Policies

The Policies module provides a way for Organizations to Adopt and/or Draft Policies & Procedures within The Guard. Compliancy Group provides a Library of Policy and Procedure templates, which can be adopted, revised or used as a reference for establishing appropriate policy and procedures. 

Accessing the module will also display graphs presented for both Documents and Active Attestation Progress. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• General Overview
• Publishing
• Editing
• Additional Options - Ellipses Button (. . .)
• Archived Policies
• Related Knowledge Base Articles

General Overview

• Policies Graph – Displays the Total number of Policies / Documents that have been Published, in Drafts, and Activated
• Active Attestation Progress – This graph summarizes Active Attestation Progress across all Active Policies and Employees enrolled in Attestation. To view Attestation Progress for related Policies, please use the View Attestation option available to all Policies that have Attestation set up.

The Add New button at the top-right of the page, will allow an Organization to select Browse Templates or Create Blank Policy:

• Browse Templates - Allows the Organization to browse and select any available Policy Templates available within The Guard. Every Template can be Previewed before being selected and may also be opened, edited, and saved to a Draft or Activated right away.
  
• Create Blank Policy - Allows the Organization to create its own Policy using the built-in Editor. Note: The Editor offers basic markup and text formatting and may not allow for advanced formatting or image uploads.

The Active Documents tab will reflect all Activated Policies:

• Activated Policies that have Attestation Settings Configured will display the status of Attestation via the Progress Bar below the Policy Name
• The Portal column will indicate whether or not a Policy has been Published to the Employee Portal

The Drafts tab will reflect all Draft Policies. Draft Policies can be edited at any time, downloaded, adopted, or archived. 

For specific guidance on setting up Policies for Attestation, please see the Policies & Procedures - How to Assign for Attestation Knowledge Base Article.

Publishing

Activated Policies can be Published to all Employees' Employee Portal.

1. Navigate to Policies
2. Locate the Activated Policy you wish to publish and select the Ellipses Button (. . .) on the right-hand side of the row
3. Select Publish to Portal
4. An Icon will appear in the "On Portal" column of the Policies table

Alternatively, the Policy can be published from within the Policy itself, via the option shown below:

Policies can be unpublished after being published to the Employee Portal; simply repeat steps above and successfully unpublish the policy.

Editing

Activated Policies can be Edited - After a Policy/Procedure has been Adopted, it can be edited at any time. To edit an existing Policy/Procedure:

1. Navigate to Policies > Active Documents
2. Select the Activated Policy that needs to be Edited - This will open the policy view
3. Double-Click anywhere on the Policy to open the Editor
4. IF a Policy/Procedure has already been set up for Attestation - Changes can be made to the document, then Save Changes can be selected. Upon saving the changes, a prompt will appear and provide 2 options regarding re-attestation for Employees assigned to the Policy:
   1. Yes, ask employees to re-attest this policy - Edits to this policy include one or more major changes such as added or changed responsibilities. 
   2. No, don't ask employees to re-attest this policy - Only minor edits have been made, such as fixing typos. 

Selecting Yes here will notify all assigned Employees that they need to re-attest the updated Policy/Procedure. 

Additional Options - Ellipses Button (. . .)

Navigating to the Active Documents tab, then selecting the Ellipses Button (. . .) on the right side of the row will display additional options:

• Open – Opens the Document

• Edit Attestation - Displays Window allowing for editing of Attestation Enrollment Criteria

• View Attestation - Displays a Windows reflecting current Attestation Progress

  • Note: This option is only available when a Policy has been set up for Attestation.

• Publish/Unpublish to Portal - Allows for Publishing/Unpublishing (as described above) in a quick way without having to Open the policy - The UI will change "Publish to Portal" to "Unpublish from Portal" automatically
  

• View Document History – Displays Change Log for document

• Download PDF – Downloads a PDF version of the document

• Print PDF - Allows for PDF Print in browser

• Assign Owner – Assigns an Owner to this document

• Archive – Archives the document

Archived Policies

To Archive an Activated Policy / Document:

1. Navigate to Policies > Active Documents
2. Locate the Document that needs to be Archived
3. Select the Ellipses Button (. . .) on the right-hand side of the row, then select Archive
   • NOTE: Confirmation must be provided as Archived Policies/Procedures cannot be restored; but they can be accessed, reviewed, downloaded after archiving.
4. Confirm on the prompt and the Document will be archived

Policies that have been Archived can be viewed via the Options dropdown at the top-right of the Policies Module. Selecting the Options dropdown will display an option to View Archives. This page will display any archived policies. Currently, a Policy that has been archived CANNOT be “unarchived” – be absolutely sure you wish to Archive a policy.

Related Knowledge Base Articles

• Policy and Procedures - Adoption Process
• Policies & Procedures - How to Assign for Attestation
• How To Attest to Policies & Procedures