Employers have been warned they are at risk of legal action after it was revealed that almost half of HR professionals do not require written acknowledgement from staff that they have read a policy change.
A survey by policy advice firm NETconsent of 100 HR workers found that 45 did not require any record of agreement from employees over changes to employer policy.
Dom Saunders, operations director at NETconsent, said: “Not communicating these changes to staff can leave an organisation open to litigation if they cannot prove that staff have read and acknowledged them.
“Having a clear audit trail of who has seen and agreed to policies is essential if companies are to protect themselves. An automated policy management tool not only ensures that policies are communicated cost effectively, but also records who has and who hasn’t agreed to them.”
Two-thirds of respondents used electronic means to communicate policy changes, while 21% used paper and 13% communicated them verbally.
