Should employers adopt employment policies?

Adoption of employment policies by employers are important for two principal reasons: first, an appropriately drafted policy, properly implemented and followed, can in some instances provide a defense to a particular legal claim, for example in requiring reporting of all sexual harassment by co-workers followed by appropriate investigation; second, clear, well-drafted policies provide guidance to supervisors, managers, and human resources in how to manage particular situations, leading to consistent decisions by the appropriate decision-makers rather than haphazard and inconsistent decisions that do not reflect the employer’s management objectives and could result in different treatment of employees in similar situations.

While an employer cannot have a policy for everything, there are certain policies that are fundamental; plus, there are certain policies the law requires, sometimes dependent on the employer’s size in terms of number of employees.