It’s incredibly exciting when your company enters a period of growth! While it might be an onerous task, making sure your company has the right policies and procedures in place can eliminate unnecessary risks or obstacles for your team.
If you have policies and procedures in place upon entering a period of growth, your business is likely to be able to operate seamlessly at an increased capacity without the need to pause operations or become distracted with complaints, lawsuits or fines for failure to follow all applicable laws, rules and regulations.
If you are not prepared for the changes that accompany a period of growth, you may be forced to take a temporary hit on productivity to adjust existing policies and procedures (or implement new ones) to fit your new needs.
Whether you already have established policy and procedure documents in place that simply need some fine-tuning, or you need to write a whole new set, it is advisable to consult an experienced attorney like me to help you to draft the best possible versions. Customizing policy and procedure documents can be tricky—fortunately, I can simplify the task for you by offering decades of experience and guidance in this regard.
Why Policies and Procedures Matter to Your Business –Now, More than Ever
The past few years have dramatically changed the landscape of the business world. First, the shift to remote workplaces and now, the gradual return-to-work measures that companies are instituting will require a massive overhaul of policies and procedures. Key topics will be proof of vaccination, paid leave for COVID-19 testing and vaccination, staggered shifts, face coverings, contact tracing, screening protocols, travel, sick leave and required accommodations. It’s imperative that your company think through the implications of policies that address these issues and that you comply with federal, state and local laws.
Second, cyber crimes are rampant. With constant new threats to data security, companies must advance their procedures to avoid high risk data breaches. As your company grows and you add more participants and devices to your infrastructure, the increased risk to security increases exponentially. An ounce of prevention here is indeed worth a pound of cure, as the remediation efforts required after a breach can be very costly, time consuming and damaging to individual interests.
| Third, working more closely together is a new normal, and there is no more important policy than Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to set the right message for all teams to follow. The Employee Handbook is an excellent tool to communicate your company’s culture, values and expectations for interpersonal communications in the workplace. |
Fourth, The U.S. Department of Labor recently withdrew the prior administration’s final rule designed to simplify the classification of workers as independent contractors, leaving open the possibility that the agency might be seeking to propose a new rule. Such a rule could expand the number of workers considered to be employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, so employers need to monitor legislative developments and court challenges, including those involving the classification of certain app-based workers. Lawsuits and state-level ballot initiatives addressing worker classification in this area is expected. Businesses will continue to be challenged in their efforts to comply with multiple laws and agency guidance when determining worker status, applying wage and hour and tax laws or eligibility for fringe benefits, not to mention the risk of penalties for worker misclassification.
The above are only a few examples of how the right policies and procedures can help you address and manage rapid growth.
With the help of a qualified legal expert, you should carefully consider reviewing and updating the policies and procedures that apply to your business and your plan as you move through the cycle of rapid growth and return to stability.
Final Words
Every business will have unique areas of concern and focus. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions to having the right policies and procedures in place. With the help of a legal expert like me, however, you can make sure your business is ready to handle any rate of growth.
There is no need to wait and take risks with your company’s operations and reputation. To successfully grow your business, ensure you have the right policies and procedures in place ahead of time to protect your business, your employees, and yourself.
Connect with me today to get started on the process of adjusting your existing (or with writing new) policies and procedures that fit your specific business needs.