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Preloaded policy

Performance Management Policy template

Goal-setting, ongoing feedback, formal reviews, and the use of Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) within an at-will employment context.

Legal basis
  • At-will employment with anti-discrimination overlay (Title VII, ADA, ADEA, GINA, state laws)
  • NLRA Section 7 protections for concerted activity feedback
  • ADA reasonable-accommodation interaction
Last reviewed April 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.

What the policy covers

  1. 1. PURPOSE
    To support sustained high performance through clear expectations, ongoing feedback, structured reviews, and, where needed, formal performance improvement plans.
  2. 2. GOAL-SETTING
    Every employee has documented goals at the start of each performance period: typically annual, with a mid-year checkpoint.
  3. 3. ONGOING FEEDBACK
    Managers provide regular, timely feedback: at least monthly 1:1s plus immediate feedback on significant work.
  4. 4. FORMAL REVIEWS
    A formal written review is conducted annually covering achievement against goals, demonstrated competencies, development areas, and employee comments.
  5. 5. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN (PIP)
    Where performance falls below expectations, the manager may issue a written PIP setting out:
  6. 6. ADA / REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION INTERACTION
    Where performance issues may relate to a disability, the manager refers to HR and the company engages in the ADA interactive process.
  7. 7. NO RETALIATION
    Performance management decisions must be free from discrimination on the basis of any protected characteristic, and must not be used to retaliate against an employee for protected
  8. 8. RECORDS
    Goals, review records, and PIPs are retained in the employee's personnel file for the duration of employment plus 1 year (EEOC minimum) or longer where state law requires.

Who needs it

Any employer running schedule, leave and the day-to-day of employing people. These set out the rules once so nobody argues about them twice.

Questions people ask

Is a performance management policy a legal requirement?

It rests on At-will employment with anti-discrimination overlay (Title VII, ADA, ADEA, GINA, state laws) and NLRA Section 7 protections for concerted activity feedback and ADA reasonable-accommodation interaction. Some policies must be written down once a business reaches a certain size or does certain work; others are simply how a tribunal, an inspector or an auditor expects to see that you have thought about it. A clear, dated, signed policy is the evidence either way. Guidance, not legal advice.

Can I change it to suit how we work?

Yes. Inside Work-Lynx it is a starting point: put your company name in, adjust the arrangements to what you actually do, set the review date and publish it. Staff read and acknowledge it on their phones, and you can see who has not.

Is it up to date?

Last reviewed April 2026. The pack is updated when the law moves, and every policy carries a review date so it does not quietly go stale.

How do I get it?

It is preloaded in Work-Lynx with the other 28 policies for the US. Work-Lynx is $3 plus $1.25 per employee, 14 days free, no card, and what you see on the pricing page is the bill.

Who is it for?

Any employer running schedule, leave and the day-to-day of employing people. These set out the rules once so nobody argues about them twice.

All 29 US policies, $3 a month

This policy and 28 others are already in Work-Lynx, alongside GPS clock-in, schedules, timesheets, PTO and an employment-question advisor. $3 base plus $1.25 per employee a month. 14 days free, no card, no sales call.

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