Without basic formal employment law policies there is a much higher risk of unwanted disputes and legal issues. Data Protection is an important thing to be covered in employment policy, it should adhere to the regulations set out in the Data Protection Act (1998) which discusses the way an individual’s information should be used and held. This policy should cover processing data, collection of data, transferring data and retaining data.

Equal opportunities policy is meant to be used by employers to ensure the company follows equality responsibilities set out by anti-discrimination legislation. It should include a statement about the aim and objective of the policy as a whole, who the policy applies to, the specific actions that will be taken to prevent discrimination and promote equal opportunities, how these will be implemented and who is responsible for this, how it will be monitored and reviewed and how complaints will be handled.

Complementary to this is the Age Discrimination Policy; this covers the obligations of employers under the Employment Equality (Age) regulations (in place since 1st October 2006) which regard age equality and retirement. In terms of retirement it covers banning unjustified retirement under 65, the employee’s right request to work beyond retirement age as well as the employer’s duty to then consider the request and that the employer has to give at least 6 months notice of the retirement data to the employee.

Other key policies to have in place are maternity, paternity and adoption leave. Maternity leave policies should include ante-natal appointments, that the employee has to inform the company of the pregnancy, protection during the leave, statutory maternity pay and that the employee will return to work after the leave. Paternity and adoption leave should both cover eligibility for leave, the length of leave and the statutory pay.

A further policy to consider is a sickness and absence policy which should cover the procedure for notification and certification of absence and medical examinations. It can also overlap with health and safety policy covering risk assessments, injury at work and manual handling. » Read more: Top Tips For Employment Law Policies