HR Built From The Inside Out.

Pragmatic HR Group exists because small businesses deserve better HR infrastructure than a Google search can provide. Every template in this library was built by a SHRM-SCP certified HR professional with 15+ years of experience inside real organizations- not theory, not AI-generated content, and not a paralegal filling in blanks.

Where This Came From

After more than 15 years working in HR inside real organizations building policies from scratch, sitting across the table in termination meetings, investigating harassment complaints, negotiating separations, managing PIPs, and trying to explain to a well-meaning manager why they just created a legal problem, we noticed something.

Small businesses were operating without the HR foundation that every organization needs. Not because they didn’t care, but because building that foundation from scratch is expensive, time-consuming, and requires expertise most small business owners do not have in-house. The options were: hire a consultant (expensive), use a free template (generic and often legally problematic), or keep winging it (risky).

Pragmatic HR Group exists to close that gap. Every template and policy we create is built the way we would build it for an organization we worked for: clear, practical, legally informed, and designed to actually be used. Not filed and forgotten.

The word “pragmatic” is intentional. HR that works is HR that people actually use. That means clear language, logical structure, and documents that a manager without an HR degree can open and follow. That is what we build.

  • Senior Certified Professional: the highest credential awarded by the Society for Human Resource Management.

  • HR experience across organizations of multiple sizes and industries, including complex employee relations, policy development, and HR program buildout.

  • Every document reflects current federal law, with state-specific callouts for California, Colorado, New York, and other states with unique requirements.

  • Experience handling harassment investigations, PIPs, progressive discipline, separations, and the full range of situations that small business owners face without a playbook.

  • Every template is built to be used, not filed. Language is clear. Structures are logical. Manager guidance is included where it matters most.

  • Not adapted from enterprise templates. Written specifically for organizations that do not have a large HR department, where the owner or an office manager is doing HR alongside everything else.

Browse All Templates
Open blank notebook with lined pages, a silver pen placed in the center, gray pencil case with pens and pencils inside, all on a black textured surface.

Why Not Just Use a Free Template?

Free HR templates exist. We know, we have read them. Here is what they typically miss:

•       NLRA language: Most free social media and confidentiality policies contain provisions that are unenforceable, or worse, illegal, because they prohibit employees from discussing wages. This is protected activity under the NLRA regardless of what your policy says.

•       State law variations: A PTO policy that works in Texas can create significant liability in California. A termination process that is standard in most states violates Colorado and California final pay law. Free templates are written for a generic employer in a generic state.

•       Operational tools: A harassment policy that defines what is prohibited is a start. A harassment policy that also tells managers exactly how to receive a complaint, what to do next, and who to call is actually useful. Most free templates give you the former.

•       Legal updates: The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the PUMP Act, the Groff v. DeJoy religious accommodation standard, and Bostock v. Clayton County are all developments from recent years that affect what your policies should say. Many free templates predate them.

Our templates are not a replacement for legal counsel on complex situations. But they are a significant step above a generic free template, and they are built by someone who has worked with these documents inside real organizations, not just read about them.

Who We Build These For

  • Running a team without dedicated HR support and doing it on instinct, memory, and hope. It works until it doesn’t.

  • Promoted into people management and handed responsibility for performance, discipline, and difficult conversations without a framework.

  • Handling HR alongside everything else because someone has to. Needs tools that are clear enough to use without an HR degree.

Ready to Build Your HR Foundation?

Browse our full library of HR templates and policies built for US small businesses, priced for small business budgets, and designed to actually get used.