Make sure you share your policies with affected workers so they know about the policy and what's in it. 

You'll need to think about the most effective way to give workers access to the policies. This means taking into account the working environment and how best to distribute access. For example:

• for workers with online access — sending electronic links to the policy by email might be the best way
• for other workplaces — distributing paper copies of the policy to each employee might be needed. 

It is good practice to record that you have shared each policy with your workers. This can support you should you ever need to enforce them.  

It's important to explain to your workers:

• Why the organisation is introducing a policy
• What the policy requires workers to do or not do
• The consequences for the organisation and for workers if a policy is not followed.

Explaining your policies supports them to achieve their purpose. 

There are different ways to explain a policy. Your organisation’s approach will depend on your workplace, its size and what the particular policy is about.

Some ways to explain a policy include by:

• Organising an in-person meeting
• Running online information sessions
• Conducting formal training sessions  — this is particularly important where your organisation is giving explicit instruction about what it wants workers to do or not do. For example, we recommend formal training as part of implementing an unacceptable workplace behaviour policy. 

Check that each individual worker has understood the policy by asking them questions about the policy content. 

Keep a record of each worker who attended when you explained a policy.

Consultation involves sharing information, seeking input, and considering everyone’s ideas before making decisions that affect them. 

You might consult on each of your policies is trying to achieve and whether they are effective in that aim. Workers may have direct experiences that can inform whether the policy is working as planned.

In some case, consultation is more than good practice. For example, consultation is an obligation under work health and safety laws. Learn more about WHS consultation. 

Consulting with workers should be an ongoing process. It does not need to be formal — it can include informal discussions and meetings with workers. But genuinely considering what workers have to say is an essential part of the process.

Making sure workers have ongoing access to your policies is essential to ensuring they can be relied upon, and if needed, enforced. 

Your organisation should consider your working environment and how the policy will be best accessed by your workers. 

This might mean providing access by displaying the policy in a common workplace area, such as an employee notice board, or by uploading the policy onto an intranet site or shared drive. 

Your organisation needs to consider how remote workers or those who work at other locations can access the policy. 

It's important to monitor and review your policies to ensure they are working as intended, effective and compliant with current laws.

Your organisation should review a policy when:

• an incident has occurred despite the policy being in place
• there are changes to the law that affect the terms of the policy or how it operates
• workers have provided feedback about the policy.

We recommend that organisations review their policies periodically or as part of scheduled timetable, such as every 12 months, 2 years or 3 years. 

When you update policies, don't forget to communicate the changes to your workers and shared the updated policies.

It can be helpful to identify version control of policy documents to limit confusion about which policy applies.