GuidesUnderstanding compliance scores
Understanding compliance scores
What Regulyn's compliance indicators mean and how to improve them.
Compliance at a glance
Regulyn uses several indicators to show how compliant your handbook and documents are. Understanding them helps you decide what to work on and track improvement over time.
1Gap analysis progress
The Gap Analysis shows which policies you have against which you need. Policies are organised into three categories.
| Category | Meaning | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Legally required. UK law requires these policies. | Disciplinary, Grievance, Health and Safety, Equal Opportunities, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Whistleblowing, all family leave policies, and others |
| Recommended | Best practice for most employers. | Sickness Absence, Annual Leave, Data Protection, Working Hours, Bullying and Harassment, Mental Health, and others |
| Optional | Depends on your business needs. | Dress Code, Expenses, Training, Social Media, Remote Working, Company Property, Anti-Bribery, and others |
How to improve
- Prioritise Core policies. These are legal requirements.
- Use Policy Studio to generate missing policies.
- Aim for 100% Core completion before Optional policies.
- The percentage shows overall progress across all categories.
2Policy risk ratings
When you analyse a policy with the Section Analyser, each finding gets a severity rating. The overall risk rating is based on the most serious finding.
| Rating | Action | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Must fix immediately | Serious legal non-compliance. Missing statutory requirements, unlawful provisions, or high tribunal risk. |
| High | Should fix soon | Acas Code non-compliance (risks a 25% tribunal uplift) or significant legal gaps. |
| Medium | Plan to address | Best practice gaps or unclear wording that increases risk but is not immediately dangerous. |
| Low | Minor improvements | Minor issues, formatting suggestions, or clarifications that would improve the policy. |
| Enhancement | Nice to have | Optional improvements for clarity or employee experience. Not required but beneficial. |
3Finding types
Each finding is also categorised by type, which tells you where the requirement comes from.
- Legal non-compliance
A hard legal breach: a statutory requirement is missing or violated.
Example: "Missing right to be accompanied at disciplinary hearings (ERA 1999 s.10)"
- Acas or guidance risk
An Acas Code breach or official guidance not followed. Non-compliance can result in a 25% uplift in tribunal awards.
Example: "No investigation stage before disciplinary hearing (ACAS Code para 5)"
- Best practice gap
A recommendation based on HR best practice rather than a strict legal requirement. Good to address but not legally mandated.
Example: "Consider adding examples of gross misconduct for clarity"
4Document compliance scores
When you check a document (a contract, a letter and so on) against your handbook, you get a compliance score out of 100. It shows how well the document aligns with your policies.
How the score is calculated
Starting from 100 points, deductions are made for each issue found.
| Deduction | Issue | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -10 points | Compliance fix | Must change (legal requirement or policy violation) |
| -3 points | Alignment correction | Should change (wording does not match the handbook) |
| -1 point | Enhancement | Could add (not required but strengthens the document) |
Score bands
| Score | Band | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 76 to 100 | Good | Minor or no issues |
| 51 to 75 | Needs attention | Some corrections needed |
| 0 to 50 | Review required | Significant issues to address |
5Policy compliance status
Each policy in your handbook has a compliance status showing whether it is up to date with recent law changes.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Current | The policy is up to date with recent law changes. No action needed. |
| Review needed | Law changes may affect this policy. Review and update if necessary. |
| Update required | The policy needs updating because of law changes. Action required. |
Regulyn monitors UK legislation and flags when your policies are affected by law changes. Run a compliance check on any policy to get detailed findings.
Frequently asked questions
What does the compliance score mean in Regulyn?
How is the Gap Analysis progress calculated?
What do the different risk ratings mean?
What are the different finding types?
How do I improve my compliance score?
How to improve your compliance
- 1
Complete Core policies first
Use Gap Analysis to see what is missing. Generate any missing core policies with Policy Studio.
- 2
Address Critical and High findings
Run the Section Analyser on existing policies. Fix Critical and High severity issues first.
- 3
Check documents against policies
Use Document Checker to make sure contracts and letters align with your handbook.
- 4
Monitor legal changes
Check the Legal Changes page regularly. Run compliance checks when alerted to updates.
- 5
Publish the updated handbook
After making updates, generate a new handbook version to keep everything current.
Related reading
- Analyse existing policies
Get a compliance gap report on what you already have
- Generate HR policies
Drafting and redrafting policies
- Legal change alerts
How Regulyn flags the policies a law change affects
- Check HR documents
Find compliance issues in a contract or letter
- The Acas Code of Practice
What the Code requires of disciplinary and grievance procedures
- ERA 2025 in plain English
What is in force, what is coming and what your handbook needs to say
- Free handbook compliance check
Every gap ranked by risk, with the law cited
- How Regulyn works
From the handbook you have to one you can publish, in four steps
- Every feature
From gap analysis to the handbook chatbot
- Browse all guides
Step-by-step guides to every part of Regulyn
Check your compliance
Run a Gap Analysis to see how your handbook measures up.