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Discover the essential policies every employer should have to protect their business, support their team, and stay compliant.
Running a business without clear policies is like driving without a map, you might get where you’re going but the risks along the way are high.
Here are our 11 essential workplace policies that every business should have, why they matter, and how to make sure they actually work for you.
Keep in mind, every business will have its unique needs (depending on size, nature of the business and industry).
- Bullying, Harassment & Discrimination Policy (which includes sexual harassment)
- Code of Conduct
- Drug & Alcohol Policy (and associated procedure)
- IT Policy
- Leave Policy
- Mobile Phone Use Policy
- Social Media Policy
- Uniforms & Dress Standards Policy
- Vehicle Use Policy (covering company vehicles and personal vehicles used for work purposes)
- Working from Home Policy (if applicable)
- Workplace Health & Safety Policy
Why Policies Matter
Policies set clear expectations for your team and guide how workplace situations are handled. They help you:
- Protect your business from risk and liability
- Promote a fair, consistent workplace culture
- Provide guidance on behaviour, safety, and leave
- Support managers in handling issues confidently
Without policies, people make their own rules and that’s when confusion, disputes, and misconduct happen.
Benefits of Well-Structured Policies
- Keep your business compliant with laws and regulations
- Improve internal processes and efficiency
- Help manage incidents, disputes, and crises
- Let employees know where to turn for help
- Ensure consistent workplace practices
Keeping Policies Up to Date
Policies are only effective if they’re current and actively used.
Review and update policies:
- At least once a year,
- Whenever legislation changes,
- After any workplace incident.
Train your team:
- Include policies in new starter packs,
- Cover them in inductions,
- Refresh training every 1–2 years.
Recent changes to sexual harassment laws and psychosocial hazards make reviewing your policies more important than ever. Check resources from:
Policies Must Be Enforced
Having policies on paper isn’t enough, you must enforce them consistently.
Here are two real-life cases where employers paid the price for not following their own rules.
- Reinstated after lodging an unfair dismissal claim: An employee with 26 years’ service tried cocaine with friends on a day off, thinking it would be out of his system in 4 days’ time when he returned back to site. On commencement, he returned a positive result on a random drug test for cocaine metabolite. He was sacked for breaching the company’s Drug and Alcohol Policy, which defined “drug free” as passing a drug test based on specified thresholds, irrespective of actual impairment. The Fair Work Commission found that there was no evidence the employee was impaired due to the cocaine and the positive reading revealed a “very low dosage” in his system. The employer was ordered to reinstate him.
- Awarded $10,000 due to unfair dismissal: A manager at an insurance company was dismissed for downloading “hard-core pornography” on his work computers and phone, and storing many explicit images, including a video of himself engaging in sexual acts. The dismissal was found to be unfair and the employee awarded $10,000 because (in part), the employer did not have a policy which prohibited using work computers other than for work purposes.
So, who can prepare my Policies?
Speak with the team at Edwards HR about reviewing or updating your current policies, or preparing new ones.
