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HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY PROJECT ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
Policies provide standardization and structure to employees. The employee handbook is a venue
for communicating expectations and can be a resource for employees as they have questions. In
this assignment you will present as to why 4 policies should be included within the employee
handbook. This assignment allows you to apply some of your HR knowledge to a fictional
small company of 15-25 employees.
INSTRUCTIONS
In a research paper, provide researched rationale for the nature and substance of your 4 selected,
distinct policies. This paper is to be reflective of an academic research paper. The research paper
must address the reasoning and/or rationale for the inclusion of the selected policy elements in a
policy manual.
The selected policies must correctly address employment legislation pertinent to the stated size
of the company (15–25 employees). In elaborating on the rationale, you may want to consider
the following questions: Why should these elements be in a policy manual? What laws or
principles mandate an organization follow these guidelines? What cases have established
precedent for this issue to be addressed clearly in an organization’s employee policy manual?
Support your rationale with (at minimum) 10 reputable, practitioner sources (ex. SHRM) or
scholarly journals. Government websites (FLSA, EEO, etc.) can also count towards your
sources (note some government websites will not be a match – such as the dress code for the
Wisconsin’s FDA investigators. The .gov isn’t automatically an applicable source. Be
discerning. These sources will likely be the same as the ones on the HRPP Annotated
Bibliography but pay attention to your instructor feedback if a source or a policy topic needs to
be changed for this work. The 10 sources are in addition to the required use of the textbook and
the Bible.
The paper must be at least 1,750 words, in addition to the cover page, the abstract, and the
references page. It must be written in current APA format. Papers submitted with less than the
minimum word count will not receive full credit in this area of the grading rubric.
Following are some examples of HR policy topics. These are only examples. You may
identify/select other topics that would be relevant and appropriate for a general employee policy
manual/handbook.
Dress Code
Technology Use
Fraternization Policies (workplace dating)
Confidentiality
Harassment
Benefits (This can be more specific to areas such as paid time off, health care benefits,
and so forth.)
Leave
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Moonlighting
Attendance
Please DO NOT pick:
Training
Recruiting/Selection
Code of Conduct
Ethics
Performance Reviews
Some of these are more procedural and more for one person in a role at the company or for
supervisors. Code of Conduct is easily confused with the more common Code of Conduct in
publicly traded organizations.
Keep the company size in mind as you research. Stay in the US when it comes to laws and try to
keep out of specific industries and areas that are not a match. For example, an article on school
dress code is not a good match to researching a dress code at the workplace. An article on
Transyvanian ceramic engineers who experience harassment is going to not have good carryover
to a small US coffee shop and the definition of harassment will be not the same as the one in the
US.
This paper is a rationale for the policies and the company is not important other than to keep the
small size in mind. You can write the paper in general terms (policies for a small company, etc.)
or adopt a fictional company (ex. ABC Coffee Shop). Do note this is not a research paper and
you are not looking at specific companies and what they have. This is also not the policies
themselves and the tone will not be addressing employees but rather a formal paper about the
importance of the policies you pick. Spend your time and effort on areas that advance the paper
and align with the assignment instructions and rubric.
The policies you select do not need to be the most important four policies a company should
have – just any four policies that are of interest to you and a good match to a small company
handbook.
Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
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Policies for a Small Company
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Title
Date
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Policies for a Small Company
As a company, we have the responsibility to ensure that we deliver the best services to a large
consumer market. And one way of making that possible is through the creation of policies
governing our operations. These policies help regulate employee and management behavior to
ensure that its goals are met. We take our public image seriously and the effect it has on the sale
of our products and services. As such, employees will be tasked with adhering to the following
policies:
Code 1: All employees shall adhere to a formal or business casual dress code policy. In that
regard, all employees must uphold the following aspects of the dressing code:
a. They shall always wear closed pairs of flat shoes when working.
b. They shall not wear casual garments like shorts, sweat pants, athletic wear, and revealing
clothes to the workplace.
c. Unconventional hairstyles are prohibited. These include dreadlocks on men or colored
hair in both men and women. Keep it simple and neat.
d. Employees shall not have visibly displayed beauty marks on their bodies, including
tattoos, and piercings.
e. Both male and female employees are advised to wear trousers to work.
The ultimate goal of businesses ensuring that their employees follow a certain code for dressing
to create order in the workplace. This order is critical to how a business firm portrays its image
to the rest of the world. Customers would want to receive services from a place that they can
trust and having an organization with great presentation can ensure that. A dress code ensures
uniformity amongst the people and this is crucial in reducing the disparities that could result
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when there is too much freedom in dressing. For instance, individuals can choose to dress up in
lavish golden chains, fancy hairstyles, or flamboyant casual outfits.
Part (a) of this policy covers a major reason why firms advise individuals to follow a specific
dress code. It guarantees safety to the employees (Middlemiss, 2018). Raised shoes or open
shoes increase the risks of injury to an employee. The exposed feet increase the risks of suffering
chemical or mechanical injuries.
In part (b, c, & d), the objective for having the dress code policy of the firm is to safeguard its
image. Companies thrive from their brand names. A public image is critical in creating the
significance of a brand name. Studies have found that the more casual garments, such as athletic
wear, sweat pants, and revealing clothes induce a negative attitude in customers towards a
company’s service quality (Karl et al., 2013). Such a dress code makes the clients lose faith in
the ability of employees of a given firm to deliver the expected services because of their
presentation. This bias is not unsurprising and that is why companies want to ensure that their
employees follow a specific mode of dressing to protect their images. Similarly, the body
transformations like unconventional hairstyles and tattoos often create a bad impression on
clients seeking services (Karl et al., 2013). Society upholds some bias towards such people in the
workplace scenario.
Part (e) does not impose the rule on the people but generally states that men and women should
wear trousers. This policy aims to reduce gender disparities through dressing. If women dress in
skirts and men in trousers, the differences can create less uniformity in the workplace and
potentially segregate the female and male genders. More importantly, it would help reduce the
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challenges of the business finding the right dressing code for transgender people. They can now
wear trousers because it is a gender-neutral dress mode.
Notably, the policy requires the employees to embrace either a business casual dress code policy
or a formal one. Studies indicate that dressing formally helps reignite the employees’ business
objectives. It helps them switch their mentality to one that is more focused to perform well in the
workplace. But the business casual dress code policy also has the advantages of offering comfort
to the employees in the workplace without compromising their quality of work significantly
(Middlemiss, 2018). Thus, the policy gives leeway to adopt either dress code.
Code 2: The company discourages any employee from engaging in a workplace romance, which
includes engaging in casual sexual activities in the workplace, starting romantic relationships, or
engaging in extramarital affairs. The company will punish employees whose workplace romance
activities prove to be a liability to the firm in the following ways:
a. Destroy its public image significantly.
b. Lead to a significant decline in the productivity of the associated parties.
c. Lead to health risks to the involved parties and their colleagues.
The business firm’s stand regarding workplace romance is less rigid but seeks to indicate to the
employees that if their activities harm the company in any way, they will be liable to penalties.
The ultimate aim of this policy is to protect the employees as well as the company. Workplace
romance has several repercussions on the employees and the firm, which can negatively impact
its performance. Notably, workplace romance is a breeding ground for undesirable practices like
favoritism in the workplace. Dating partners are likely to engage in unethical business practices,
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such as unfair employee benefits and promotions (Chory & Hoke, 2019). The eventual effect is
the creation of workplace disharmony that discourages employee morale.
These kinds of relationships can be a threat to personal safety, especially during fallouts. The
occurrence of ‘love triangles’ in the workplace can escalate matters to violent levels. Employees
may hurt each other physically and the psychological suffering afterward can lead to poor
productivity in the workplace (Verhoef & Terblanche, 2015). An organization’s reputation will
not only suffer but a small organization can become destabilized because the few employees play
a significant role in its operations. Besides, if these romantic relationships are extramarital, they
can further damage a company’s reputation. Society considers such behavior unethical and this
can discourage clients from dealing with such a firm.
The policy is keen to indicate that it does not ban but rather discourages workplace romances.
The reason for this loophole is the recognition that in some cases, such relationships can have
significant benefits to the employees. For some people, workplace dating enhances their
commitment to their jobs. They feel happier working close to their loved ones and this makes
their job engagement rise. Besides, employees who are dating their workmates are more likely to
stay in the same firm for a long time, a reason that enables companies to retain the employees for
a long time.
Code 3: The company will at all times uphold employee confidentiality in the following ways:
a. Explicitly making it clear the reasons for the collection of any form of personal data from
the employees.
b. Explaining how the collected data shall be stored and for how long.
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c. Ensuring that medical and health information is only kept in the database only as long as
it is needed.
d. By ensuring that only authorized personnel access the collected data.
e. By never making the information public at any time without the consent of the employee
in question.
f. By reducing camera and electronic surveillance of the employees in the firm.
This policy protects the employees from illegal access to their personal data by unauthorized
persons in a company. The company is aware that some of the information collected from the
employees can put their lives in jeopardy if it lands in the wrong hands. Information regarding
their medical conditions can also lead to undesirable consequences, such as social stigma
(Gignac et al., 2020). As such, it is our role to protect the employees' data through the
implementation of the above policies.
Employee data is a sensitive matter and the US federal and state laws advocate for the protection
of such data. The company protects their personal information to ensure that they lead high-
quality lives. If the welfare of the employees is unprotected, their performance will decline
ultimately affecting company productivity.
Code 4: The company shall under no circumstances tolerate any form of harassment of the
employees amounting to the following acts:
a. Any form of direct or implied sexual harassment, which includes:
Forced physical contact, such as kissing, caressing, or sexual intercourse.
Use of foul language in the workplace.
Display of private body parts in the workplace.
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Recording
b. Any form of employee bullying that includes:
Implied explicit threats to an employee regarding their employment status at the
firm.
Unfair treatment of an employee at the workplace, including overworking them or
using foul language when referring to them.
Physical manhandling by colleagues or their management.
Workplace discrimination, including instances of :
i. Racial discrimination.
ii. Gender discrimination.
iii. Discrimination along the lines of age.
c. The company reserves the right to assess any acts that it may deem as harassment,
irrespective of their listing in the policies in (a) and (b) above, and carry out its
disciplinary measures.
As its duty to ensure that these acts do not go unpunished, the company has a safe electronic
reporting system. Employees can report their harassers there, irrespective of their rank in the
organization. The following measures will be effected as disciplinary actions if the involved
parties are found guilty:
i. Suspension from the workplace for periods as may be deemed fit with a
percentage cut in their remuneration.
ii. Demotion of the employee to a lower rank in the firm.
iii. Sacking the perpetrator.
iv. Loss of some employment benefits, such as the likelihood of promotion.
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Workplace harassment has serious adverse effects on an individual. Friborg et al., 2017 note that
abusive behavior in the workplace leads to depressive symptoms. It can also lead to high-stress
levels, leading to other mental ill-health manifestations like disturbed sleeping patterns, lethargy,
fatigue, and anxiety (Sansone & Sansone, 2015). Some victims may suffer physical abuse
symptoms, such as fibromyalgia and musculoskeletal pain.
Besides, the company recognizes the likelihood of bullying that amounts to discriminatory
behavior in the workplace. Such behavior may manifest as slur, discriminatory practice when
granting employee benefits and roles, or attitudes towards the employees (Roscigno, 2019). The
company devotes itself to ending discriminatory activities amongst the employees through the set
of policies above. The human resource management department will investigate the reports made
through an electronic complaint system and ensure the perpetrators of undesirable acts do not go
unpunished. The company will uphold the confidentiality of the individuals who filed the reports
unless during the investigation.
This organization dedicates its time and resources to ensuring employees achieve job
satisfaction. Employees’ quality of life matters to us and it is in the best interests of the firm that
they remain protected from any form of maltreatment while working at the firm.
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References
Bhave, D. P., Teo, L. H., & Dalal, R. S. (2019). Privacy at Work: A Review and a Research
Agenda for a Contested Terrain. Journal of Management, 46(1), 127–164.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206319878254
Chory, R. M., & Hoke, H. (2019). Young Love at Work: Perceived Effects of Workplace
Romance among Millennial Generation Organizational Members. The Journal of
Psychology, 153(6), 575–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2019.1581722
Friborg, M. K., Hansen, J. V., Aldrich, P. T., Folker, A. P., Kjær, S., Nielsen, M. B. D.,
Rugulies, R., & Madsen, I. (2017). Workplace sexual harassment and depressive
symptoms: a cross-sectional multilevel analysis comparing harassment from clients or
customers to harassment from other employees amongst 7603 Danish employees from
1041 organizations. BMC Public Health, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-
4669-x
Gignac, M. A. M., Bowring, J., Jetha, A., Beaton, D. E., Breslin, F. C., Franche, R.-L., Irvin, E.,
Macdermid, J. C., Shaw, W. S., Smith, P. M., Thompson, A., Tompa, E., Van Eerd, D., &
Saunders, R. (2020). Disclosure, Privacy and Workplace Accommodation of Episodic
Disabilities: Organizational Perspectives on Disability Communication-Support
Processes to Sustain Employment. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 31(1), 153–
165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-020-09901-2
Jung, H. S., & Yoon, H. (2020). How Does Workplace Romance Influence Employee
Performance in the Hospitality Industry? Sustainability, 12(13), 5478.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135478
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Karl, K. A., Hall, L. M., & Peluchette, J. V. (2013). City Employee Perceptions of the Impact of
Dress and Appearance. Public Personnel Management, 42(3), 452–470.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026013495772
Middlemiss, S. (2018). Not what to wear? Employers’ liability for dress codes? International
Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 18(1), 40–51.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229118757867
Roscigno, V. J. (2019). Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and the Impact of Workplace Power.
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 5(5).
https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023119853894
Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2015). Workplace bullying: a tale of adverse consequences.
Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 12(1-2), 32–37.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4382139/
Verhoef, H., & Terblanche, L. (2015). The effect of dissolved workplace romances on the
psychosocial functioning and productivity of the employees involved. Social Work,
51(2), 287–310. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-
80542015000200007
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2
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Policies for a Small Company
Confidentiality
Bhave, D. P., Teo, L. H., & Dalal, R. S. (2019). Privacy at Work: A review and a research
agenda for a contested terrain. Journal of Management, 46(1), 127–164.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206319878254
Lee, C. (2018). Culture, consent and confidentiality in workplace autoethnography. Journal of
Organizational Ethnography, 7(3), 302–319. https://doi.org/10.1108/joe-06-2017-0032
Dress Code
Middlemiss, S. (2018). Not what to wear? Employers’ liability for dress codes? International
Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 18(1), 40–51.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229118757867
Aliakbari, M., & Abdolahi, K. (2013). Does it matter what we wear? A sociolinguistic study of
clothing and human values. International Journal of Linguistics, 5(2).
https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v5i2.3051
Fraternization Policies (Workplace Dating)
Chory, R. M., & Hoke, H. (2019). Young love at work: perceived effects of workplace romance
among millennial generation organizational members. The Journal of Psychology,
153(6), 575–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2019.1581722
Jung, H. S., & Yoon, H. (2020). How Does Workplace Romance Influence Employee
Performance in the Hospitality Industry? Sustainability, 12(13),
5478. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135478
Verhoef, H., & Terblanche, L. (2015). The effect of dissolved workplace romances on the
psychosocial functioning and productivity of the employees involved. Social Work,
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 3
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51(2), 287–310. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-
80542015000200007
Harassment
Gale, S., Mordukhovich, I., Newlan, S., & McNeely, E. (2019). The impact of workplace
harassment on health in a working cohort. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.0118
Giorgi, G., Perminienė, M., Montani, F., Fiz-Perez, J., Mucci, N., & Arcangeli, G. (2016).
Detrimental effects of workplace bullying: impediment of self-management competence
via psychological distress. Frontiers in Psychology, 7.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00060
Roscigno, V. J. (2019). Discrimination, sexual harassment, and the impact of workplace power.
Socius: sociological research for a dynamic world, 5(5).
https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023119853894
Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2015). Workplace bullying: a tale of adverse consequences.
Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 12(1-2), 32–37.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4382139/
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 4
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Middlemiss, S. (2018). Not what to wear? Employers’ liability for dress codes?
International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 18(1), 40–51.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229118757867
Middlemiss, (2018) notes that after surveying several businesses, 40% of them operated
with a smart casual dress code policy. Only 17% made it compulsory to wear formal business
attire. But a notable finding is that very few firms let employees dress as they deemed fit.
Organizations believe that enforcing specific employee dress codes were essential in enhancing
their public image. It sets the cultural standards by which the employees must abide while
working at the firm. A specific dress code can also promote health and safety in an organization
and this has been cited as the most common reason for wearing specific attire. Even so, there is
the challenge of finding the right dress code for people who identify with genders from their
biological sex. The LGBT group has unique challenges, especially the transgender group.
Business firms often fail to incorporate these groups when making dress code policies.
Transgender employees would like to wear clothes that are appropriate to their gender identities.
Aliakbari, M., & Abdolahi, K. (2013). Does it Matter What We Wear? A Sociolinguistic
Study of Clothing and Human Values. International Journal of Linguistics, 5(2).
https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v5i2.3051
In a study conducted by Aliakbari & Abdolahi (2013), it sort to test out the effect of dressing
grooming in the cloth sales market. The participants took the role of clients purchasing garments
from stores and the results indictade that the sellers judged their credibility and likability based
on their mode of dress. Other factors, such as time o shopping, gender, speaking style, age, and
level of attractiveness, physical build, and education had been kept constant between the sellers
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 5
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and buyers to eliminate other sources of bias. Specific modes of dress got a better reception than
others, indicating that how one dresses impacts how they are treated in their surroundings.
Chory, R. M., & Hoke, H. (2019). Young Love at Work: Perceived Effects of Workplace
Romance among Millennial Generation Organizational Members. The Journal of
Psychology, 153(6), 575–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2019.1581722
In the study, Chory & Hoke, (2019) noted that minimal benefits were associated with
workplace romantic relationships (Chory & Hoke, 2019). Some of the notable advantages were
favoritism encompassing promotions and unfair benefits accruing to the dating partners. But
these benefits are also the downside of dating in the workplace. They have damaging
consequences on the image of a firm and create internal disharmony among the employees. For
instance, increased leniency between romantic partners in the workplace creates distrust (Chory
& Hoke, 2019). Other employees become jealous when their colleagues get unnecessary
favorable treatment. Thus, they may resort to quitting their jobs or have a negative attitude
towards their work., leading to declined workforce productivity. Besides, fallouts from these
workplace romantic relationships harmed employee relationships, ultimately resulting in poor
employee morale. They create a tense atmosphere that is detrimental to an organization’s
performance. A failure to regulate these relationships can eventually harm a company’s returns.
Jung, H. S., & Yoon, H. (2020). How Does Workplace Romance Influence Employee
Performance in the Hospitality Industry? Sustainability, 12(13),
5478. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135478
Research that Jung & Yoon, (2020) did in the hospitality sector showed that there can be
different effects of workplace dating depending on the industry. The researchers undertook a
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study amongst deluxe hotels employees they found a closer correlation between workplace
romance and company performances. These workplace romances enhanced their job engagement
because of improved psychological well-being and self-esteem. The lack of workplace policy
regarding their dating lifestyles was made the employees more willing to make their
relationships public. The lack of fraternity policies regulating these kinds of relationships thus
prevents the rise of secret culture, which could be detrimental to a company’s operations. Matters
of workplace dating directly impact the employees. If firms choose to have ways of regulating
these types of relationships, they must have considerate policies that employees can willfully
accept. The nature of their implementation will determine the approach that employees will have
to these relationships, and this will eventually impact the organizational performance.
Verhoef, H., & Terblanche, L. (2015). The effect of dissolved workplace romances on the
psychosocial functioning and productivity of the employees involved. Social Work, 51(2),
287–310. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-
80542015000200007
Verhoef & Terblanche (2015) also found out that workplace romances have their benefit
and challenges. Workplace romantic partners are happier, motivated, and more cooperative.
They help stabilize an organization’s workforce because they tend to stay in that firm for longer
periods. But several issues come with these types of relationships. First, there is the chance of
possible retaliation once their workplace romance breaks up. The retaliation can vary from verbal
public confrontations to violent acts. These kinds of retaliations make the workplace hostile for
the involved parties and can destabilize a small organization when the employees play vital roles
in its operations. In other cases, some of these romantic relationships can be unethical because
they entail extramarital affairs. These kinds of relationships are problematic and society often
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 7
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criticizes them. An organization can suffer from such occurrences because its clients can start
questioning the professionalism of its employees. Its reputation can suffer in the process,
resulting in declined market performances.
Bhave, D. P., Teo, L. H., & Dalal, R. S. (2019). Privacy at Work: A Review and a Research
Agenda for a Contested Terrain. Journal of Management, 46(1), 127–
164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206319878254
Workplace confidentiality remains a key issue of concern for the employees. Many of
them emphasize a need for information privacy, which is the type of data that their firms can
collect from them, its use, storage, and source. Some employees perceive the methods of data
collection that their firms use to be invasive. Many firms encourage employees to ignore
questions that they feel are invasive of their privacy. But according to Bhave et al. (2019),
employees who are reluctant to answer some questions to protect their privacy often get treated
less favorably. Employees need assurance that their data shall be safe at all times. Firms should
establish policies on the consent procedures reassuring employees about their data collection,
usage, and protection.
Gignac, M. A. M., Bowring, J., Jetha, A., Beaton, D. E., Breslin, F. C., Franche, R.-L.,
Irvin, E., Macdermid, J. C., Shaw, W. S., Smith, P. M., Thompson, A., Tompa, E., Van
Eerd, D., & Saunders, R. (2020). Disclosure, Privacy and Workplace Accommodation of
Episodic Disabilities: Organizational Perspectives on Disability Communication-Support
Processes to Sustain Employment. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 31(1), 153–
165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-020-09901-2
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 8
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Gignac et al. (2020) focused on the confidentiality concerns for workers with stigmatized
identities. These are individuals with mental illnesses, physical disabilities, and diseases like
HIV/AIDS. These individuals often need to disclose their conditions in the workplace for social
support, to build trust, and to help educate others to overcome stereotypes. Disclosure may also
guarantee them some benefits, especially the physically disabled. However, some employees
may fear disclosing such information because of their concerns about its adverse consequences.
For instance, negative talk and social stigmatization may directed at them. It is the role of an
organization to be more involved in the employees’ matters and to allay their fears regarding
their privacy.
Gale, S., Mordukhovich, I., Newlan, S., & McNeely, E. (2019). The Impact of Workplace
Harassment on Health in a Working Cohort. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01181
According to Gale et al. (2019), there is a close correlation between workplace sexual
harassment and deteriorating mental health. Workplace abuse is most commonly directed against
women with as many as 50% U.S. women thought to experience sexual harassment during their
work lives (Gale et al., 2019). The challenge remains the close association of this poor workplace
treatment with poor psychological well-being of the employees. They often report suffering from
depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep disorders. These finding are
consistent with many other previsous studies that show that workplace harassment adversely
impacts the employees’ mental wellbeing. Individuals who suffer sexual harassment show
greater rates of psychological distress.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 9
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Roscigno, V. J. (2019). Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and the Impact of Workplace
Power. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic
World, 5(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023119853894
Roscigno (2019) notes that several status-specific factors play a role in workplace
harassment, including race, gender, and age. Vulnerabilities by race, gender, and age are
common with race and gender being at the forefront. In particular, white women report fewer
cases of gender discrimination than women of other races. Also, younger employees are more
likely to suffer sexual harassment in the workplace. Racial discrimination is significant in
workplace harassment and this is notable based on findings that African Americans are six times
more likely to experience workplace discrimination than their White colleagues (Roscigno,
2019). From a gender perspective, women are four times more likely to experience
discrimination on the job than men. They also suffer sexual harassment at a rate of 2.5 times
more than men. According to Roscigno (2019), good relationships among workers help reduce
the level of harassment that the employees experience. Coworkers with a good work rapport
report fewer instances of harassment.
Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2015). Workplace bullying: a tale of adverse
consequences. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 12(1-2), 32–
37. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4382139/
Sansone & Sansone (2015) analyze the effects of workplace harassment on employees.
They note that employee bullying has adverse psychological effects on the workers. It leads to
high stress and mental distress. Employees may elicit disturbed sleeping patterns, fatigue,
lethargy, and anxiety. Some may commit suicide following these experiences. The emotional
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difficulties that follow these experiences can be devastating to many victims. Some workers also
report medical consequences, such as musculoskeletal complaints, fibromyalgia, acute pain, and
other general health issues. Workplace harassment also has socioeconomic effects on the victim.
They tend to develop chronic absenteeism that can lead to job losses. Studies have noted that the
likelihood of an individual suffering some form of bullying in the workplace is 11%. Unskilled
and blue-collar job workers are likely to experience this harassment. Notably, workers may be
reluctant to report these bullying incidents due to embarrassment or fears of retaliation from the
perpetrators. It is the role of organizations to create policies to protect their employees.
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Policies for a Small Company
Introduction
Even a small company is bestowed with the responsibility to ensure that we deliver the
best services to a large consumer market. And one way of making that possible is through the
creation of policies governing our operations. These policies help regulate employee and
management behavior to ensure that company goals are met. In particular, the concepts of dress
code, fraternization, confidentiality, and harassment are now critical to integrate into the policies
of a small company.
Body
It is critical that employees adhere to a formal or business casual dress code policy. Some
forms of dressing, such as casual garments like sweat pants and athletic wear and unconventional
hairstyles like dreadlocks in men can raise some questionable opinions about the company’s
employees (Karl et al., 2013). According to a study conducted by Aliakbari & Abdolahi (2013),
other factors held constant in a buyers-sellers scenario, the dressing code becomes a key factor
for determining how sellers judge the credibility and likability of the buyer and the reverse holds.
A specific mode of dress is influential on how people get treated in their surroundings and this is
why small businesses that are desperate to compete with larger conglomerates in the same lines
of business must take care of these minor details.
The ultimate goal of businesses ensuring that their employees follow a certain code for
dressing to create order in the workplace. This order is critical to how a small business firm
portrays its image to the rest of society. Customers would want to receive services from a place
that they can trust and having an organization with great presentation can ensure that. A dress
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code ensures uniformity amongst the people and this is crucial in reducing the disparities that
could result when there is too much freedom in dressing. For instance, individuals can choose to
dress up in lavish golden chains, fancy hairstyles, or flamboyant casual outfits.
One major reason why small firms should advise employees to follow a specific dress
code is to guarantee their safety (Middlemiss, 2018). Some dress codes, such as raised or open
shoes increase the risks of mechanical and chemical injuries to an employee. Besides, having a
dress code policy in a small business firm is critical to safeguarding its image. Companies thrive
from their brand names. Thus, a public image is critical in creating the significance of a brand
name. Studies have found that the more casual garments, such as athletic wear, sweat pants, and
revealing clothes induce a negative attitude in customers towards a company’s service quality
(Karl et al., 2013). Such a dress code makes the clients lose faith in the ability of employees of a
given firm to deliver the expected services because of their presentation. This bias is not
unsurprising and that is why companies want to ensure that their employees follow a specific
mode of dressing to protect their images.
Dress codes can play a significant role in reducing gender disparities in the workplace.
Promoting a more egalitarian environment in a small business firm can help it create a
welcoming environment that would enhance its reception in the corporate world. If women dress
in skirts and men in trousers, the differences can create less uniformity in the workplace and
potentially segregate the female and male genders. More importantly, it would help reduce the
challenges of the business finding the right dressing code for transgender people. They can now
wear trousers because it is a gender-neutral dress mode.
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Notably, the dress code policy grants a small business firm the power to direct the type of
wear that employees can and cannot wear in the workplace. This kind of mandate may appear
authoritarian, but more often works to the advantage of a firm. A small business firm can use
such a policy to choose the best dress code for its employees with respect to its line of business.
Studies indicate that dressing formally helps reignite the employees’ business objectives. It helps
them switch their mentality to one that is more focused to perform well in the workplace. But the
business casual dress code policy also has the advantages of offering comfort to the employees in
the workplace without compromising their quality of work significantly (Middlemiss, 2018).
Thus, the policy gives leeway to adopt either dress code according to the goals of a company.
It may appear to be an unnecessary involvement of a small business firm in matters of
social relationships between employees and yet this often neglected aspect can become the
detriment of a growing company. Many companies discourage employees from engaging in
workplace romance but resist instituting policies that impose any form of punishment for those
who do so. It is in the best interests of a small company to institute a policy that manages
employee workplace romance because their activities stand to influence its activities in several
ways. Workplace romance has several repercussions on the employees and the firm, which can
negatively impact its performance. Notably, workplace romance is a breeding ground for
undesirable practices like favoritism in the workplace. Dating partners are likely to engage in
unethical business practices, such as unfair employee benefits and promotions (Chory & Hoke,
2019). The eventual effect is the creation of workplace disharmony that discourages employee
morale.
These kinds of relationships can be a threat to personal safety, especially during fallouts.
The occurrence of ‘love triangles’ in the workplace can escalate matters to violent levels.
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Employees may hurt each other physically and the psychological suffering afterward can lead to
poor productivity in the workplace (Verhoef & Terblanche, 2015). An organization’s reputation
will not only suffer but a small organization can become destabilized because the few employees
play a significant role in its operations. Besides, if these romantic relationships are extramarital,
they can further damage a company’s reputation. Society considers such behavior unethical and
this can discourage clients from dealing with such a firm.
Therefore, policy targeting workplace romance should be keen to protect employee and
firm welfare. It is an issue that can raise mixed reactions and yet necessary to ensure that the
small firm can keep growing without uncertainties caused by workplace dating. It is notable that
for some people, workplace dating enhances their commitment to their jobs. They feel happier
working close to their loved ones and this makes their job engagement rise. Besides, employees
who are dating their workmates are more likely to stay in the same firm for a long time, a reason
that enables companies to retain the employees for a long time. In that regard, a firm may opt not
to entirely ban these policies but rather discourage these relationships.
The issue of employee confidentiality is a sensitive matter that all companies strive to
safeguard. Policies seeking to protect employee privacy ensure that there is no illegal access to
their personal data by unauthorized persons in a company. The company is aware that some of
the information collected from the employees can put their lives in jeopardy if it lands in the
wrong hands. For instance, information regarding their medical conditions can also lead to
undesirable consequences, such as social stigma (Gignac et al., 2020). Similarly, information
about their wage rates can create workplace disharmony.
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Employee data is a sensitive matter and the US federal and state laws advocate for the
protection of such data. The company protects their personal information to ensure that they lead
high-quality lives. If the welfare of the employees is unprotected, their performance will decline
ultimately affecting company productivity.
Workplace harassment is another significant issue that small business firms must
consider. It is a constant happening in the world today with as high as 50% of the US women
thought to experience sexual harassment at least one time in their work lives (Gale et al. 2019).
And according to Gale et al. (2019), there is a close correlation between workplace sexual
harassment and deteriorating mental health. Experiencing abusive behavior in the workplace can
lead to detrimental effects, such as depression. Such individuals may manifest symptoms of
high-stress levels, leading to other mental ill-health symptoms like disturbed sleeping patterns,
lethargy, fatigue, and anxiety (Sansone & Sansone, 2015). Other victims may suffer physical
abuse symptoms, such as fibromyalgia and musculoskeletal pain.
While instituting company policy regarding workplace harassment, it is also crucial that a
small business firm considers the trendy issues around which discriminatory behavior is
centered. Such behavior may manifest as slur, discriminatory practice when granting employee
benefits and roles, or attitudes towards the employees (Roscigno, 2019). Issues, such as
discrimination along the lines of race, gender, and kinship are a key challenge in the corporate
world. They are notable challenges for big companies and this is the primary reason why a small
growing business company should take advantage of its size to implement such a change.
Creating a policy that restricts the development of these undesirable traits early on can help
divert the direction that a company takes in terms of its organizational culture. It would mean
that all incoming employees will be able to uphold and promote its values, ultimately ensuring
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that the sprouting company will effectively fight off challenges that many other companies have
found difficult to overcome.
Conclusion
Policies are a key part of running any organization. In particular, for a growing company,
they can be a key part in helping it embrace a more sustainable growth and development model.
The issues of dress code, harassment, confidentiality, and fraternization described are influential
in several aspects of a firm, including its public image, employee attitudes, and the safety of the
employees. When creating policies aligned with these crucial concepts, a firm must be keen to
ensure that the gains it gets from these surpass their downside.
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References
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Agenda for a Contested Terrain. Journal of Management, 46(1), 127–164.
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Chory, R. M., & Hoke, H. (2019). Young Love at Work: Perceived Effects of Workplace
Romance among Millennial Generation Organizational Members. The Journal of
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Gale, S., Mordukhovich, I., Newlan, S., & McNeely, E. (2019). The Impact of Workplace
Harassment on Health in a Working Cohort. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.
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Gignac, M. A. M., Bowring, J., Jetha, A., Beaton, D. E., Breslin, F. C., Franche, R.-L., Irvin, E.,
Macdermid, J. C., Shaw, W. S., Smith, P. M., Thompson, A., Tompa, E., Van Eerd, D., &
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