Conduct Policies that supplement your Employment Agreement

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Overview

The Staff Policies Manual spells out clearly important conduct expectations from both the employees and employer. It is important that the Manual is presented to the employee together with the Employment Contract Agreement or Independent Contractor Agreement and signed off before starting their engagement to ensure that the conduct policies are legally enforceable.   Putting an employee handbook in front of a new hire after they begin work and asking them to sign off on never-before-seen conduct policies essentially changes their employment contract - whether implied or executed.  You'll be surprised to know that there are still a lot of companies that do not have conduct policies or present them to employees after they have joined the company. Avoid being part of that statistic and safeguard your company's legal risk in the event of litigation.   

Also, have peace of mind knowing that the Staff Policies Manual excludes the components of an employee handbook or manual that communicates orientation or sensitive company information that should not be seen before someone has signed on the dotted line.   

The policies are written in a clear and easy to understand language without any complicated jargons requiring legal interpretation. It is more important that individuals working for the company understand clearly the expectations before signing on the dotted line than to present an impressive looking document that's difficult to comprehend. The goal is not to impress but to create a workplace that is fun, orderly and safe.  There are placeholders throughout the manual prompting additional or customization of information (e.g. designated Compliance Officer for the Whistle Blower policy). The document owner (usually HR if the company has a HR Department) has the choice of using the manual as-is with very minimal customization required as the manual is in a ready-to-use form. 

How the Staff Policies (Manual) is used?

Your Employment Contract Agreement template includes a section that refers to reading, understanding and adhering to the conduct policies included in the Staff Policies Manual.  Once your employment contract agreement is signed, your new employee has signed off on your conduct policies before beginning work. 

Why should I have Conduct Policies supplement my Employment Contract?

Adding a supplemental addendum to your employment agreement that clearly articulates conduct expectations requiring a signature: 

• Captures all protection policies that need to be signed off by an employee without increasing the size of your employment agreement.  The Employment Agreement includes a sign off clause that points to the Staff Policies Manual. 
• Only the Conduct Policies form a contract.  By extracting only the Conduct Policies and excluding the other information in your Employee Manual/Handbook, the "other information" is not signed off and does not form a promise by your company to conduct business in a certain way or perpetually make available any benefits or programs it references.  Eliminates the standard statement "This Employee Handbook does not form a contract..." because it does form a contract, but only as it relates to the staff member adhering to Conduct Policies. All other promises made to the employee by your company are included in the Employment Contract and are negotiated up front. 
• If your business operates in more than one country or jurisdiction, the Staff Policies Manual will outline the policies applicable to the jurisdiction that the employment contract refers to.
• Acts as a 'pre-nup' in the employee-employer relationship to outline what's expected from each party during the employment relationship and what will happen once you part ways.  It's an agreed-upon set of rules that's established when both parties are on good terms and in the honeymoon phase. 
• Written so that it's applicable to independent contractors.  
• Extracts only the formal policies from the Employee Manual so that you're not providing a candidate who hasn't accepted an offer with proprietary information and internal procedures.  This method also ensures that your independent contractors sign off on conduct policies without access to your Employee Manual.
• Employees are much more likely to respect your house rules when they've signed off on your conduct policies. 
• You have increased leverage when an employee fails to comply with conduct policies and may be able to expedite termination. If an employee situation ends in litigation, you'll have a much better chance in court if you have your terms and conditions clearly laid out. 
• Helps to protect your company against the NOTMICS. 
• Communicates that you're a well-run company.

What do I risk by not having Conduct Policies as part of my Employment Contract?

If you don't include conduct policies as an addendum to your employment agreements when employees are hired:

• You're at the mercy of common law which highly favors the employee. If your rules and do's and don't's are not clearly laid out, you can't expect that employees will 'just know' as the courts will often conclude.For example, if you don't have an Internet Use or Off-Duty Conduct policy that's signed off by an employee or independent contractor and a staff member posts inappropriate content about your company or co-workers in cyber space, staff can easily claim that they simply did not know that this was inappropriate. 
• Staff, particularly the younger generation may not understand what is meant by "inappropriate conduct".
• Consequences for misconduct are not clearly articulated. 
• Your company confidential information is at risk. 
• You have limited recourse in the event that the employee's behavior/performance does not meet expectations.
• If you ask an employee or independent contractor to sign an employee manual/handbook before hire because that's where your conduct policies live, a candidate will have access to your proprietary information and may not accept your offer.