Where to get HR Policies and Procedures?

[cagenuts]

We are not the most up-to-date company when it comes to policies, procedures and general HR stuff.

I need to get us up to speed so I was wondering if anyone can recommend a source of sample policies and procedures that are relevant to South Africa and more importantly that abide with the current Labour Law.

I have found this product offering at a reasonable price. Do you think it's worth the money?

[Dave A]

Vanash did a stunning job of presenting the HR basics here.

And a bit on training here.

[cagenuts]

Oh yes, thanks for the links, looks like some good info there.

[Andys69ZA]

More Policies and Procedures

Great resource, especially Vanash's HR basics. I am looking for ideas for a "Policies and Procedures" entry on how to deal with criminal records, both before employment and while in employ. As I understand it one should not discriminate against employees or prospective employees with criminal records unless these directly impact on their job function. I also understand that if an employee is arrested and jailed for a period of time, this is grounds for dismissal regardless of the crime. It would be great to look at an existing policy to see how it's worded.

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

With regards to an employee arrested it is NOT automatically a grounds for dismissal.
Ordinarily a company will dismiss based on operational requirements - you can not come to work and I need to fill the gap.
An employee serving 3 months would possibly be well placed to have his job retained unless he was highly skilled. Similar considerations as dismissal for poor health should be considered.

Some company's try use AWOL as a grounds for dismissal, however AWOL is an intention not to return, imprisonment may not include an intent not to return, hence generally an operational requirement dismissal is used.
It happens that after serving 3 years that the prisoner is released and reports for duty. If the company did not do a form of dismissal they need to hold a hearing and charge the employee with absence from work. Its a fine line given that the absence has an excuse, so to speak.

Another element is having a fair procedure if the person is incarcerated. This is why it is recommended that when an employer intends pressing criminal charges against the employee (say for theft) that they complete the internal process of dismissal before pressing the charges if possible, thus allowing them to complete the hearing.

In short dismissals due to incarceration are clouded with a number of issues and complications. It does seem bizarre but the theory is that you did your time and penance has been paid. Certainly the nature of the crime will be a huge factor, theft, fraud and such forth may provided enough reason to say trust is broken, even if the theft was not against the company.

[tec0]

Here is a link that you may find handy Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Act. I don;t know if this one is up to date but it is a good resource for any business.

[Andys69ZA]

Thanks Anthony. Do you have any links to a "pro-forma" policy that can be modified to suit specific needs?
Regards
Andrew

[HR Solutions]

It takes a long time to get all the correct and modified policies in place.

[Andys69ZA]

Yes HRS, indeed it does. I am mediating a workplace dispute and was researching how companies deal with criminal records. It's interesting that there is a wealth of information out there on almost every other aspect of a company's policies and procedures but very little of consequence on the subject of criminal records.

[HR Solutions]

Yes criminal records does sometimes pose a problem. There are various ways to check as well. Some are too comprehensive ie it will give you every little thing that the person has done in his life and others just give you actual criminal records. In our business if we know too much info we have to share it with our clients and this is not always a good thing. I mean they really do not need to know that a guy had a slight slight bad mishap 25 years ago for eg.

[Citizen X]

Yes HRS, indeed it does. I am mediating a workplace dispute and was researching how companies deal with criminal records. It's interesting that there is a wealth of information out there on almost every other aspect of a company's policies and procedures but very little of consequence on the subject of criminal records.

Hi Andy,

Could you perhaps provide some more information about the dispute?

Off-the-cuff, I can say that being arrested or having a history of being arrested means nothing whatsoever unless the accused was convicted. Anyone can get arrested, if you file a charge of assualt against your neighbour, even though, he didn't assualt you, the police are still obligated to arrest him!
Criminal Records: The best way to establish if an employee has a criminal record is to get the employee to obtain 'Police Clearance.'

http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/policeclear.htm

Remember, in labour disputes, each individual case must be considered on it's own merits, the LRA must be applied where applicable and the company is bound by it's own disciplinary code and procedure..

[HR Solutions]

Off-the-cuff, I can say that being arrested or having a history of being arrested means nothing whatsoever unless the accused was convicted

I'm afraid this is totally not true. If you do a comprehensive criminal check and pick up that a guy was arrested for theft and charges dropped, then lets say it happened again and charges dropped and this has happened in the space of two years ago, this is a problem.

A client would ask us for 4 cvs of candidates to interview. If this guy is one of the candidates on the short list for the job he will fall off the list very quickly. It is a clients right to choose who he wants from a shortlist. He would certainly prefer a "cleaner" applicant. That is why I said in an earlier post, sometimes it is better to only use a criminal check that only picks up convictions, not everything, but sometimes clients want to know everything from the day he was born.

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

I would be doubtful if you will find a criminal records/acts policy.
A policy is essentially a form of rule. No downloading mor ethan 2mb, no personal calls, if you use a car you must check for damage etc,ect
A criminal record before employment or after, would depend on the offence and the actual job, there are too many permutations to make a policy as such.
There are jobs where a criminal record will disqualify you, eg, casino work, security work and such. It will be specific offences ect that disqualify you.
If an employee, whislt employed gets a record taht now disqualyfies him, then you need to follow an operational requiremenst procedure.

the starting point will probably be does the nature of the offence go to the core of the employment relationship. Theft, fraud and such will in most cases be disqualifyers, in pre employement. After employment probably strong reason, if I work with cash then dishonesty will be more pertinent compared to a gardener. etc
Assault may not be a disqualifyer unless it was a work colleague perhaps.
Smoking dope may be a criminal offence but unlikely to effect the work relationship unles perhaps I am a preacher or an anti drug organisation.

Hopefully these examples are pointing you in a direction.
You say you are mediating a dispute which means there is probably an existing employee.

[Citizen X]

I'm afraid this is totally not true. If you do a comprehensive criminal check and pick up that a guy was arrested for theft and charges dropped, then lets say it happened again and charges dropped and this has happened in the space of two years ago, this is a problem.

I don't agree with this contention for the following reason: An accused is innocent until proven guilty. Should an individual be arrested but not convicted, the arrest can't be held against that person as he/she has not being convicted.

[Andys69ZA]

Thanks everyone for your assistance. Yes I am about to mediate a dispute between employer and employer. Not 100% sure yet what the dispute is about as I only have a short synopsis from the employee who approached me and I cannot glean much from that except that it has to do with his prior criminal record and an incident that happened at his place of work. I am waiting for the employer to respond. Responses to my query have given me a good overview of the complexities involved, which is great.