What Is A Policy Management System

What is a policy management system? It manages a workplace policy across its entire life, not just the moment it is published. Six stages, and most organisations actively manage only two of them.

• Draft and approve. Who wrote it, who reviewed it, who signed it off, and when.
• Publish. Making the current version available. Usually handled.
• Acknowledge. A dated record of who accepted which version. This is what you will be asked for.
• Store. Keeping superseded versions, so you can show what applied in March rather than what applies today. Usually handled.
• Review. A scheduled date and an owner, so a policy does not quietly go stale for four years.
• Retire. Withdrawing a policy properly. Almost nobody does this, so policy libraries only ever grow.

The gap is usually stages three, five and six. A policy uploaded to an intranet is published, and publication is not communication. If you cannot show that a named person accepted a named version on a date, the policy is difficult to rely on when it matters.

The Fair Work Ombudsman covers workplace policies and record-keeping obligations. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s policy management software, workplace policy templates and records management software.