What Belongs in an Employee Handbook (and What Doesn't)
An employee handbook serves as the foundation of your workplace culture and a critical reference guide for both new hires and longtime employees. Creating an effective handbook means striking the right balance—including essential information while avoiding content that can create legal risks or become quickly outdated. Here's what should make the cut and what you're better off leaving out.
What Definitely Belongs
Company Mission, Values, and Culture
Start with the big picture. Your handbook should articulate what your company stands for, its core values, and the culture you're building. This sets expectations and helps employees understand how they fit into the larger organization. Include your mission statement and any guiding principles that shape decision-making across the company.
Employment Basics
Cover the fundamental employment relationship clearly. This includes at-will employment status (if applicable), equal employment opportunity policies, and how employment classifications work (full-time, part-time, exempt, non-exempt). Employees need to understand what type of employment relationship they're entering and what that means for them.
Compensation and Benefits Overview
Provide a clear overview of how and when employees get paid, including pay periods, timekeeping requirements, and overtime policies. Outline the benefits you offer—health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off—along with eligibility requirements and where employees can find more detailed information. You don't need exhaustive details here, but employees should know what's available to them.
Time Off and Leave Policies
Detail your policies for vacation, sick leave, personal days, and holidays. Include required leaves like FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) and any state-specific leave laws that apply to your business. Be clear about how employees request time off, blackout periods if any exist, and how unused time off is handled.
Workplace Conduct and Standards
Establish clear expectations for professional behavior, including your code of conduct, dress code (if applicable), attendance expectations, and performance standards. This section helps prevent misunderstandings about what's acceptable in your workplace.
Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policies
This is non-negotiable. Include comprehensive policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, along with clear reporting procedures. Employees need to know that your workplace is safe, who they can report concerns to, and that they won't face retaliation for speaking up. Many states require specific language, so consult with legal counsel on this section.
Health, Safety, and Security
Outline workplace safety policies, emergency procedures, and any industry-specific safety requirements. Include information about workplace violence prevention, substance abuse policies, and protocols for reporting safety concerns.
Technology and Social Media Policies
In today's digital workplace, you need clear guidelines around technology use. Cover acceptable use of company equipment, email and internet policies, data security expectations, and social media guidelines. Address both protecting company information and employees' rights to discuss workplace conditions.
Disciplinary Procedures and Termination
Explain how your company handles performance issues and policy violations. While you should maintain flexibility, providing general guidelines about discipline helps employees understand consequences. Include information about the exit process and final paycheck timing.
Acknowledgment Form
End with an acknowledgment page that employees sign, confirming they've received and read the handbook. This is important documentation that the employee was informed of your policies.
What Doesn't Belong
Overly Specific Procedures
Detailed step-by-step procedures for every task become outdated quickly and make your handbook unwieldy. Instead of "To request a new password, email IT at this address, wait 24 hours, then call extension 5555," simply say "Contact IT for password assistance." Save the detailed procedures for department-specific training materials or your company intranet.
Benefit Plan Details
Don't reproduce your entire health insurance policy or 401(k) plan document. These are separate legal documents that change regularly—often annually. Your handbook should reference these benefits and direct employees to the official plan documents and HR for details. Otherwise, you'll be revising your handbook constantly and may create conflicting information.
Constantly Changing Information
Leave out information that changes frequently, like specific managers' names (roles are fine), office hours that might shift, or current pricing for voluntary benefits. These details create maintenance headaches and quickly make your handbook look outdated.
Promises You Can't Keep
Avoid language that sounds like a contract or guarantee. Phrases like "employees will receive annual raises" or "no employee will be terminated without three written warnings" can create legal obligations you didn't intend. Keep language flexible and include disclaimers that policies may change.
Excessive Legalese
Your handbook isn't a legal brief. While it needs to be legally sound, burying employees in dense legal language defeats its purpose. Work with legal counsel to ensure compliance, but write in clear, accessible language that employees will actually read and understand.
Personal Opinions or Editorializing
Keep it professional and factual. Your handbook isn't the place for management's opinions on work ethic, generational differences, or political views. Stick to objective policies and expectations.
Information That Varies by Location
If you operate in multiple states or countries, avoid putting location-specific policies in a universal handbook. Different jurisdictions have different legal requirements for leave, breaks, and other policies. Consider creating location-specific addendums or separate handbooks.
Redundant Company-Wide Policies
If your company already has published policies on certain topics (like a comprehensive IT security policy or detailed safety manual), don't duplicate them entirely in your handbook. Reference them and explain where to find them instead.
Best Practices for Handbook Success
Review annually. Set a yearly reminder to review and update your handbook. Laws change, your business evolves, and your handbook should reflect current reality.
Get legal review. Have an employment attorney review your handbook, especially if you operate in multiple states. The cost of a legal review is minimal compared to the cost of defending against a lawsuit.
Make it accessible. Store your handbook where employees can easily access it—digitally on your intranet, in a shared drive, or in a printed version. Inaccessible policies don't protect your company.
Keep it clear and concise. Employees are more likely to read and follow a 30-page handbook than a 200-page tome. Be thorough but respect your readers' time.
Include a disclaimer. State clearly that the handbook doesn't constitute a contract and that policies may change. This preserves your flexibility and reduces legal risk.
The Bottom Line
A well-crafted employee handbook protects your company, sets clear expectations, and helps employees understand their workplace. Focus on policies that are stable, important, and broadly applicable. Leave the details, specifics, and frequently changing information for other resources. Your goal is a document that serves as a reliable reference guide for years to come, not a tome that requires monthly revisions or leaves employees confused about where they stand.
When in doubt, ask yourself: "Will this policy be relevant in three years? Does this create clarity or confusion? Does this protect the company and inform employees?" If the answer is yes to all three, it probably belongs in your handbook. If not, find another home for that information.
I am a wiz at drafting handbooks and auditing existing documents - please reach out if you would like a review (or if you need to draft one) of your handbook.