Standards of Conduct Policy, Putting Employees on Notice

VirtualHRPros.com
Author: Bill Vogel, PHR

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​Employee handbooks commonly include a Standards or Code of Conduct Policy that defines required employee behavior on and off the job. This policy should get the same attention as the sexual harassment and equal opportunity policies. For example, the Standards of Conduct policy needs yearly review for compliance with state, federal and local laws. In addition, the policy must be distributed, posted, reviewed, and acknowledged by everyone. Finally, provide training sessions on topics such as work place civility to help employees avoid conduct violations.

The primary elements of a Standards of Conduct policy are as follows:

• Expected Behavior Statement
• Discretionary Discipline Levels
• Examples of Misconduct

 
An Expected Behavior Statement is similar to a mission statement. For example, “The company expects all employees, consultants and temporary personnel to follow all policies, rules, procedures, and behave in a way that is safe, productive, and to treat each other with dignity and respect.”
 
The Discretionary Discipline Levels informs everyone that the company does not have a progressive discipline policy. Employees and managers must understand that discipline, which includes termination can occur at any level. For example, theft may result in termination without receiving a written warning, and insubordination may result in a final warning without previous notification.
 
The Standards of Conduct Policy needs to list several examples of misconduct, such as fighting, insubordination, misappropriation, disrespect, gambling, falsification, sleeping, loitering, off duty behavior, unlawful conduct, confidentiality, sexual harassment, accepting bribes, etc. In addition, add this statement at the end of the list that clearly places employees on notice, “It is impossible to list all examples of misconduct; therefore, management may identify any behavior that jeopardizes our business, employees, customers or the general public that supports the need for disciplinary action up to and including termination from employment.”  

As always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or needs help developing policies, procedures, and training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements. 

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