Policy Library

A free, open & collaborative collection of policies & processes.

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1 – 46 of 46 policies

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Policy

Sick Leave Agreement

Activist GroupSelf-managed / Flat

This is a sick leave policy for a small collective with limited funds. On average, for each 10 days of work, you have the right to one paid sick day. However, we have decided to pool our sick days. Pooling addresses the fact that we do not all have the…

Policy

Flat structure mutual support and feedback

CharitySelf-managed / Flat

In our flat structure, we have created a “Buddy system” where each team member acts as a buddy to another. This aims to ensure that we don’t lose the good bits of management, and that we all feel supported and able to hold ourselves accountable. The buddy system is closely…

Policy

Unlimited PTO (Paid Time Off) Policy

An unlimited PTO policy that seeks to pre-emptively address the more common issues with such policies, including some evidence that staff are less likely to take time off in an unlimited PTO scheme.

Policy

Socially just pay policy

CharitySelf-managed / Flat

This policy aims to provide fair and financially secure wages for all workers. It is based on a flat rate plus uplifts, including: length of service, support for dependents, experience of marginalisation, and city weighting. It also contains an emergency waging system and fund, as well as a process for…

Policy

Performance management process

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A performance management process for a small self-managed co-op that allows for democratic overturn of panel decisions if over half of the co-op members object.

Policy

Decision-making policy & process

Social EnterpriseSelf-managed / Flat

This policy includes: how decisions are made in a small team, the principles that underpin them, which decisions can be made by whom, and what steps will be taken to support more equitable involvement in decisions. It is based on consensus and mandate decision-making mechanisms.

Policy

Family friendly umbrella policy

Activist GroupArts OrganisationCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave are areas that are covered by legislation. This policy offers terms that are additional to the statutory allowance and tries to make the language more gender neutral.

Policy

Safeguarding policy

CharitySelf-managed / Flat

A safeguarding policy for a small charity that works with adults, based on values of liberation, equity and anti-oppression and informed by Maslaha’s Radical Safeguarding workbook.

Policy

Peer-to-peer feedback & reflection process

Activist GroupSelf-managed / Flat

This process provides a space for reflection and feedback: how is everyone doing, and how are we doing as a collective? It includes written self reflection and written feedback from others and an hour-long feedback meeting.

Policy

Equitable recruitment policy

Arts OrganisationSelf-managed / Flat

This policy lines out how we want to build equity into our recruitment processes as we realise that making recruitment a more equitable working method will allow more people from racialised backgrounds and people with disabilities to work in our organisation.

Policy

Peer review policy & procedure

Co-opCommunity GroupSelf-managed / Flat

The purpose of this peer review policy and procedure is to support all employees of the Project to achieve and maintain their maximum (reasonable) contribution to their role at the Project. It is an opportunity for all employee members to have some time to reflect on their role, to think…

Policy

Rules for how we work together

Co-opCommunity GroupUnionMembershipSelf-managed / Flat

A membership, decision making, group structure, core values and code of conduct policy for a user-led member-ship organisation with roughly 100 members, from a wide range of backgrounds.

Policy

Maintenance meeting agenda

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A template agenda for a regular group meeting which aims to offer: a deeper check-in on the experience of being in the group / space to raise issues and “have awkward chats”/ space to reflect together on our work, and our direction. This template is structured to help manage tensions…

Policy

Privacy and cookie policy

Activist GroupHierarchy

A comprehensive digital rights-based website privacy policy with detailed information about what and how site users details will be used, including by partners. Includes: user rights, text on organisational refusal to share personal data with authorities and how to have your data deleted.

Policy

Family leave

Social EnterpriseHierarchy

A gender-neutral and trans-inclusive policy for new parents—of all kinds—taking time off work.

Policy

Carer’s leave

Activist GroupArts OrganisationCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A policy for the situations in which a member of staff can take leave to support the care of another, with broad and detailed definitions of what constitutes care and who the policy can apply to. Also includes legal framework.

Policy

Accountability agreement

Arts OrganisationCommunity GroupSelf-managed / Flat

The accountability agreement is a code of behaviour that all club members agree to adhere to and embrace on joining the club… we outline suggested consequences for members who have caused harm, based on current working practices. You can use these as guidance in how to engage with a person…

Policy

Long COVID/chronic illness

Activist GroupSelf-managed / Flat

A policy to address the medium-to-long term impacts of Long COVID (and other types of chronic illness and disability) and outlines organisational processes for supporting staff affected, in a way which is aligned with disability justice and the needs of a small staff team to continue to work in a…

Policy

Culture of care & accountability

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

We have high expectations of how we behave towards one another, and we hold each other accountable to those expectations. This policy has two sides: the culture of care that we are proactively building, and the culture of accountability that is reactively implemented. Includes: definitions of accountability and care, 3-step…

Policy

Keeping young people safe from abuse

Co-opCommunity GroupSelf-managed / Flat

This is a youth work cooperative safeguarding policy, accessible for a range of members, which avoids resorting to calling state authorities, unless the group’s safeguarding contacts are not available. Designed by an organisation with a mix of paid and voluntary youth workers, some of whom are adults and some are…

Policy

Team dynamics & tension shifting meeting

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A meeting template and policy description for a small workers’ cooperative to improve communication, surface and address tensions or conflicts that exist amongst the group. It’s about making space for the kinds of conversations around group needs and dynamics that are easily side-lined.

Policy

Worker rights and wellbeing

A consolidation of policies to support workers’ rights and wellbeing, for a large membership-led activist organisation/union. It includes: Sickness policy, Parental Leave, Carers and compassionate leave, Time off in lieu and overwork, Additional leave, Trade union recognition, Staff access to counselling or other support, Annual leave, Pension contribution, Staff absence…

Policy

Safer spaces

An outline of how we request staff, clients and visitors to behave in our space. The purpose is to support everyone to feel comfortable and respected, especially those from marginalised communities who regularly face prejudice in broader society.

Policy

Decision-making

Community GroupMembership

A decision making policy for a migrant-led voluntary group with over 100 active members. Includes: principles, outline of consensus process, which decisions can be made by which groups or individuals, what to about decisions where it is unclear who should make them, and a decision record keeping template.

Policy

Socially just waging system

Activist GroupCharityCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A waging system that aims to be socially just, in recognising different needs and backgrounds, and fair to all of its workers. It aims to provide for maximum financial security, and also reflect the organisation’s ethics and principles. It’s trying to address the fact that pay tends to ignore people’s…

Policy

Carer’s, compassionate bereavement and parental leave

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A policy that aims to address the lack of support for staff who have caring responsibilities, and the lack of recognition of the different dimensions of what that support might look like. The policy lays out guidelines that aim to help relieve some of this stress and enable both employer…

Policy

Induction policy for new staff

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

An induction policy to provide a framework for identifying and sorting out any initial difficulties which can occur in the early stages of starting a job. The aim is to provide a supporting structure for the new employee and alleviate some of the initial pressures that can arise when starting…

Policy

Sickness and incapacity policy and procedures

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A sickness policy to support workers who experience illness, designed to find solutions that suit all, and for financial worries not to be an added burden to staff off sick. The policy includes an incapacity procedure, outlines how the organisation will deal with prolonged absence, repeated short-term absences and/or poor…

Policy

Staff review procedure

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A staff review process aiming to: 1) review progress and priorities, 2) explore and resolve any problems in these areas, 3) discuss the employee’s potential and future training needs, 4) set targets for future work and training if relevant. Staff take it in turns to review each other.

Policy

Recruitment procedure

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A recruitment process for paid staff (permanent or temporary), aiming to overcome the problem of processes that are more likely to recruit people from privileged backgrounds.

Policy

Redundancy procedure

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A redundancy policy for a collectively-run organisation, which aims to avoid situations of coop member redundancy and offers structures to support staff who may be made redundant, as well as offering alternative employment within the organisation, where possible.

Policy

Staff undertaking training courses or volunteering roles

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A policy aiming to support employees undertaking short courses and those of a longer duration such as certificates, diplomas or MAs that require intensive study. The policy also recognises that small organisation often have has limited resources. The policy also covers sabbaticals and extended voluntary work.

Policy

Shared parental leave

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A policy that aims to improve on the amount of time off and pay linked to statutory parental leave, which can be shared equally between parents.

Policy

Staff support & performance improvement procedure

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A policy to support staff who are struggling to meet the aims of their role, rather than treating under-performance as a disciplinary issue, like behavioural or ethical concerns. Acknowledging the ableism that is often implicit in disciplinary policies and offering comprehensive collective support for staff, with a recognition that disability,…

Policy

Co-op member / volunteer agreements

Co-opCommunity GroupSelf-managed / Flat

A plain-English policy to clarify the different roles held by volunteers and paid members within a youth work cooperative. Includes simple outline template agreements for volunteers and for cooperative members.

Policy

Paid work for co-operative members

Co-opCommunity GroupSelf-managed / Flat

A plain-English pay policy for a small youth work cooperative, in which pay is variable, depending on current organisational income levels. Aims to offer the flexibility of freelance work, while offering additional forms of support (like sick pay).

Policy

Equality and diversity

Co-opCommunity GroupSelf-managed / Flat

A plain-English youth work cooperative equality and diversity policy, which makes explicit the range of types of oppression that can play out amongst young people and the cooperative, as well as the ways in which those experiences are often reflections of wider social power dynamics. Outlines the responsibilities of both…

Policy

Member volunteer induction process

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

A simple 1-page process guide to support a newer member to get involved in a particular working group within the organisation. It aims to provide clarity for members looking to get involved in a new part of the cooperative.

Policy

Conflict system

Activist GroupCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

Clear non-punitive steps for a small cooperative to take when a conflict has been raised between members. Includes steps that range from informal conversations to deciding to close the cooperative.

Policy

Pay review process

Activist GroupCo-opUnionMembershipSelf-managed / Flat

A detailed process and template guide for a mid-sized collectively-managed organisation, to review its current pay policy. It includes steps for identifying the scope of the review and the types of questions it will and won’t ask (including several specific ones which came up in this organisation), as well as…

Policy

Staff absence planning

Activist GroupCo-opUnionHierarchyMembership

A policy for a mid-sized organisation to identify individual and collective responsibilities for staff taking time off, in a way that both enables staff to take time away, and for it to avoid negatively impacting on staff who are still working. Includes link to a template for work handover planning.

Policy

Parent and carer staff support

Activist GroupUnionMembershipSelf-managed / Flat

A comprehensive collection of policies designed to support staff with parental or caring responsibilities. Includes: Wider political framing for the importance of this set of policies, Parental leave, Parental leave pay, Carer leave, Parent and carer pay subsidy, Flexible working for parents and carers, Paying for nursery deposits, Providing or…

Policy

Parental leave

Activist GroupCharityCo-opSelf-managed / Flat

This policy sets out employees’ entitlement to leave to care for children during the period until the child reaches 18 years old.

Policy

Non-punitive disciplinary procedure

Co-opSelf-managed / Flat

This is a non-punitive version of a disciplinary procedure, designed to encourage dialogue through structured opportunities to discuss and learn from mistakes. It has been written to follow the guidelines set out in the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, without the punishment-based approach of issuing warnings.

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