Sample Office Regulations Letters

The office regulations letter is intended for office workers. Its purpose is to encourage responsible employee behavior, boost office productivity and ensure an office environment that respects the privacy of workers.

Subjects an office regulations letter may deal with include absenteeism, leaves of absence, office supplies, noise within the office, processes and procedures, meetings, phone calls, requisitions, interoffice communication, sexism/gender discrimination, inappropriate behavior, abusive colleagues/superiors, and the like.

In contrast to a large organization which may make use of e-mail or an intranet to circulate an office regulations letter, a smaller firm may circulate a hard copy of the office regulations letter and require each employee sign it to indicate their acceptance of the regulation.

This type of letter is usually written by the HR or admin department of an organization after consulting with senior managers/executives or the employees themselves.

The office regulations letter can merely put an issue into words or it can warn or even put forward punitive action which may be taken against those found violating the regulation.

Because most, if not all offices, face more or less the same issues during their lifetime, it is not unusual to see organizations recycling the same or similar office regulations letters through the years.

[Date]

Please light up only in the designated area

Dear Colleague,

If you are a smoker, we hope you have been lighting up only in the designated area.

The people from the other offices, some of our colleagues and even some of our clients have reported seeing some of the nicotine addicts among us near the entrance of the corridor leading to the office.

The firm would like to remind them to light up only in the designated area created specially for them.

As you are well aware, we are a reputation management firm and our own actions must reflect our business philosophy to a T.

The fact most, if not all, of the guilty parties are interns is a cause for concern because the firm believes this fact also underscores what can only be interpreted as the indifference of some of the more senior executives.

Be that as it may, interns and other smokers are hereby advised to light up nowhere else but in the designated area. Noncompliance may necessitate sterner action, including termination.

We would also like to add that the fears of those not using the designated area are misplaced. Yes, what is today the designated smoking area was once used to store asbestos material. The area now does not even have suspended asbestos particles and is now certified to be safe.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[Signature]
[Name]
[Designation]