If you have not written an AI policy, your employees have written their own. Some are pasting customer emails into free chatbots. Others are afraid to touch the tools at all. A short, clear policy fixes both problems.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Have your policy reviewed before you adopt it.
Keep It Short and Practical
The best AI policies fit on one or two pages and answer the questions employees actually have: Can I use it? Which one? What can I put in it? Who checks the work? Put it in your handbook and ask for an acknowledgment, like any other policy.
What to Include
1. Purpose. One or two sentences: the company encourages using approved AI tools to work more efficiently, within these rules.
2. Approved tools. Name them, and the account type. For example, the company's business plan for a specific tool, accessed with a company login. Personal accounts are not approved for company work.
3. Data you may never enter. Be specific:
- Social Security numbers, bank details and payroll files
- Medical or health information about employees, residents, patients or clients
- Confidential client information and anything covered by a contract or NDA
- Passwords and system credentials
4. Human review. AI output is a draft. A person is responsible for checking accuracy, tone and facts before anything is sent to a customer, employee, regulator or the public.
5. Transparency. When AI-generated content needs to be disclosed, and that employees should not present AI output as verified fact without checking it.
6. Intellectual property and confidentiality. Company confidentiality rules apply to AI tools exactly as they do to email.
7. Employment decisions. AI may help draft a job post. It should not make hiring, firing, pay or promotion decisions on its own. If you use software that screens or ranks candidates, check the rules first. New York City, for example, requires a bias audit and candidate notice before employers use automated employment decision tools for hiring or promotion decisions there.
8. Security and reporting. Who to tell if someone enters restricted data by mistake, and that reporting quickly is expected and will not be punished.
9. Training. Employees using AI tools for company work will complete basic training.
10. Ownership and review. Who owns the policy, and that it will be reviewed at least once a year as tools change.
Roll It Out Like You Mean It
A policy nobody understands does not protect anyone. When you introduce it:
- Explain why, in plain language, in a team meeting
- Show what good use looks like with real examples from their jobs
- Give people the approved tool on the same day
- Make it easy to ask questions
The goal is confident, careful use, not fear.
Where King & Co. Helps
We write AI use policies that fit your business, add them to your handbook, and train your team to use the tools well. Billing is hourly for policy work, and training workshops start at $750.
Book a free 15-minute call and we will help you get a policy in place this month.
Josh runs HR, payroll and PBJ support for employers across New England and New York, from five-person offices to multi-building nursing home groups. He works in every major payroll system and answers the phone personally.
Book 15 minutes with Josh