Your company’s employee handbook needs to communicate essential information to your workers and managers. It acts as a single source of truth that contains your company’s policies and expectations, as well as employee compensation and benefits.
Your employee handbook will evolve over time as codes of conduct, technologies, and positions change. Don’t worry too much about the future of your handbook right now. Instead, channel all of your thought and energy into making a handbook that gives you an excellent foundation to build on.
Know What Your Employee Handbook Should Cover
Before you can write an effective employee handbook, you need to know what sections the handbook should cover. At first, this can seem like an overwhelming task. How can you possibly tell employees everything they need to know about joining your company?
If you think about your handbook this way, you will procrastinate forever. Instead, break your handbook project into topics that make it more manageable. SCORE, an organization of mentors and business leaders, recommends including sections about:
- Your company’s value, including its mission statement.
- General employment information, such as safety procedures, when to take breaks, and the payment schedule.
- Anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws.
- Standards of conduct that cover topics like dress codes, using personal devices at work, and whether employees can accept gifts from clients.
- Employee benefits, including vacation time, insurance coverage, and retirement plans.
- Your confidentiality, nondisclosure agreements (NDA), and conflict of interest agreements (not all companies have these).
- Disciplinary policies that clearly state the repercussions of breaking rules and laws.
Finally, you need to include a disclaimer that tells employees they cannot treat the handbook as a contract. In fact, you might need to update your employee handbook at any time. Include a plain message that says the handbook is not a contract between the employee and the company.
Recommended reading: Employee Onboarding vs. Orientation
Include Images, Text, and Real-World Scenarios in Your Employee Handbook
Not everyone you hire learns the same way. Some people don’t mind reading through a text-heavy handbook that outlines policies, benefits, and responsibilities. Other people do not have the ability to read a wall of words.
Diverse learning methods can empower your workforce to reach its goals in unique ways. Don’t think of differences as challenges to communication. Think of them as opportunities to explore new concepts.
When making your handbook, you need to ensure you include images that will break up text and offer information to people who prefer visual learning styles. For example, in a section about accumulating paid time off (PTO), you might include a graph that shows how much vacation time an employee earns per day worked. A graph eliminates ambiguity and confusion for a lot of people.
Other ways you can make your employee handbook more useful for diverse learners include:
- Using bold and italicized text to make important information stand out.
- Inserting a list at the beginning of each section that quickly explains what the section will cover.
- Providing a brief summary at the end of each section.
- Using real-world scenarios that can help employees imagine how a policy could affect their lives.
Not everyone will respond to these communication styles. Some people learn best by talking and listening. Make sure all of your employees understand that your HR team has an open-door policy. If they ever have any questions about the content covered in the handbook, they can schedule a time to talk to you and get clarification.
Double-Check Your Information for Accuracy
You need your employee handbook to contain accurate information. Including a disclaimer gives you legal protection, but mistakes could still disgruntle employees, leading to poor productivity or a higher churn rate.
Obviously, you want to get feedback from your CEO/owner and experienced managers within your organization. It also makes sense to check federal and state regulations. Did you explain your employee’s overtime rights correctly? The U.S. Department of Labor’s website has ample information that can help you align your policy with federal law.
The Department of Labor also has a handy page that can connect you with local and regional services. If you feel uncertain about anything, reach out to a local resource for help.
Review and Update Your Employee Handbook as Needed
Eventually, you will need to update your employee handbook. Perhaps the job responsibilities for some positions change. Maybe federal and local laws force you to change your compensation package. Maybe you realize that your handbook uses outdated scenarios that don’t connect with new employees.
Take some time to review your employee handbook and look for sections that could benefit from an update. How often should you review it? Twice a year is terrific, but once a year should meet your needs unless something significant changes within your organization.
How America’s Back Office Can Help
America’s Back Office has worked with a lot of businesses that want to outsource their HR needs. The professionals at America’s Back Office can provide several services to ensure you have an accurate, useful employee handbook. Labor law compliance and new employee onboarding experts, for example, can review your work to make sure it aligns with your area laws and communicates well with employees.
If you want any assistance building your employee handbook, writing company policies, or choosing employee benefits, schedule a consultation with America’s Back Office to speak with someone who can give you the guidance you deserve.
