As a franchisor, you may be wondering how you should expect your franchisees to act. Luckily, there is a framework you can use to structure your expectations. This document is called a franchise work practice policy. This policy includes conduct statements outlining how your franchisees should behave when operating within your franchise network. Moreover, this policy is a guide for establishing ethical and sustainable work practices. This article will detail elements of a work practice policy and how you can implement it in your franchises.
Franchise Code of Conduct Statement
Your franchise work practice policy should include a code of conduct. This document should outline how you expect your franchisees to operate in their franchise. Moreover, it needs to include a statement saying that the franchisee will comply with all relevant laws, including;
- employment laws;
- consumer laws, such as the Consumer Guarantees Act and the Fair Trading Act;
- the Privacy Act; and
- the Health and Safety at Work Act.
You can include the following information in your code of conduct:
- expected behaviours;
- business ethics;
- a commitment from your franchisee to inform you if they have breached the code;
- consequences for breaching the code;
- channels employees can use if they feel their employer is breaching the code;
- worker treatment; and
- environmental standards.
Moreover, you can include the code of conduct in your franchise disclosure document to ensure franchisees are aware of such rules before buying a franchise. You may also wish to include some terms from the code in your franchise agreement as conditions of operation.
To ensure franchisee compliance, they should:
- be familiar with how the policy works;
- be willing to sign the policy; and
- display the policy in their franchise.
Basic Policies
If your franchisee has only recently bought your franchise and is not ready for an extensive code of conduct, then you can implement a basic policy as part of your work practice policy Your basic policy can include fundamental employment rights and rules you consider essential. You should notify all franchisees and employees of your basic policy.
A basic employment policy can outline:
- acting in good faith;
- healthy and safe workplace requirements;
- minimum employee rights;
- employment agreement requirements;
- dispute resolution; and
- consequences for breaching the policy.
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Informing Employees
Your work practice policy is only effective if your franchisees and their employees know about its elements. After drafting a code of conduct or a basic employment policy, your franchisees need to relay this information to their employees. Your franchisees should inform their employees of their legal rights and obligations according to relevant legislation. They could do this through an information sheet that employees can refer back to.
Ongoing Training
To best implement your code of conduct and relevant policies, all managers and employees should have employment rights embedded in their induction and ongoing training. You can provide training at different stages, through:
- induction training with new employees;
- staff promotions; or
- annual refreshers.
Moreover, you need to update existing staff if there are new or amended employment laws that may change their rights and obligations.
Regular Monitoring
To ensure policy compliance, you can regularly monitor your franchisee through reviews. During this, you can ensure employment standards are upheld and your brand is positively growing in the market. Often franchisors conduct checks annually by either visiting the franchise or getting the franchisee to complete a self-assessment.
If the franchisee is self-assessing, you must ensure their checklist includes all relevant:
- laws;
- requirements; and
- policy obligations.
Moreover, they should back up any claims they make with appropriate evidence.
Employee Voice Tools
Through an employee voice tool, you can collect information about your franchises anonymously from franchisee staff. You can then confirm that your franchisees are meeting your code of conduct and policy requirements. You can use online survey tools such as Survey Monkey or Google Forms to collect the information.
Not only can you ask questions about employment standards, but you can also ask employees to suggest improvements relating to an ethical and sustainable workplace. Furthermore, you can emphasise that employees are encouraged to speak their views at any time to maintain a compliant workplace. You should provide employees with a confidential complaints process to effectively deal with workplace issues.
Key Takeaways
The franchise work practice policy outlines how your franchisees should act when operating their business. It includes:
- employment standards;
- expected behaviours; and
- how employees can raise workplace issues.
It is possible to have a basic employment policy if your franchisee is not ready for an extensive code of conduct. However, your franchisee should inform their employees of your policies, as well as their rights and obligations. Moreover, you should establish anonymous employee voice tools and surveys to check franchisee compliance.
If you need help implementing a franchise work practice policy, you can contact our experienced franchising lawyers to assist as part of our LegalVision membership. You will have unlimited access to lawyers who can answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today at 0800 005 570 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can regularly monitor your franchisee through check-ins or by allowing the franchisee to complete a self-assessment. You can also send out anonymous surveys to the franchisee’s employees to confirm whether the franchisee is meeting employment standards.
Your code should cover relevant laws to meet, ethical work practices, expected franchisee behaviours, how employees can raise issues, and consequences for breaching the code.
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