HR Compliance Checklist

• Handbook covers: pay, PTO, sickness, grievance, disciplinary, anti-harassment, DEI, IP assignment, non-compete where legal, remote-work expectations
• Reviewed annually by an employment lawyer
• Have the document

Every employee has a signed contract referencing the current version of the handbook. When a dispute happens — and it will — the question is always whether there was a documented policy.

• Payroll run by a reputable provider, not a founder's spreadsheet
• Tax and pension compliance automated
• Benefits documented in writing
• Bonus structures written, not verbal
• Overtime policies explicit
• Payslips accurate to the penny
• Written beats remembered every single time

Most payroll issues in SMBs come from verbal promises that evolved into 'but you said' disputes.

• Hiring, firing, maternity/paternity, sickness, performance improvement, redundancy, discrimination claims
• Train managers on each
• Plan for them in calm, run them in stress

Each has a documented process, a decision tree, a timing requirement, and a recommended legal review. These are the moments where compliance isn't theoretical — it's the difference between a clean transition and a tribunal.