15.3 Human resources policies for national staff

Shortly after arriving in a new area where no CARE CO exists, a brief set of policies and procedures for managing national staff must be developed. After six to 12 months, when the start-up phase is over and a CO presence is likely to be ongoing, a more detailed set of policies and procedures must be developed. Please refer to a sample CO HR manual at Annex 21.47 National staff-human resources policy manual (Sri Lanka example). The manual should be modified to suit the local operating context. Once modified, the document has to be reviewed by a legal advisor to ensure all terms and conditions specified comply with local labour law requirements.