What is an employee handbook?
An employee handbook is a workplace document that provides an overview of an organization's processes, policies, and workplace conditions to its employees.
As a single source of truth for everything workplace-related, it acts as a reference document for employees and employers to help maintain a desired work environment.
Contents of an employee handbook
While the exact content of an employee handbook can vary depending on the company, it typically includes:
- Company background: Share your company’s history, mission, and values to set up the foundation of your company’s culture.
- Products and services: Give an overview of your products and services, including how they help your customers, to educate the employees on the problems your brand solves.
- Company culture: Outline the expected behavior of employees surrounding everything from communication to personal appearance.
- Employment policies: Communicate important employment details, such as work hours, break times, and payment schedules.
- Employee benefits: Let the employees know about your paid time off (PTO) policy, paid holidays, and medical benefits.
Benefits of an employee handbook
An employee handbook serves as a valuable company tool by providing a centralized source of information on all workplace practices.
In particular, you can expect the following benefits by developing a quality employee handbook:
Smoother collaboration
According to a 2023 Gensler report, employees spend 42% of their workweek working with others in person or virtually. To ensure all that time helps — rather than hurt — your business, you can rely on company culture policies that define the expected behaviors teams should have when working together.
Clear expectations
By documenting the company’s recommendations on employee behavior, workplace culture, and standard policies, an employee handbook leaves no room for unnecessary disagreements.
Instead, all employees know their rights and responsibilities and can work without dealing with the unknown.
Employee self-service
An employee handbook acts as an FAQ document for employees and helps them clarify their confusion. For instance, if they want information on job benefits and perks, they can find that in the handbook.
They can also rely on the employee handbook to get policies surrounding time-off requests (e.g., when they need to give notice or who gets preference in case there’s a leave conflict).
