What should an employee handbook include?

An employee handbook should tell a new joiner, in plain language, how the business works and what is expected of them: who the company is, how the working day runs, how pay and leave work, how people are expected to behave and where to go with a problem. It should be short enough to read in one sitting and specific enough that a manager can point to a page when a question comes up.

A handbook is not the same as the policies behind it. The leave policy, the disciplinary procedure and the code of conduct can each run to several pages. The handbook gives the essentials of each and tells the reader where the full version lives. Which policies a growing business needs is covered in the HR policies every growing business needs. This article is about the handbook that sits on top of them.

• About the company: what it does, how it is organised and the values or ways of working you actually expect, in a few honest paragraphs.
• Who to ask: the HR contact, the reporting line and how decisions are made.
• Working time: working days and hours, shifts, breaks, remote or on-site arrangements, how attendance is recorded and what to do when running late.
• Tools and systems: how to log in, where to find documents and how to raise a request.

This is the section people read most, so make it the clearest. State how and when pay is made, how pay components are explained on the payslip, how reimbursements work and what the benefits are in plain terms. For leave, set out each type, who approves it, how far ahead to ask and what happens to unused leave. Leave policy that two managers apply the same way shows what goes wrong when this section is vague.

• The standards of behaviour, including respect, confidentiality and use of company property and devices.
• Conflicts of interest and gifts, where relevant to your business.
• What happens when standards are not met, in outline, with a pointer to the full procedure.
• Use of email, messaging groups and social media where it affects the business.

Cover how to report an accident or hazard, emergency arrangements and where first aid is kept. Say how the business handles harassment complaints and who receives them, and link to the full procedure. Where a legal committee or process applies to your business, have that section reviewed by a qualified professional before it goes in.

A handbook earns trust when it says plainly how a person can raise a problem, to whom, what will happen and what protection they have from being treated badly for doing so. If you do not have a grievance route, write one first; a grievance procedure without an HR team shows a workable shape for small businesses.

Explain the probation process, how confirmation works, notice periods as set in the employment terms, handover expectations and what to return on leaving. Link to the joining and exit checklists rather than repeating them: a joining checklist and an offboarding checklist.

• Anything that changes often, such as names, phone numbers and rates. Link to a living page instead.
• Long procedures and forms. Give the principle and link to the procedure.
• Promises you do not intend to keep. A handbook can be quoted back to you.
• Copied text from another company's handbook. It will describe a business that is not yours.

1. 1

   Name an owner

   One person is responsible for the handbook, and a named reviewer checks it against the employment terms.

2. 2

   Date every version

   Put the version and date on the first page and keep earlier versions on file.

3. 3

   Have the statutory parts reviewed

   Ask a qualified professional to check the sections that depend on law, since requirements depend on your establishment and state.

4. 4

   Issue it and record that it was read

   Give every employee the current version and record the acknowledgement, as policy acknowledgements explains.

5. 5

   Review it each year

   Check it against the policies, the employment terms and the questions managers actually get asked.

Keep the whole handbook to a length a new joiner will read. If it grows long, that is usually a sign procedures have crept in that belong in separate policies.