One Set of Policies Every Outlet Follows, and Records Ready When the Manufacturer Audits
Bring your HR policies, handbook, code of conduct and compliance calendar into one controlled set that every outlet uses. Our policies, compliance and governance service drafts the documents with your managers, assigns an owner and a date to each recurring obligation, and sets up the records an audit will ask for. We do not give legal advice. We organise the work so that you and your advisers can see what is covered and by whom.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsThe starting point
Could Every Outlet Show the Same Policy and the Same Evidence?
A group works under manufacturer standards, its own policies and a range of legal and safety duties that overlap. When these sit in different files at different outlets, staff follow whichever version they last received, and an audit becomes a search for papers.
We help you hold one version of each policy, one owner for each obligation and one place for the evidence.
You may be experiencing:
- Policies in several versions, with each outlet using the one it received last.
- A manufacturer standard and a group policy that differ on the same point, and staff following whichever they heard first.
- Operations, HR and the outlet each assuming that another holds responsibility for a given policy.
- No record that employees have read or acknowledged a policy.
- Recurring obligations, such as renewals, returns and inspections, tracked by memory.
- Training records, safety checks and audit results scattered across outlets.
- A new outlet starting without a handbook, or with a copy of someone else's.
- Policies that read well but that a foreman cannot apply on the day.
What we can help with
Our Policies, Compliance and Governance Services for Automotive
HR Policy Manual
Draft policies in plain language for the areas you need, such as attendance, leave, overtime, conduct, incentive rules, vehicle and asset use, and social media, each short enough to apply.
Employee Handbook
Compile an employee handbook for showroom, workshop and plant staff, with the same core and separate sections for each workforce.
Code of Conduct
Set out standards for customer dealings, test drives, handling of customer property, gifts, conflicts of interest and use of group systems.
Reconciling Manufacturer Standards and Group Policy
Compare the manufacturer's requirements with your own policies, mark where they overlap or differ and settle which prevails, with an owner for each.
Version Control and Acknowledgement
Set up one controlled copy of each policy, a version history, a release routine for outlets and a record of employee acknowledgement.
Compliance Calendar with Owners
List the recurring obligations you have identified with your advisers, with an owner, a due date and a reminder for each, and a way to record completion.
Documentation and Record Keeping
Define what evidence is kept for each obligation, where, by whom and for how long, so that an outlet can produce it on request.
Internal Review and Audit Readiness
Plan a periodic review of policies and records at each outlet, with a checklist, findings log and follow-up, so that gaps are found by you first.
The deliverables
What You Receive
Depending on scope, you receive:
- An HR policy manual in plain language.
- An employee handbook with a common core and sections for each workforce.
- A code of conduct.
- A map of manufacturer standards against group policies.
- A policy register with owners, versions and review dates.
- An acknowledgement process and record.
- A compliance calendar with owners and reminders.
- A documentation checklist and an internal review routine.
Step by step
How We Work
Collect What Exists
We gather the policies, circulars, manufacturer standards and checklists in use at head office and a few outlets, and note which version each outlet holds.
Map Obligations and Owners
With you and your advisers, we list the obligations that apply and name an owner for each. What the law requires of you is for a qualified professional to confirm.
Draft the Set
We draft the manual, handbook and conduct code with your managers, and reconcile them with the manufacturer's standards.
Release and Acknowledge
We set up a release routine and an acknowledgement record, and brief outlet heads on using them.
Review and Improve
We plan a first internal review. Before work starts we note how many policy versions are in use and how many obligations have no owner, and report against that.
The difference
Policies People Can Apply
A controlled policy and compliance set helps you:
We do not promise outcomes. We record a baseline before work starts, covering policy versions in use, obligations without an owner and records found missing at review, and report against it, so you can see what changed and what did not.
- Use one version of each policy at every outlet.
- Give a foreman a policy short enough to apply.
- Know who owns each recurring obligation.
- Show that employees have received each policy.
- Produce records for an audit from one place.
- Open a new outlet with a complete, current set.
Find your fit
Who This Service Is For
Dealership Groups
Replace outlet-by-outlet documents with one controlled set.
Single-Outlet Dealerships and Garages
Get a short, usable handbook without a legal department.
Manufacturers and Component Makers
Organise policy, audit and customer-requirement records across plants.
Fleet and Rental Companies
Set clear rules for driver conduct, vehicle use and incident reporting.
Businesses Preparing for a Manufacturer or Customer Audit
Find gaps in records before the auditor does.
How it usually shows up in automotive
A dealership group works under manufacturer standards, employment rules and safety duties that overlap and sometimes differ. Policies exist in several versions, so outlets use the one they last received. Where a manufacturer standard and a group policy differ, staff follow whichever they heard first. Operations, HR and the outlet each assume another holds a given policy. Evidence such as training records, safety checks and audit results is scattered across outlets, so a manufacturer audit becomes a search for papers.
Common challenges
Where it goes wrong in automotive
Policies exist in several versions
Outlets use the version they last received, and a revision reaches some and not others.
Manufacturer standards and group policy overlap
Where the two differ, staff follow whichever they heard first. A technician who has read the manufacturer's standard and not the group's will follow the one he trusts, and a customer will meet the difference.
Ownership is unclear
Operations, HR and the outlet each assume another holds the policy.
Compliance evidence is scattered
Training records, safety checks and audits sit in different outlets, and an audit becomes a hunt.
A better process
What a working version looks like
- 01
Keep one controlled copy of each policy
With a version, an owner and a review date, available at every outlet. The HR policies and governance work builds the register.
- 02
Map manufacturer requirements to group policy
One table showing where each manufacturer standard is covered, so staff follow one document.
- 03
Name an owner and a back-up
For each policy and each obligation, so a revision always has someone to carry it.
- 04
File evidence as the work happens
Training, checks and audits recorded centrally on the day, ready for the next visit.
What to check this week
- Pick a workshop policy and count the versions across your outlets.
- Ask an outlet manager who owns the policy and when it was last reviewed.
- Check where the training records for specialist vehicles are held.
- Compare a manufacturer standard with the group policy on the same point.
- Confirm with a qualified professional which obligations apply to each of your outlets.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies depends on your establishment, your state and your sector, and it changes. This page describes a practice; it does not state a legal position.
What this looks like in automotive
The parts of policies, compliance and governance that are specific to this sector, rather than general.
Policies Across a Multi-Location Group
One framework, several establishment types.
What this coversHide
Policies Across a Multi-Location Group
One framework, several establishment types.
What this coversHideAn automotive group operates a plant, dealerships and workshops that may sit under different establishment types, in different states, with different applicable requirements.
- Single policy framework with location-specific annexures
- Establishment-wise register of applicable obligations
- Named owner per obligation, with a dated calendar
- Conduct, conflict of interest and gift policy across dealerships
- Workshop and plant safety policies maintained distinctly
- Data handling policy covering customer information
- Version control so all locations use the current policy
- Acknowledgement records maintained per employee
A register of what applies to each establishment is the foundation. Groups that maintain one policy set without it routinely discover a gap at a location nobody was tracking.
Questions on this, in automotive
No. GullyHR does not give legal advice. We draft and organise policies and calendars, and we recommend that a qualified professional confirm the obligations that apply to your business, your outlets and your location.
We compare them point by point and mark where they overlap or differ. You then decide which prevails in each case, and the answer is written into the policy so that staff are not left to guess.
Short enough that a foreman or team leader can apply it without calling head office. We keep each policy to what people need to do, with reasons only where they help.
Yes. We can configure the release of a policy and the employee's acknowledgement on the GullyHR platform or your own system, so that HR can see who has and has not confirmed.
Each recurring obligation you and your advisers have identified, with an owner, a due date, a reminder and a place to record completion and evidence. We build the calendar. Which items belong in it is a matter for your advisers.
Review each one at least once a year, and again when the manufacturer changes a standard, you open a new outlet or something goes wrong. The register shows the next review date for each.
One named role, such as head of HR, an outlet head or the safety lead, holds each policy and is responsible for review. The register records the owner, so that nobody assumes another department has it.
Map the manufacturer's requirements to your policy in one table and keep one document staff follow. Where the two differ, decide which governs and say so.
The operations head should own them, with HR holding the register and the review dates. The register shows who owns what, so the question has an answer.
Keep evidence as the work happens, in one place. If training and checks are filed on the day, the audit is a review, not a hunt.
Put One Set of Rules Behind Every Outlet
Tell us which policies exist today and how outlets use them, and we will suggest where to start.
Prefer to talk first? Call +91 80958 58589 or write to hello@gullyhr.com.
Book a Policy and Compliance Consultation
Tell us about your outlets, your policies and your records.
The general method — what policies, compliance and governance covers, the questions it answers and what an engagement produces — is the same whatever the sector, and is set out on the hr policies and governance page. What is above is the part that differs for automotive.
To run this in a system rather than on paper, see policy and document centre.
Other HR topics for automotive
Where to start
Most engagements begin with a review of how this runs in your business today, then a written process and the sequence to implement it.