Policy creation & update process

Introduction

This policy governs how policies are created and updated in terms of the process and final decision making.

This policy and procedure is non-contractual and may be amended from time to time.

Process:

1. Policy Coordinator writes policy or goes through existing policy to do basic updates

These updates are to make sure it’s in-line with:

• Terms and personnel (e.g changing workplace coordinator to the appropriate circle, etc)

• Our statutory duties - to reflect any changes that have come into play in the past year

• Our values

• Any policy changes we’ve voted in since the policies were written

The Policy Coordinator makes edits to the policy which they highlight in yellow to show what has been changed. It can also be helpful if the Policy Coordinator highlights which changes in particular have any implications for day-to-day practice, entitlements or may be controversial for other reasons. They could do this by highlighting these changes in a different colour.

The Policy Coordinator then proceeds to either stage 3 or 2 first as preferred. The policy cannot be signed off until it has been approved by both the staff team and a representative from the Board of Directors but this can happen in either order.

2. Policy Coordinator seeks consent of staff

For new policies or updates to existing policies where there are significant changes proposed to the policy, the Policy Coordinator takes the proposed change(s) to the team meeting.

Significant changes are defined as any changes which will have significant implications for day-to-day practice or staff’s entitlements as employees and/or requires more in-depth discussion or explanation of context, implications or why they’ve been proposed (see Appendix). Otherwise, the Coordinator posts the policy on Loomio to gain the consent of all staff who are interested (2 week deadline). Any changes to the existing policy must be highlighted in yellow.

The sign off process on Loomio follows a Sociocratic process:

• The policy is shared

• Staff can ask clarifying questions or respond to the proposed policy and/or policy changes. They can do this in Loomio or in comments on the document.

• Staff give their consent to the policy or raise critical concerns in the Loomio forum.

Note: staff are not obliged to engage with the consent process on Loomio, but staff who do not wish to engage must let the Policy Coordinator know. If any staff are absent or on annual leave then sign off can proceed without them.

If the policy has not yet received approval from a representative from the Board, then the Policy Coordinator should continue to stage 3. Otherwise, proceed to stage 5.

3. Policy Coordinator sends policy to representative from the Board for review

The Board’s Policy Lead asks questions and responds in comments on the document where relevant.

4. Policy Coordinator incorporates comments and suggested edits by the Board representative.

If the Board representative suggests more significant changes, the Policy Coordinator can meet or talk with them if necessary to discuss these changes.

If there is a difference of perspective between the Policy Coordinator and Board member which the Coordinator does not feel they can resolve by themselves, then they can ask for additional support in the decision making process from another staff member or member of the Board.

If the Policy Lead’s feedback leads to any significant changes to the policy, then the process reverts to stage 2, with any proposed changes highlighted in the text of the policy document (if the policy is being updated). Otherwise, the process continues to stage 5.

5. Final check

Policy Coordinator gives policy final checks for formatting, grammar etc., then updates the policy in the handbook and emails the staff and P&G lead with the new or updated policy, for transparency.

6. Next date for review is added to the appropriate documents and calendars.

Appendix

Decisions on changes made during Policy reviews

Type of change	Example	Will this have any real life affect on practice, policy or entitlements, beyond clarifying existing practice?	Input from staff required	Input from board required
Grammatical changes and spelling corrections	‘Organization’ changed to ‘organisation’	No	Non-compulsory sign off on Loomio	Sign off from board representative
Pronouns: Changing any reference to ‘she/he’ to ‘they’ to make policies more inclusive of all genders	Changing: “If the employee wants to request it, she or he must…” to “If the employee wants to request it, they must…”	No	Non-compulsory sign off on Loomio	Sign off from board representative
Updating the named people responsible for an area	Changing the named Safeguarding Officer	No	Non-compulsory sign off on Loomio	Sign off from board representative
Updating the circle names mentioned in the doc	Changing any references to the ‘resource circle’ or circles which no longer exist	No	Non-compulsory sign off on Loomio	Sign off from board representative
Substantive changes to the wording and tone of the document, which don’t result in significant change to practise	E.g. “the employee must make their request in writing clearly stating…” Changed to: “If you want to make a request, you’ll need to put it in writing and include…”	No	Non-compulsory sign off on Loomio	Sign off from board representative
Some changes to practise but low likelihood that this would affect anyone’s day to day practice	E.g. Changes to who responds to appeals to flexible working.	Yes	Non-compulsory sign off on Loomio	Sign off from board representative

Last updated: November 2023

Authorised by Coordinators:

Authorised by Directors: March 2024