and the steps that would be ● sharing in the success of the organization
taken by the organization to minimize the risk of (gain sharing or profit sharing);
514 Part 10 HRM Policy and Practice

● the relationship between levels of pay in the the organization’s sickness scheme,
organization and market rates; provided there is full cooperation from
● the provision of employee benefits, including the employee;
flexible benefits, if appropriate; ● an opportunity will be given to discuss
● the importance attached to the non-financial the matter once it has become evident or
rewards resulting from recognition, suspected that work performance is being
accomplishment, autonomy and the affected by substance-related problems;
opportunity to develop. ● the right to be accompanied by a friend
or employee representative in any such
discussion;
Sexual harassment ● agencies will be recommended to which
The sexual harassment policy should state that: the employee can go for help if necessary;
● employment rights will be safeguarded
● Sexual harassment will not be tolerated.
during any reasonable period of treatment.
● Employees subjected to sexual harassment
will be given advice, support and counselling
as required. Whistle-blowing
● Every attempt will be made to resolve the
Whistle-blowing takes place when someone re-
problem informally with the person
ports a suspected wrongdoing at work. Dismissal
complained against.
of an employee for whistle-blowing is deemed in
● Assistance will be given to the employee law as automatic unfair dismissal if a ‘protected
to complain formally if informal discussions disclosure’, for example referring to a criminal
fail. offence by the employer, is made and the employee
● A special process will be available for ‘reasonably believes’ that the disclosure is in the
hearing complaints about sexual harassment. ‘public interest’. Obviously employers want to
This will provide for employees to bring avoid that situation and employees need guidance
their complaint to someone of their own sex on what they can and can’t do and how they
if they so wish. should act. Hence the need for a whistle-blowing
● Complaints will be handled sensitively and policy that will:
with due respect for the rights of both the 1 Explain that the organization believes that
complainant and the accused. it is important to deal with any wrongdoing,
● Sexual harassment is regarded as gross especially those malpractices specifically
misconduct and, if proved, makes the referred to in the Public Interest Disclosure
individual liable for instant dismissal. Less Act 1998, including criminal offences, risks
severe penalties may be reserved for minor to health and safety, failure to comply with
cases, but there will always be a warning a legal obligation, a miscarriage of justice
that repetition will result in dismissal. and environmental damage. Specific
examples of unacceptable behaviour
could be given.
Substance abuse 2 Indicate that if anyone becomes aware of an
A substance abuse policy could include assurances issue that needs to be dealt with they should
that: raise the matter inside the organization,
either with their line manager or, if the
● employees identified as having substance allegation is about their line manager, to a
abuse problems will be offered advice more senior manager.
and help;
3 State that employees will not be penalized
● any reasonable absence from work necessary for informing management about a
to receive treatment will be granted under malpractice.
 Chapter 40 HR Policies 515

Work–life balance Service), the Commission for Equality and

Human Rights and the Health and Safety
Work–life balance policies define how the organiza- Executive. The Codes of Practice issued by
tion intends to allow employees greater flexibility in relevant professional institutions, such as
their working patterns so that they can balance the CIPD, should also be consulted.
what they do at work with the responsibilities and 4 Assess any areas where new policies
interests they have outside work. The policy will are needed or existing policies are
indicate how flexible work practices can be devel- inadequate.
oped and implemented. It will emphasize that the
numbers of hours worked must not be treated as a 5 Check with managers, preferably starting
criterion for assessing performance. It will set out at the top, on their views about HR policies
guidelines on the specific arrangements that can be and where they think they could be
made, such as flexible hours, compressed working improved.
week, term-time working contracts, working at 6 Seek the views of employees about the HR
home, special leave for parents and carers, career policies, especially the extent to which they
breaks and various kinds of child care. are inherently fair and equitable and are
A flexibility policy will need to take account of implemented fairly and consistently.
the Work and Families Act 2006, as described in Consider doing this through an attitude
Chapter 43. survey.
7 Seek the views of union representatives.
8 Analyse the information obtained in the
Formulating HR policies first seven steps and prepare draft policies.
9 Consult, discuss and agree policies with
HR policies need to address the key HR issues that management and union representatives.
have been identified in the organization. They must 10 Communicate the policies with guidance
also take account of external factors such as legisla- notes on their implementation as required
tion. The maximum amount of consultation should (although they should be as self-explanatory
take place with managers, employees and their as possible). Supplement this communication
representatives and the policies should be commu- with training.
nicated widely with guidelines on their application.
The following steps should be taken when formu-
lating HR policies:
1 Gain understanding of the corporate
Implementing HR policies
culture and its shared values. The aim will be to implement policies fairly and
2 Analyse existing policies – written and consistently. Line managers have an important role
unwritten. HR policies will exist in any in doing this. It is they who will be largely respon-
organization, even if they are implicit sible for policy implementation. Members of the
rather than expressed formally. HR function can give guidance, but it is line manag-
3 Analyse external factors. HR policies ers who are on the spot and have to make decisions
are subject to the requirements of UK about people. The role of HR is to communicate
employment legislation, European and interpret the policies, convince line managers
Commission employment regulations, that they are necessary, and provide training and
and the official Codes of Practice issued support that will equip managers to implement
by bodies in the UK, such as ACAS (the them. As Purcell et al (2003) emphasized, it is line
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration managers who bring HR policies to life.
516 Part 10 HRM Policy and Practice

Key learning points: HR policies

The reasons for having HR policies relationship, equal opportunity, grievances, health
and safety, new technology, promotion, redundancy,
HR policies provide guidelines on how key aspects of reward, sexual harassment, substance abuse and
people management should be handled. The aim is to work–life balance.
ensure that any HR issues are dealt with consistently
in accordance with the values of the organization
and in line with certain defined principles. Formulating HR policies
HR policies need to address the key HR issues
Overall HR policy that have been identified in the organization. They
must also take account of external factors such as
The overall HR policy defines how the organization
legislation. The maximum amount of consultation
fulfils its social responsibilities for its employees
should take place with managers, employees and
and sets out its attitudes towards them. It is an
their representatives, and the policies should be
expression of its values or beliefs about how people
communicated widely with guidelines on their
should be treated.
application.

Specific HR policies
Implementing HR policies
Specific HR policies cover age and employment,
AIDS, bullying, discipline, e-mails and the internet, The aim will be to implement policies fairly and
employee development, diversity management, consistently. Line managers have a key role in
employee relations, employee voice, the employment doing this.

Questions
1 What are HR policies?
2 Why have HR policies?
3 What values may be expressed in overall HR policy?
4 What are the areas in which specific HR policies may be required?
5 How should HR policies be formulated?

Reference
Purcell, J, Kinnie, K, Hutchinson, S, Rayton, B and Swart, J (2003) Understanding the People and
Performance Link: Unlocking the black box, London, CIPD