Work regulations:what they must contain and how to get them approved

Who must have them

Employers whose headcount reaches the threshold set by law must prepare work regulations and have them approved. Below that threshold they are optional, but having them still works in the employer's favour.

A small employer with written, approved policies can point to them when a dispute comes up. One that relies on unwritten habits has nothing written to point to.

What they must contain

The regulations cover the whole working relationship, and each chapter affects day-to-day operations:

1. 01Working hours, shifts, and weekly rest days, with start and end times for each category of employee.
2. 02The grace period before lateness counts, if the employer chooses to have one, with its length and start date. The law does not set one, so it belongs in the regulations.
3. 03How overtime is calculated: on basic or gross wage, and the number of hours the monthly wage is divided by.
4. 04Every type of leave, how to request and approve it, and carry-over rules.
5. 05The disciplinary penalty schedule, with penalties increasing for repeat breaches, and the investigation procedure before a penalty is imposed.
6. 06Promotion and pay rise rules, and the conditions for getting them.
7. 07The duties of employee and employer, and rules on work equipment and confidentiality.

Standard template or bespoke regulations

There are two options. The first is to adopt the ministry's standard template without changes. It is the quickest route and is enough for employers with no special policies.

The second is to draft your own regulations to suit the business. Draft them carefully: they go to the ministry for approval and will be refused if they conflict with the law.

Regulations can give employees more than the law provides, but never less. Any clause below the legal minimum is void, even if the employee signed it.

If you have unusual shifts, flexible hours, a grace period, or benefits above the minimum, you need your own regulations that state them. If you only offer the legal minimum, the template is enough.

How approval works

Approval is done online through the ministry's service. The employer uploads its regulations or picks the standard template. Once they are reviewed and approved, they are posted somewhere employees can see them.

Posting matters. A penalty imposed under a clause the employee did not know about can be disputed, and the employee can say they were never told about a clause that was not posted.

Later changes follow the same path: amend, get approval, post. A change applied before approval has no effect.

Their effect in disputes

Regulations give a management decision something to stand on. If you deduct from an employee's salary for lateness, the first questions any tribunal will ask are: which clause did you apply, which level of penalty, and did you use the lower level first?

If you can show a clause from approved, posted regulations, a written investigation record, and an attendance log proving what happened, you have evidence. If your answer is that this is your usual policy, you will lose.

Writing the regulations is half the job. The other half is applying them as written: the grace period you actually allow is the one in the regulations, and penalties come from the approved schedule, not from each manager's own view.

Common errors

1. 01Approving regulations and then following a different policy. This is worse than having none, because your own document proves the breach.
2. 02Allowing a grace period without stating it in the regulations, so every case can be challenged.
3. 03A clause on leave or end-of-service gratuity below the legal minimum. It is void even if the employee signed it.
4. 04Not posting the regulations, so employees can say they did not know about them.
5. 05Not updating the regulations for years while shifts and policies have changed.