8 Nonprofit Conduct Policies

What's the first thing that happens when you are officially hired for a job? You usually have a meeting with the human resources officer, who informs you of the organization's conduct policies. It's basically a no-brainer to most people by know that it's unethical to steal office equipment, or other things like that. Yet sometimes it’s the little things that can really get you in trouble.

What was that about not sweating the small stuff?

Thomas Wolf, in his book "Managing a Nonprofit Organization," wrote that the little details relating to day-to-day work life should be properly explained to employees. Some of these relate specifically to in-office procedures, while some are more general.

Wolf listed eight examples of these policies that you should include in your employee conduct manual:

• Specific rules about how the staff is authorized to make purchases.
• Guidelines governing travel (such as per-diem limits, times when air travel is permitted, and mileage reimbursement rates).
• Controls on personal use of the office telephone.
• Rules governing the use and care of office equipment.
• Limits placed on the organization’s liability for personal property left on the premises.
• Guidelines governing outside work, such as whether the employer has first refusal on publications and whether the organization permits leaves of absences to do outside jobs.
• Intellectual property and confidentiality issues.
• Policies regarding working hours and conditions that address regular office working hours, flextime or overtime arrangements, and overtime compensation.