Employee Handbook

This is definitely an option and we can start by doing a complimentary review of the employee handbook you’re already using.

The review will give you some ideas as to what we would recommend changing and we’ll also let you know how much it would cost for us to make those changes.

Sometimes, when we look at a handbook, we’ll have to tell the client that it will be more cost effective for them to use our template rather than update what they are using. This is particularly true if there are a lot of missing policies or if the handbook has been written by a lawyer and the language is a little impenetrable!

Our employee handbooks are tailored to your business and contain two key sections: Guidance and Policies.

Guidance: designed to be highly accessible, this section highlights information that’s specific to your business and answers common employee questions like ‘What should I do if I’m ill?’ and ‘How do I book holiday?’

Policies: contains everything you need to meet your legal obligations, including coverage of key employee events. Absence Policy, Disciplinary Policy and Grievance Policy are also detailed. Most people will only refer to this section when they have a problem or face a very particular situation.

We advise clients not to have an Employee Handbook that is contractual as that creates a lot of unnecessary work in the future as you’ll need to consult with employees every time you want to make a change. Given that the handbook won’t be contractual, the roll-out process is quite easy. You’ll issue the handbook to your team, invite their comments and questions and that’s that!

We do suggest that you ask employees to sign to say that they have received and read the handbook and that you review the handbook on an annual basis to make sure that it continues to reflect your business practices and any changes in employment law.

Having a single point of reference where employees can see the rules that apply to them and that managers can use to ensure they deal with things consistently means that everyone is able to focus on the job they are employed to do.

It also helps new employees to settle into their new roles quickly and makes sure that you have the legal policies in place that you need.

Furthermore, your Employee Handbook should be a reflection of your business. The tone, style and content will help the new employees to understand what it’s really like to work in your company.

Of course you can but we’d recommend that you don’t.

The challenge with template documents is that they aren’t tailored for your business. You’ll likely see policies in the template that you don’t know whether you need or not – can you just delete them? It could be that you want to make changes to that template but how will you know that the changes you make don’t breach employment law?

When it comes to an employee handbook, we really do think it’s worth speaking to an expert, getting a handbook that’s created for you and one that you really understand and would be happy to stand behind. Your employee handbook will set out the rules that you will enforce across your workforce and it’s likely to be a key document if you do end up dealing with employee disputes.

An employee handbook on it’s own won’t mean that you meet your legal obligations as an employer when it comes to provision of documentation.

You must provide employees with written confirmation of the key elements of their employment with you on the day on which they join your business, and this can be a good opportunity to also set out some other contractual obligations that you’d like to enforce (post-termination restrictions, copyright, intellectual property protection, etc.). So, you might want to think about an Employment Contract if this isn’t something that you already have.

We offer a Contract and Handbook package at a discount price which provides you the contract and policies that you need. Contact us to find out more.

If you already have an employee handbook then the first thing that we’ll look to ascertain is whether or not that handbook is contractual. If it is, then you’ll need to follow a consultation process when you implement a new handbook.

If your handbook isn’t contractual or if you don’t have a contractual handbook then the process should be quite straight forward if all you’re doing is documenting policies and procedures that are already happening in practice. However, if you’re going to use your handbook to change things around, introduce new rules and procedures, and remove some old working practices, then you’ll need to consult anyway as you’ll be changing things that are custom and practice.

When you work with us to create an employee handbook, we’ll guide you through the process of rolling it out.