Written by Karolina Booth | 13th April 2023
An employee handbook gives employees a detailed overview of company policies, procedures and guidelines – it’s essentially a guide to working at your company.
A good employee handbook supports your contracts of employment in setting out how employees are expected to conduct themselves, who they can turn to if they need support, and what they can expect from you as their employer or manager. It also provides information about everything from company policies, employee benefits to housekeeping arrangements.
However just having an employee handbook isn’t enough, you need to be continually updating and refreshing it to reflect changes in your organisation, in order to stay compliant with the ever-growing list of employment rules and regulations.
A survey by Gusto payroll found that only 26% of small businesses (with between one and nine employees) have an employee handbook. While it’s not a legal necessity, we recommend for all our clients to have a handbook – no matter their size. Here’s why:
Engage employees from day one
According to a recent survey conducted by Personnel Today, 22% of candidates are “put off’ an organisation just by their onboarding experience. This could include a lack of information about the business, leaving new employees apprehensive about what to expect.
The onboarding process is one of the best times to introduce new employees to your workplace policies and company culture and this can help ensure new hires are integrated into the organisation successfully.
Best practices for onboarding a new hire include reviewing your key policies with them within the first few days of their employment. But with so much information to share, it can quickly become overwhelming. Providing an employee handbook gives them much of the information they need about the employment relationship at their fingertips to read and reference at their own pace.
Communicates to employees what is expected of them
An employee handbook serves as a central location for your company’s policies and procedures. It helps to outline and clearly communicate to employees what is expected of them, not only in terms of behaviour and conduct but also the processes for absence, family friendly rights, flexible working requests, holidays, pay disputes and many more. That way everyone is aware of all the rules and knows how to abide by them.
Making information clear and accessible means managers can refer to the handbook when answering questions or making decisions regarding your policies to ensure their answers and actions are consistent with your policies and best practices.
Gives managers the tools they need to deal with difficult situations
Not only does a handbook provide clarity for employee performance and behaviour, but it also helps with employee management. Outlining what is expected of your managers can help create uniformity across the whole of your business. Having agreed rules in place means managers do not waste time deciding how to respond to a situation.
For example, if an employee has raised a formal concern about their colleague, the manager can refer to the grievance procedure and follow the steps set out. Likewise, the employee can read the employee handbook and learn what the procedure entails.
Showcases the benefits you offer
Does your business offer health cash plans, paid parental leave, childcare vouchers, or other benefits to employees? Your employees may not be taking advantage of them because they don’t know what’s on offer. Communicating them in your handbook will help bring them to their attention. After all, a comprehensive benefits package can help you retain your best and brightest talent, but what good are they if no one is using them?
It is good practice to be promoting your employee benefits by including them in a dedicated section in your handbook. It’s a difficult time to recruit and retain employees, and a competitive salary is often not enough on its own.
Minimises the risk of conflict
A lack of clarity about policies, or managers enforcing them differently, may lead to employees seeing you as an unfair employer, or result in allegations of discrimination. Employees may also feel undervalued or mistreated, which can lead to a negative workplace environment, loss of productivity and engagement.
A handbook can help minimise this risk, by ensuring all employees are treated fairly and with respect, clearly setting out your company’s stance on issues such as discrimination and harassment.
Employment-related claims are often based on inconsistent treatment or lack of notice of company policies and procedures. Employee handbooks can therefore help employers to prove that they have acted fairly in accordance with set policies and procedures and it can be invaluable for employers facing a tribunal claim.
Is an employee handbook a legal requirement?
Unlike a contract of employment, there is no hard law that says you must have an employee handbook but having statutory policies such as flexible working, disciplinary and grievance, absence will be beneficial for both you and your employees.
You should give a copy to your employees and have a copy in a shared online location where people know where to find it.
If you make changes, don’t forget to let your employees know. Having a date and version number can help to avoid any issues or misunderstandings.
When was the last time you reviewed and updated your employee handbook? Do you need help creating a new one? Our expert team can help create a handbook that not only supports your contracts of employment, but also reflects the culture and values of your company. Get in touch with our team for any HR Outsourcing requirements at info@realityhr.co.uk.