Company policies help you build an effective organizational culture, navigate workplace incidents, ensure compliance, enable risk management, and promote a positive work environment.
But, drafting company policies can be daunting—you need to check legal requirements, align the policy with the company’s culture and values, consider the needs of diverse stakeholders, and a lot more.
So, if you’re an HR manager or a business owner looking for detailed yet simple ways to create effective company policies, you’re at the right place.
We’ve created a step-by-step guide to draft policies, alongside company policy examples, and tips and tools to help you fast-track the policy-making process.
But first, let’s discuss what company policies are.
How to Draft an Effective Company Policy [With Examples]
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Are Company Policies?
Company policies are frameworks that describe workplace rules and regulations. They define practices and guidelines to manage potential business issues. Company policies direct how employees, employers, and all relevant stakeholders must act and carry out the company’s work. They set clear expectations for everyone’s actions in different scenarios.
- By outlining etiquette and professional boundaries, company policies prevent workplace incidents and help employees and employers navigate crises
- These policies also ensure sensitive data protection, promote fairness, facilitate smooth change management, and enable informed decision-making
- As a business expands, company policies ensure process standardization and improved efficiency. They clarify procedures and make employees understand how to deliver consistent value to customers
- Company policies also improve compliance with organizational values and legal regulations
With these policies in place, you can review the existing compliance environment, including project compliance and change policies based on updated laws and industry best practices.
Overview of company policy types
Here are a few standard policies your company policy must contain:
Workplace health and safety
Workplace health and safety procedures and policies lay down procedures to prevent workplace accidents. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal agency in the US, sets guidelines for protecting workers and creating a safe workplace. For instance, it provides the steps to handle hazardous materials, file a complaint, report severe injuries and fatalities, and more.
Employee code of conduct
The employee code of conduct dictates how employees must behave in the workplace. It outlines specific rules regarding dress code, accountability, compliance with laws, data security, confidentiality, sexual harassment, substance abuse, and even the use of social media during work hours.
💡Pro Tip: If you haven’t yet established a solid code of conduct policy within your organization, use code of conduct templates to establish proper guidelines for employee behavior and respectful workplace practices that align with your company’s values.
Equal opportunity policy
An equal opportunity policy applies to all current and future employees of the company. It underscores the company’s commitment to providing equal employment opportunities without discrimination.
This policy adheres to US Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws that prevent workplace discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, nationality, or disability. Equal opportunity policy is essential to ensure inclusivity and diversity within the company.
Employee disciplinary action
A disciplinary policy outlines appropriate disciplinary action employers can take in response to employee misconduct, poor performance, or rule violations. It covers various reprimands—from warnings for minor infringement to severe actions like demotion, suspension, and termination for major violations.
Attendance and leave policy
The attendance and leave policy details how much time off employees receive based on their job position, how to request time off, who they should contact, and the approval process. Leave policies also include details about company leave types, accruals, mandatory leaves, floater leaves, and more. Attendance and leave policy ensures that employees adhere to schedules.
Hybrid and remote work policy
This policy streamlines how employees work from home and at the workplace. According to the Gallup Survey Report 2024, 27% of US employees work remotely, and 53% work in hybrid environments. So, you need to have a remote and hybrid work policy that answers questions like:
- How can employees operate from their home office?
- When are they expected to log in?
- Can everyone set their own work hours?
- How will remote work be measured?
- What support will be available for remote work?
- What are the legal rights of remote employees?
Summarize this article for me pleaseHow to Create a Company Policy?
Drafting policies and procedures requires a clear plan on what to include, how to express to the participants, who should follow the policy, and when the policy takes effect.
Here are all the policy-related details to help you draft the perfect company policies.
Steps to create a company policy
Here’s a step-by-step process to help you create a company policy.
1. Define the policy need and identify stakeholders
Start with identifying the policy need—whether you want to implement a policy to meet legal requirements or set standard procedures at the workplace to improve efficiency. Connect with different teams and managers to understand the complete requirements of the policy.
2. Involve all parties
The first step is to gain unanimous support for the proposed policy from the management and employees. Explain to them why the policy is necessary, seek suggestions from them, and clear their doubts. Once everyone is on the same page, start the real planning.
3. Gather your policy-building team
Whether you’re drafting a company policy or a process documentation template, collaboration is a must. Bring the entire team together and use everyone’s ideas to create a more unified policy message.
Make sure you involve managers, leaders, and other staff who are experts in the specific policy topic. For instance, if you are creating an IT policy for the company, seek input from the IT team.
💡Pro Tip: A brainstorming session with relevant stakeholders can help you capture all the expectations and ideal outcomes in one place. Collaborate on ClickUp Whiteboards to capture input from all concerned teams.
4. Structure the policy
Company policy structures vary based on business needs. Nevertheless, ensure a standardized structure. For example, if you plan to write an employee handbook detailing all policies and procedures, make sure you write the policies in a standard format.
Here are a few things you must include in a policy:
- Purpose statement: Explain what the policy is about
- Policy scope: Provide an overview of what the policy covers and who must comply with it
- Policy statement: What are the policy goals and objectives? Describe specific rules and instructions
- Roles and responsibilities: Include further details about policy applicability, how the policy will be enforced and monitored, and which committees are responsible for its review
- Procedures: Build SOP templates to provide step-by-step instructions for routine work
- Effective date: Mention when the policy takes effect
- Allowed conduct: Write the specific guidelines for acceptable behavior
- Prohibited conduct: Include the restrictions on employee conduct
- Reporting requirements: Detail what employees must do to report an incident
- Glossary: Include a list of the common terms used throughout the policy with their definitions. This will clarify the policy and save you from legal issues
Here’s a sample company policy for your reference:
💡Pro Tip: Standardizing policy structure is no easy feat. Use ClickUp’s ready-made company policy templates to save time and effort.
5. Begin your research
Do your homework before you begin policy writing. Gather data on your company and the policy topic to create a solid policy everyone abides by. Thorough research can also help you bridge the gaps in your existing policies with relevant info. Here are a few ways to gather information:
- Check sample policies as a starting point
- Conduct org-wide surveys and interview employees
- Brainstorm with your policy-building team and involve topic experts
- Get the latest info on state and federal laws relevant to your policy and create or update it accordingly
💡Pro Tip: Use ClickUp Form View to build surveys and forms to collect input from your employees.
6. Write and review the first draft
Your company policy may not be perfect on the first try. After creating the first draft, gather experts, leaders, and employee feedback. Use the feedback to gain valuable insights and make changes until everyone signs it off. Lastly, seek approval from the legal team and management to implement the policy.
💡Pro Tip: Use ClickUp Docs to easily draft your policies and collaborate with others to get real-time feedback
7. Publish the final draft
Share your company policy in a centralized system that’s easily accessible, like an employee handbook software. Such platforms help you create, customize, and distribute company policies and procedures. They make onboarding employees a breeze, facilitate collaboration and communication, and align with company regulations and values.
Examples of company policies
Writing effective company policies helps create a cohesive work environment. But, before we give you tips to craft effective policies, here are a few real-life company policy examples:
Workplace health and safety policy
Unilever’s workplace safety policy instructs employees on Unilever sites on how to work safely with the ‘musts’ and ‘must nots’ sections. The policy also states when and how to report an incident.
Employee code of conduct
Starbucks’ code of conduct policy promotes a workplace free from harassment, bullying, and discrimination. It explains the forms of discrimination and provides an example of what one should do when experiencing workplace harassment.
Employee disciplinary action
AWS’s employee disciplinary action policy states the corrective measures that an employee’s manager or supervisor can administer to restore workplace discipline. It covers reprimand forms like counseling sessions, verbal warnings, dismissals, and written reprimands.
Attendance and leave policy
Qutrix’s leave policy covers the leave types employees are entitled to and the eligibility for each type. The policy also includes public holidays, the procedure for requesting leaves, and the people responsible for their approval.
Hybrid and remote work policy
This is not your typical company policy example. HubSpot’s hybrid work policy covers three work options for HubSpotters—home, office, and flex—and states what employees get at each work mode. The policy also has separate tabs for how the hybrid system works, company culture code, and FAQs.
Tips and best practices for drafting company policies
Though the company policy examples will help you understand and write better policies, applying a few universal best practices will hone your policies further. Let’s see what these best practices are.
- Use flexible and straightforward language: Write it in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand for all stakeholders. This way, you can guide employee behavior without any room for confusion or misinterpretation
- Keep the policies concise: Break your policies into sections and use bullets wherever possible for quick understanding
- Provide real-life scenarios: Explain how the policy is applicable in practical situations. Illustrate with real-world scenarios and examples to promote better understanding and application
- Involve legal experts: Take input from legal experts when creating company policies. This ensures alignment with relevant laws and regulations
- Use templates: Whether they are policy templates or employee handbook templates, templates make your life easy. They standardize your policies and reduce your work of building policies from scratch
Using ClickUp to create company policies
But are these tips enough to help you draft policies without getting overwhelmed? You can simplify the policy-making process by using a collaboration and project management software like ClickUp.
Here’s how ClickUp, paired with best practices, can help you create the most effective policies.
ClickUp’s HR management platform helps you create a central hub of employee information and company policies. It lets you track employee engagement and performance and saves time with onboarding, hiring, and policy-making templates.
Use ClickUp Docs to collaborate with your policy-building team. Team members can suggest ideas, edit policies in real time, tag other members in comments, assign tasks, and update workflows within the Docs editor to speed up the process.
ClickUp Docs gives you the perfect space to publish your company policies. You can create centralized wikis and employee handbooks where employees can view the latest policy updates.
With advanced version control, you can manage who can access, view, and edit what. This ensures that confidential information, including details about the company’s intellectual property, is available only to a selected few.
That’s not all; ClickUp’s Employee Handbooks, Policies & Procedures Template makes policy-making easier with its comprehensive content. This template helps you create a comprehensive employee handbook.
With this template, you can:
- Set clear guidelines
- Ensure consistency in policies and procedures
- Clarify confusion about handling different situations
Use this template to bring everything under one roof—from code of conduct to vacation and payroll policies. You can quickly add the template to your ClickUp Workspace and start editing based on your business needs.
Another template that can help you implement well-defined processes in your company is ClickUp’s Process and Procedures Template.
This template lets you organize company processes and procedures using Kanban boards for quick access. You can create instructions for repetitive tasks so you can focus on other things that demand your attention.
Use this template to have a consistent approach for all relevant tasks to stay on track, streamline operations, and improve performance measurement accuracy. You can also use multiple views, such as board view, to assign process documentation and table view, to create custom process reports and spreadsheets.
We haven’t revealed the best part yet—ClickUp Brain. Leveraging AI for policy documentation means you don’t have to do everything alone. ClickUp Brain can help you generate multiple company policy outlines.
You can ask ClickUp Brain to suggest sections for your policy so you don’t miss out on anything important. For specific company policies, you can provide prompts to generate the policy’s first draft. Once your other team members review the draft, use it as a reference to prepare your subsequent policies. This will give you a solid base and save time building everything from scratch.
With ClickUp Brain, you can streamline your policy creation process, especially if you have multiple policies in your mind. However, once you generate the policy, refine the content to meet your unique business needs.
Summarize this article for me pleaseBuilding a Clear Organizational Roadmap with Structured Company Policies
Writing company policies takes a lot of time and effort. But you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We recommend reviewing the steps and company policy examples above and finding what works best for you. Using tools like ClickUp can cut down your manual work significantly.
Once you decide on the policy you want to create, give ClickUp a shot. It provides employees, managers, and all other stakeholders easy access to the company’s policies with centralized document management features like ClickUp Docs. Plus, you can generate the entire company policy in just a few clicks with AI.
Sign up for ClickUp now to create fair, clear, and actionable company policies that promote a healthy work environment.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
