Policies

Style and format

Policy docs must be structured as below, using the internally branded Payroc Word template and following the Payroc Style Guide writing and formatting conventions.

  1. Document history, including date, versioning, review and approval details
  2. Introduction including purpose of the policy
  3. Scope
  4. Definitions and clarification of terms used within the document (where appropriate)
  5. Policy, procedure or guideline content
  6. Appendices as appropriate
  7. References of bibliography if applicable

Policy naming conventions

Documents should be named clearly and logically by the subject and document type (in that order), and be prefixed with “Payroc”. Document names should follow the Payroc writing style of being active and in the present tense e.g. “Payroc Acceptable Use policy”.

Version numbering and revisions

Document versioning is applied manually to a document as required. Versioning details should be included in the document history:

  • Version number
  • Date
  • Status (e.g. draft, first release, secont release etc.)

Policies may be amended by the author or reviewer at any time between formal reviews, as a result of feedback, events occurring in Payroc, changes in practice or changes in legislation.

Versioning works like this:

  • Minor amendments to spelling, punctuation and grammar do not have to be submitted for approval, and not increment the version number.
  • Amendments requiring updates to the content but not requiring re-distribution or re-training should increment by one minor versioning number e.g. 1.2 from 1.1.
  • Amendments requiring major changes to the document content and re-distribution and/or re- training should increment by one major version number e.g. 2 from 1.4 and re-published.
  • All updates to the document requiring a version change, whether minor or major, should be reviewed and noted in the Document history table at the start of the document.

Policy development and consultation

When developing a policy document, authors should seek opinions and comments on draft versions from a wide range of people or groups who may use or be affected by the content of the controlled document. These stakeholders should be identified in the policy itself, and their comments may result in revisions to the drafts, which should be noted in the version control schedule. The resource implications of and effect on other procedures/practices should be included in the consultation.

Review and approval process

Pre-publication review

All policy documents need to be reviewed before they can be published. This review may be carried out by peers or by the member of staff who can approve the document for publication. Changes made to the document according to review feedback must be documented and included in the Document history table.

Pre-publication approval

All policy documents must be approved by an appropriate level of management before they can be published. Approval should be recorded within the document history, versioning or document status sections of the document itself.

Publication and distribution

  1. The author of the (Word) document should upload it to the Policy Editing document library in SharePoint as soon as possible after approval.
  2. The author should then publish the document to pdf and upload it to the appropriate directory in the policies, procedures and guidelines document library on SharePoint.
  3. The Information Security team will, if required, create training and invite relevant staff to attend/complete this training.