1. Purpose

1.1. This policy outlines the relevant requirements and guidelines for drafting employee and operational policies and procedural manuals.  

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2. Definitions

2.1. Employee Policy: A rule or guideline that is legislatively directed, or falls within the operational human resources jurisdiction of the President and Chief Officer, as delegated by the Board of Directors through the Students’ Union’s governance structure.  

2.2. Operational Policy: A rule or guideline that falls within the operational jurisdiction of the President and Chief Executive Officer, as delegated by the Board of Directors through the Students’ Union’s governance structure;  

2.3. Policies and Procedures Channel: A shared Microsoft Teams/Sharepoint Channel that is designated as the central depository for approved employee and operational policies and procedures; 

2.4. Procedures Manual: A more in-depth separate set of guidelines and instructions that may be utilized in conjunction with the relevant overarching root policy.

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3. Jurisdiction/Scope 

3.1. This policy applies to all relevant Students’ Union employee and operational policy-making. 

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4. Policy

4.1. All policies gain their legitimacy from legislated directives or from the Board of Directors delegating certain authority to the President and Chief Executive Officer as per the Students’ Union governance structure.   

4.2. Policies may be approved by the President and Chief Executive Officer, an executive team vice-president, or any other applicable staff member designated by the President and Chief Executive Officer; 

4.2.1. The policy approving authority must be determined for each new policy that is created by the President & Chief Executive Officer. 

4.3. The policy development process and administrative responsibility for Students’ Union policy development is held jointly by Human Resources (employee policies) and the Director, Policy Research and Advocacy (operational policies); 

4.3.1. Administrative responsibility includes: 

4.3.1.1. Developing new policies; 

4.3.1.2. Revising existing policies; 

4.3.1.3. Managing the Policies and Procedures Channel (Microsoft Teams/Sharepoint); 

4.3.1.4. Distributing access to approved policy documents; 

4.3.1.5. Coordinating the annual policy review process with the President & Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer during the spring transition period. 

4.4. All policies should be as concise as possible and utilize accessible language with key terminology defined. ​

4.5. All policies must identify: 

4.5.1 ​Approving authority;

4.5.2. Original approval date; 

4.5.3. Date of last revision; 

4.5.4. Related policies or procedures;

4.5.5. Purpose;

4.5.6. Scope or jurisdiction;

4.5.7. Policy statements.

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5. Style Guide

5.1. Policies should follow the Students’ Union template provided in Appendix A and use Arial font throughout. 

5.2. Applicable Procedural manuals should follow the Students’ Union template provided in Appendix B and use Arial font throughout.