Employment contract conditions "hidden" in intranet

[santboia]

Hi LegalBeagles,

I have been offered a permanent contract with a UK Government agency and, on reading the contract of employment, I find myself with a number of references to material in the agency's intranet, e.g.,

- "Eligibility to maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave and pay, and parental leave are set out in the ... intranet"
- "Full details of the policy on Whistleblowing... Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination policy... are available on the Agency intranet."
- "Detailed guidance on your responsibilities in relation to conflicts of interest is set out in the relevant policy which can be found on the intranet."

I asked HR details about this and their answer is that I can't be given access to the intranet for security reasons -- fair enough. But HR go on to say: "We do not send the policies as part of the offer as there are so many and it would make for an extraordinary amount of reading. Please advise if you would like any particular policies sent to you" (my underlining).

I find it puzzling that I'm essentially being asked to sign on the dotted line and with that agree to an "extraordinary amount" of policies to which I am not being provided (how can I ask for any policies if I don't even know what's in there?). Is this something normal and acceptable? Should HR be proactive in actually sending out whatever rules are, at least, most likely be relevant to a new employee and govern their rights and responsibilities from day 1?

Looking forward to your insights :-)
-santboia

[ULA]

Lots of governmental bodies and large companies maintain their policies and procedues on an intranet only accessible once you have joined. This is fairly standard.

if the contract is referring you to specific policies that you would like to see before you sign the contract then I suggest you request these as directed by HR.

[santboia]

Can't avoid the feeling that something being "fairly standard" doesn't make it fair for the (potential) employee. Once upon a time, slavery was "fairly standard"...

In this case, it puts the employee in a weak position, in other words it abuses the information imbalance in favour of the employer; naturally big companies and Government can be expected to be particularly bad on these fronts.