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AI Prompts for HR Policy Drafting

An HR policy is a set of rules people have to follow and managers have to apply, so it has to be findable, readable, unambiguous about who does what, and consistent with how the organization actually behaves. Most policies are none of these: written for lawyers, silent on the situations that actually arise, and quietly contradicted by practice. Drafting well starts with the decisions the policy must support, writes in plain language, and flags every point that varies by jurisdiction for legal review.

These prompts structure, draft and review policies. They produce drafts; employment law varies by jurisdiction and changes, and nothing here is legal advice — the prompts mark what must be verified and by whom.

Before you use these

Have these ready to replace the highlighted [variables]:

The prompts

1. Structure the policy around the decisions it supports

Best forA structure that answers the questions employees and managers actually have.
Inputs needed
  • Purpose
  • Situations to cover
  • Related policies
How to use itList the situations. The model builds the structure: scope, principles, the rules per situation, roles, process, exceptions, and the questions the policy must answer — before any drafting.
Expected outputPolicy structure with sections and purpose, the situations mapped to sections, roles and decision rights, the exception process, and the list of jurisdictional points.
Act as an HR policy specialist structuring a [policy topic] policy for [company] applying in [jurisdictions].

Purpose: [what the policy must enable and prevent]
Situations: [the real situations it must cover, including the awkward ones]
Related policies: [list and overlaps]
Application: [who applies it, who decides exceptions]

1. Structure: purpose and scope; principles (short); definitions; the rules by situation; roles and decision rights (employee, manager, HR); process (how to request, how decisions are made and communicated, timelines); exceptions and appeals; monitoring and review; version and owner.
2. Map each situation to the section that answers it; flag situations the structure does not yet cover.
3. Decision rights table: who decides what, with what authority, and the escalation.
4. Jurisdictional points: every rule that may vary by law or collective agreement in the jurisdictions listed — flagged for legal review, not answered here.
5. Overlaps with related policies and the rule for precedence.
6. The ten questions employees will ask that the policy must answer plainly.

Structure for the reader with a question, not for the drafter.

2. Draft the policy in plain language with legal flags

Best forA draft that a manager could apply and an employee could understand, with every legal point marked for review.
Inputs needed
  • Structure
  • Rules agreed
  • Jurisdictions
How to use itGive the structure and the rules. The model drafts in plain language, keeps sentences short, marks every jurisdictional or legal point with a review flag, and writes the manager guidance alongside.
Expected outputPlain-language draft by section, legal review flags inline, the manager application guide, the employee summary, and the FAQ.
You are drafting the [policy topic] policy for [company] applying in [jurisdictions].

Structure: [sections] Rules: [as agreed]
Tone: [company voice; reading level target]

1. Draft each section in plain language: short sentences, active voice, 'you' for the employee where appropriate, no legalese where a plain word exists; every rule states who does what, when, and what happens next.
2. Inline flags: mark every point that depends on jurisdiction, collective agreement or legal interpretation with [LEGAL REVIEW: reason] — do not resolve them here.
3. Manager guide (one page): how to apply the policy in the common situations, what to document, when to involve HR, what not to do.
4. Employee summary (under 200 words): what the policy means for them.
5. FAQ: the questions from the structure, answered from the draft; where the answer depends on a flagged point, say so.
6. Consistency check: any rule that contradicts a related policy or known practice — listed for resolution before publication.

This is a draft for HR and legal review. It is not legal advice, and it must not be published without the flagged points resolved.

3. Review an existing policy for gaps and inconsistency with practice

Best forFinding where a policy is silent, ambiguous, outdated, or contradicted by what actually happens.
Inputs needed
  • Existing policy
  • Known practice and recent cases
  • Related policies
How to use itPaste the policy and describe how things actually work. The model audits for gaps, ambiguity, outdated references, contradictions with practice and with other policies, and readability — and lists the fixes with a legal-review flag where needed.
Expected outputFindings by category with the text quoted, the practice contradiction list, the gaps with the situations that fall through, rewrites for the worst passages, and the review plan.
Act as an HR policy reviewer auditing the [policy topic] policy at [company].

Policy text: [paste]
Practice: [how it is actually applied; recent cases where it was unclear or ignored; manager questions HR receives]
Related policies: [list]

Report findings with the text quoted:
1. Gaps: situations that arise in practice and the policy does not address.
2. Ambiguity: rules where two reasonable managers would decide differently; undefined terms; 'may' where 'must' is meant.
3. Contradictions: with practice (what actually happens), with related policies, within the policy itself.
4. Currency: references to systems, roles, laws or processes that have changed — flagged for legal review where law is involved.
5. Application: decision rights unclear, process steps missing, timelines absent, no exception route.
6. Readability: length, structure, reading level; the sections employees will not read.
Then: rewrites for the three worst passages; the review plan (what needs legal input, what needs a decision, what is editorial); and the communication needed when the policy changes.

Quote the text. Findings must be specific enough to fix.

Related prompts

Logical next step

After this, most HR teams move on to Employee Communications and Change Announcements.

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