HR Documentation

It is recommended that employers engage HR and legal professionals to create HR documentation, to ensure it is robust and legally compliant. The risks involved if your documentation is poorly written or omits important information are very high.  

For example, if contracts of employment are not written correctly and do not contain the necessary information to protect you, then you could face fines of up to £95,000 if a dispute is taken to an employment tribunal. 

Also, if companies fail to inform employees about their terms and conditions of employment this could result in a claim of unfair dismissal being made against the company. 

In the UK, a contract of employment is a vital piece of HR documentation which lays out the terms of employment for a given individual. It must comply with minimum legal standards such as the right to paid holidays and daily and weekly rest breaks. It can also include implied terms not stated in the contract but incorporated in some other way, for example, a duty of mutual trust and confidence between the employer and employee. 

An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and employee that sets out important information such as: 

• Employment conditions 

• Employee rights 

• Employee responsibilities 

• Employee duties 

These are all known as the terms of an employment contract. 

It is not a legal requirement to have an employee handbook, however, they can be a useful reference document for both employers and employees and help with onboarding new staff.  

Just as every business is different, so will be the contents of the employee handbook. As a general rule, the contents should cover topics such as: 

• Disciplinary procedures 

• Sickness absence policies 

• Grievance and harassment 

• Equal opportunities 

• Capability procedures 

Ideally, all new employees should be given a handbook that sets out the practices and procedures that your company follows.  

It is a legal requirement that employers make their employees aware of all company policies. 

HR policies and procedures ensure compliance with employment legislation and let employees know what the company’s responsibilities are and what their individual responsibilities are. 

Poor or no HR documents can affect businesses and cause a range of issues including:  

• Unhappy employees  

• Dissatisfied customers  

• High employee turnover 

• Loss of business  

• Increased costs  

There are other policies that are not legally required, but are considered best practice to have in place, including: 

• Equal opportunities 

• Sickness and leave of absence 

• Flexible working 

• Training and development 

• Bullying and harassment 

• Code of conduct 

• Internet and email 

• Drug and alcohol 

• Social media 

• Privacy policy