By Vaughan Granier
Welcome to part three of our series on how to become an Accredited Employer with Immigration New Zealand (INZ). Now that you’ve reviewed your business’s financial soundness, it’s time to start thinking about your company’s HR practices.
In this article, I dive into what makes up good HR practices, the importance of having water-tight policies and processes in place, and how you can demonstrate your methods are compliant with INZ and that you treat your employees appropriately.
So, let’s get into it…
Proving your HR practices are up to scratch
As a business, it’s up to you to prove your HR practices and show that:
- you have good policies in place, and they’re well known in your business;
- your company has good processes and they’re followed;
- all employment agreements are legally compliant; and
- Health and safety (H&S) requirements are complied with.
In addition, INZ will be assessing your business’s history of employment practices by inspecting:
- Worksafe or Labour Inspectorate findings. It’s important to note that these attach to individual directors and owners as well as to the business (for example, person A breaks the law while working at company B. And then company C, where person A is now an owner or director, tries to get accredited to employ foreign workers, their application will be rejected because of Person A’s history);
- redundancies that have occurred in the past 12 months;
- if you have union members, the feedback of union representatives; and
- ISO certification (if applicable).
Let’s talk about policies
Policies are documents that guide the business overall and help with daily decision making by managers. They create predictable and fair environments where employees can operate in confidence, and managers can confidently make decisions based on well-thought-out principles.
Smaller companies can often work without policies, either because they don’t have the time or expertise to create them, or perhaps they view them as restrictive or an imposition on the freedom of the owners to manage the business. As an example, many managers want the freedom to reward a good employee with flexibility in leave-taking, but to give a not-so-good employee fewer freedoms. This kind of managerial discretion to do as one wishes is highly risky, as the inconsistency and unfairness it creates is a personal grievance waiting to happen.
The primary benefit of policies is that they’re designed to minimise corporate risk and enhance good faith in the workplace.
HR Assured has developed a reliable and workplace-tested database of all these policies that are available to our clients as templates for their use. These templates are constantly monitored and updated to keep pace with changes in employment law developments and are guaranteed to be compliant and fit for purpose.
A list and description of the kinds of workplace policies and documents you should consider having are as follows:
| Document Name | Purpose |
| Organisation chart | Sets out roles and seniority levels. Clarifies reporting lines and levels of authority, and enables very detailed workforce planning through skills analysis compared to product or service deliverables. |
| Employment agreement | Sets out the conditions of employment for each employee. It can be different for levels and types of employees but must meet minimum standards of employment law and any differences between contracts and working conditions cannot be changed without good reason. |
| Job descriptions | Sets out the context of employee’s roles, including qualifications and experience requirements, reporting lines, deliverables, activities, and working relationships. |
| Health & Safety (H&S) | Sets out the employer’s commitment to establishing Health & Safety (H&S) in the workplace. Establishes consultation, communication and representation protocols. May include emergency planning. |
| Leave and absences | Sets out the rules and behaviours expected of employees and managers around different types of absence from the workplace, whether paid or unpaid. |
| Parental leave | Clarifies entitlements and workplace support for prospective and new parents. |
| Alcohol and drugs | Sets out the rules and responsibilities around the use of any drugs and alcohol. Should also include guidelines around testing, prescribed medicines, workplace functions and consequences of positive results. |
| Harassment, bullying, and discrimination | Prohibits any workplace behaviours that harass, discriminate or bully. Sets out processes to address complaints and support victims. |
| Grievances | Establishes processes to resolve any employee concerns. |
| Conduct and discipline | Clarifies expected workplace behaviours and sets out processes for addressing misconduct, and consequences for misconduct. |
| Performance management | Clarifies how the employer will address lower than expected performance levels in different circumstances. |
| Internet, email, and social media | Sets standards for behaviour in the employees’ online communications, behaviour and presence, as well as responsibilities around possession and use of company hardware and software. |
| Workplace surveillance | Establishes how and when the employer can monitor the location and/or activities of employees. |
| Motor vehicles | Sets out the responsibilities and expected behaviour for employees entrusted with employer-owned vehicles, as well as consequences for infringements and accidents. |
| Privacy | Establishes boundaries around, and responsibilities for possession, access to, and use of employees’ private information. |
| Flexible working arrangements | Sets out the basis for flexible working and working from home arrangements. |
Now that we’ve shared how you can demonstrate your business’s HR practices, it’s time to get practising! If you need help managing your HR, speak to the team at HR Assured – we’re experts in all things employment relations and can guide and assist you.
Other articles in the series:
Vaughan Granier is the National Workplace Relations Manager for HR Assured NZ. He has over 24 years’ experience in international human resources, health and safety, and workplace relations management. With over 13 years working in New Zealand and Australian companies, he provides in-depth support to leadership teams across all areas of HR, Health and Safety, and employee management.