HR Policies and Employee Handbooks

Many HR manuals in the Maldives began as another organisation's document. The names were changed, a logo was added, and the file went into a shared drive. Years later it contradicts how the organisation really works, misses requirements introduced since, and nobody opens it until a dispute reaches the Employment Tribunal. At that point the employer is held to whatever the manual says.

We write policies for the way your organisation runs, in plain English, and check them against the laws that apply to you.

What We Write

• An HR policy manual covering recruitment, contracts, probation, working hours, leave, pay and allowances, conduct, discipline, grievances and leaving
• An employee handbook that a new starter can read in half an hour, in English, with a Dhivehi version on request
• A sexual harassment policy and complaint procedure
• A health and safety policy
• Codes of conduct, and policies on conflicts of interest, whistleblowing, social media and remote work
• Forms and letter templates that match the policies, from offer letters to final written warnings

Policies the Law Expects

Some of these documents are required. The Prevention of Sexual Abuse and Harassment Act (Act No. 16/2014) asks every workplace to display its harassment policy and make the complaint procedure available to staff, and workplaces with more than 30 employees need an internal committee to hear complaints. Under the Workplace Safety and Health Act and its 2024 regulation, employers need a written health and safety policy, reviewed at least every three years. The Employment Act sets the rules your contract, leave and disciplinary policies have to follow.

Our articles on harassment duties and the 2024 safety regulation explain those requirements in more detail.

How We Work

We start by reading what you have and talking to the people who use it: HR staff, several line managers and, where possible, a group of employees. We then draft, go through the drafts with your management team and revise them until they match how decisions are made.

Once the policies are approved, we brief your managers on applying them. Most disputes that reach the Tribunal start with a manager who followed a policy badly or did not know it existed.