Many business owners get carried away with the day-to-day operations of their company and employees that when an issue arises they often fail to address it or have a system in place to address it. That is where company policies come in. As a practical matter, having a solid set of company policies allows everyone involved with the operation and management of the business know how the company uniformly addresses certain issues or programs offered to employees.

For instance, if a business places its employees in relatively high-risk environments due to the nature of the business, it is important for that business to have an employee safety policy in place for a couple of reasons. First, a safety policy gives notice to its employees of standard business practices and acts as a guide for employees to safely perform their jobs. Second, and perhaps most importantly, if employees have notice of the policy and fail to abide by it, such failure by an employee may mitigate any potential claim or lawsuit that the employee has against the business. In other words, having a proper policy in place can help save the company's butt in the event of litigation.

Company policies are wide-ranging. As in the example above, the company may have a policy for employee safety. The company may also wish to give incentives to employees such as paid medical leave, maternity/paternity leave, paid time off, and other incentivization programs. Each of these policies should be firmly outlined for employees and for the company so that everyone involved knows what the rules and ramifications for breaching said rules are. As a result of these policies, programs and processes will be put in place to help ensure proper governance of these programs and prevent abuse.

From a consumer standpoint, especially for businesses working online, website privacy policies and application privacy policies are important to let consumers know how their information and data will be used by the business. With changing privacy and consumer protection laws, such privacy policies are important, especially from a marketing standpoint. Facebook, for example, requires that businesses attach a link to their privacy policy before advertising their business through the platform.

The Taormina Firm works with business owners of all sizes to put company policies in place. We would love to work with you and your business to help. Contact us at any time.