What Should Be Included in an Employee Handbook: A Guide
ByDanica Jovic
March 21,2023
An employee handbook is perhaps the single most important document in any company. In addition to communicating your company’s policies, it’s an essential part of onboarding new employees and conveying the core values of your business.
But in spite of its importance, many small business owners don’t actually have a company handbook. Others don’t recognize its value until something goes wrong. That’s why it’s always better to have one as soon as you start your business. This is the best way to set clear expectations for your employees and outline your legal obligations and their rights. Our guide will tell you what should be included in an employee handbook and how to create one.
What Is an Employee Handbook?
An employee handbook is also referred to as an employee or company policy manual or a staff handbook. It outlines your company’s mission and culture while informing employees of the legal framework governing their employment. The handbook also includes various other components such as your company’s background information, procedures and policies, working conditions, and employee rights.
This document should be made available to each employee as soon as they are hired. The new employees should also be asked to provide a written acknowledgment that they received the handbook.
What Topics Should Be Included in an Employee Handbook?
As an employer, you aren’t legally required to provide employees with a policy manual or a handbook. However, this is a highly beneficial communication resource between you and your employees, which is why many small business owners choose to create one. While insurance policies for small businesses protect you from professional mistakes, a written format of the company rules and policies can go a long way in shielding you from discrimination and harassment claims.
But an employee handbook is not only about the rules and policies. It should also set the tone of the company’s culture and help create a healthy and positive work environment. This is why you should finish writing an employee handbook before you turn to job posting sites and begin the onboarding process. This approach informs employees about everything that’s expected of them before they start working.
An employee policy handbook should cover several topics, including information about your company (history, values, mission), in-house rules (mobile phone use, for example), mandatory policies (equal employment opportunity and PTO), and human resources information.
The Main Components of an Employee Handbook for Small Business
There is no shortage of templates and employee handbook examples online. Most include the aforementioned key components and additional policies for different business organizations. Below is a list of the most common features in every company policy handbook, including some of the most important small business policies and procedures.
Introduction
Start by introducing employees to your company history and background information. This section can have a welcome note from the CEO, which introduces the company’s team and explains its mission and core values. This is the most flexible part of a handbook and can include everything from the purpose of the handbook to a contractual disclaimer.
A widely accepted employee handbook definition requires the introduction to explain how your business is organized, who are the owners/CEOs, and where the business is incorporated. These sorts of details are useful to have on hand as most companies that provide business incorporation services, like Northwest Registered Agent, require you to provide this information.
Onboarding
Once you’ve outlined your company’s mission and vision, it’s time to explain how your company works. Start with the hiring and onboarding section, where your employees can get informed about the company’s structure, confidentiality agreement (nondisclosure agreement or NDA), and conflict of interest procedures.
The most basic employee handbook information should also assure your staff that the company guarantees equal employment opportunities for all candidates. EEOC protects candidates against age, race, gender, or any other form of discrimination.
Code of conduct
This section tells employees how the management expects them to behave, as well as the measures taken by the company against those who violate the rules. It’s one of the most important components on the long list of employment policies and procedures that protect both the company and its workers. Even the most flexible companies have boundaries, and it’s important that these are clearly outlined for everyone’s sake.
The code of conduct section can include policies regulated by law, like the anti-harassment policy, but it can also outline other small business rules and regulations for employees, like the dress code.
Payment and compensation
For employees, this section will probably be among the most important ones, so you should make it clear and comprehensive. This part of an employee manual includes information about the payroll schedule, salary, and bonuses. It should also provide a simple explanation regarding taxes and deductions. While you can use software for calculating and filing taxes, the employee handbook should explain the main payroll deductions (federal, state, and local taxes, for example).
Benefits
When creating an employee manual, make sure you include all the perks. The section consists of the various benefits that the company offers to its employees - from sick leave and vacation time to health insurance, retirement plans, and career development.
It goes without saying that this is a crucial section of your company’s employee handbook for every member of your team. In addition to the most common benefits such as paid time off and health care plans, some businesses include free courses, team-building exercises, office meals, and even unemployment insurance. Your workers will want to see their list of benefits spelled out, and they’ll carefully review these employee handbook contents.
Employee termination procedure
If your employee finds a new job or you need to lay someone off, there are procedures the company needs to follow. You should also inform your employees what happens when someone has to leave the team. The standard offboarding procedures include information about the last paycheck delivery and unemployment insurance. The policy can also explain how the last conversation with the company’s HR looks like.
Employee acknowledgment
This page should be signed by your employee after reading the handbook. It confirms that the employee understands your company’s rules and policies.
How to make an employee handbook?
By now, we’ve established that an employee handbook is an important ingredient in any business organization. Yet many businesses decide to bypass this step when setting up their operation. Some business owners find it too difficult and time-consuming.
Here’s the good news. If creating a handbook for your small business is not your cup of tea, you can always outsource this task. Just like there are companies that provide bookkeeping services, there are those that can help you create your handbook from scratch.
Both professional HR consulting companies and law firms offer this type of service. With professional services, you’ll get something that’s customized to fit your business needs, but you don’t need to know how to write an employee handbook. These professionals will take care of everything, from incorporating the federal, state, and local policies into the handbook to writing sections that reflect your company’s culture in the best way possible.
If you decide to go at it alone, you’ll need to conduct thorough research to identify the policies that need to be included. But this option gives you a chance to be creative. No one knows what kind of atmosphere you want to create in your company better than you. Think about the values you wish to promote and write them down.
Alternatively, you can use online templates and forms for free to create a small business handbook. Adjust them to fit your needs, check if all mandatory policies are included, and write your expectations and rules. When you’re done, make sure the document is reviewed by legal counsel.
Tips and tricks for writing an employee handbook:
If you decide to author a handbook on your own, here are some useful tricks that will help you along the way.
Set the tone
Make sure that you use a friendly voice when writing a handbook. Of course, you want to be sure that your employees will take it seriously, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to come off as authoritative. You can make an employee handbook by using encouraging and affirmative tones that are as effective as those written from the “don’t perspective.”
Design your handbook
The way you present your handbook is also important. Whether you create an online handbook or a paper copy, make sure it introduces new employees to your company’s colors and logo.
Include images
You can take things a step further when personalizing your handbook. Include photos of your office and team members to give off a more positive and friendly vibe.
What not to include in an employee handbook?
An employee handbook should have all “boring” mandatory policies, but you shouldn’t go into too much detail. A handbook should offer explanations that your employees can understand. This is especially important when it comes to things like health insurance and other benefits. However, for detailed information, there should be links to government websites where your staff can find additional information.
It’s also important not to confuse an employee handbook with other manuals. While trying to figure out what to include in an employee handbook, some company owners arrive at the conclusion that it’s the same thing as an HR manual. This is incorrect. These are two completely separate documents.
A handbook is a document for your employees that should be given to them when they start working for your company. Its purpose is to set expectations and communicate policies.
An HR manual is for you and your human resources team. Its purpose is to explain the process behind your company’s policies. If someone violates any of the policies, your HR will know how to deal with it, thanks to the HR manual.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be included in a handbook?
An employee handbook contains guidelines and policies that should help an employee fit into a business organization. A good employee handbook includes two key components. The first outlines the rules regarding the company’s in-house policies, like dress code, mobile phone usage, etc. The second one includes legal mandates, like health care policy, benefits, and PTO. There should also be a section explaining the company’s values, vision, and mission.
How much is an employee handbook?
It depends on who creates it. If you decide to hire a professional to help you make your company handbook, the price ranges between $1,500 and $5,000. If you decide to create an employee handbook on your own, you can save some money, but it will cost you time. And if you are not sure which policies are mandatory for a state your company operates in, you’ll probably need to ask for legal advice. The ideal method is combining the two options. Get templates of employee policies online and create your handbook on your own, and then forward it to a legal service for review. It’s more affordable than paying for the complete service while ensuring that your handbook includes all the mandatory policies.
How do I create a Small Business Handbook?
Although it might seem complicated, creating a handbook on your own can be fun. Our guide on what should be included in an employee handbook tells you everything you need to know before getting started.
Do small businesses have to have an employee handbook?
Legally, you don’t need to have a standard employee handbook in your company. However, you are legally required to inform your employees about their rights and benefits, like working hours, anti-discrimination and harassment policies, and more. Some business owners don’t have a handbook because it seems too time-consuming and expensive for them. But this is the best way to make sure that all your employees know what’s expected of them and what their rights are.
About the author
Danica’s greatest passion is writing. From small businesses, tech, and digital marketing, to academic folklore analysis, movie reviews, and anthropology — she’s done it all. A literature major with a passion for business, software, and fun new gadgets, she has turned her writing craft into a profitable blogging business. When she’s not writing for SmallBizGenius, Danica enjoys hiking, trying to perfect her burger-making skills, and dreaming about vacations in Greece.
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The best HRIS systems are offered by vendors who make sure that their products align with any regulations affecting human resources. These solutions are equipped to handle any changes required for the company to remain compliant with the relevant laws. Efficiency. Time and labor management are no longer tedious with an HRIS. For example, leave requests and approvals take mere seconds. Vacation time and leave accrual can be tracked automatically, and none of these functions have to be maintained manually, saving HR professionals plenty of time. Human resources strategy. With fewer everyday maintenance issues to resolve, HR managers can focus on advancing human resources and business strategies. A neatly organized human resource database system could prove invaluable for new ideas on improving employee retention and increasing productivity. Employee experience. Most HRIS solutions allow a certain amount of user access to employees. 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By Milica Milenkovic ·
September 24,2021
Finding new employees to join your business is a process that takes a lot of preparation. You need to search for the right candidate who will easily adapt to the company’s culture and work ethics.
Nobody knows this better than people from the HR sector. It takes months of thorough searching and setting up the ground to create a mutually productive and relaxed interview environment. This is all part of the process of onboarding new employees, which aligns new hires’ skills to your company’s needs.
According to research by Gallup, 21% of millennials changed jobs in 2020, while more than half expressed their desire to find a new job. That’s why millennials are often labeled as the job-hopping generation. But attaching that kind of label is an oversimplification, no matter what the stats say.
One of the reasons for this is that many job hunters are naturally nervous during job interviews, so it’s the HR manager’s responsibility to create a stress-free environment that brings out the best in them. A well-prepared onboarding process for new employees can help new hires achieve positive job satisfaction and encourage them to remain loyal to your company.
Why Onboarding Is Crucial
Besides finding the best person for the job, onboarding, as its definition implies, is essential for leaving a good, lasting impression on new employees. It’s the first contact a new candidate will have with your company before the formal interview and evaluation process starts. A positive image will help with the interview’s tone and will establish what’s expected from them in their new job. It will introduce them to how your company operates and build a forward-looking relationship with your employees from the get-go.
An onboarding plan for new employees that leaves a negative first impression will generate animosity toward your company. Even when they start working, they’ll already be looking for new job opportunities.
Proper onboarding efforts create long-lasting and satisfying working relationships with your company and can turn a promising candidate into the company’s most valuable asset. In contrast, poor onboarding leads to higher employee turnover. When focused onboarding is done right - which can take up to 12 months of preparation - it will reduce the work your HR team needs to do in the future.
But this is easier said than done. To establish a satisfactory new hires onboarding process, you’ll need to ask yourself some crucial questions: how will you begin the onboarding process, and how long will it last? What kind of first impression do you want to leave on new candidates, and how will you explain your company’s goals and ethics? What goals should new candidates have, and how can they improve their performance and grow within your company?
Steps in the Onboarding Process
As you prepare to onboard a new employee, make sure everything is ready from your side. Having a well-designed and straightforward onboarding process will significantly reduce the paperwork your HR team will have to go through.
The next step is to select what type of onboarding process for new hires you’ll conduct: formal or informal. Most companies opt for formal onboarding. This means implementing an unambiguous and straightforward onboarding program that will get the new employee up to speed with their role. This program includes their job assignments, the company’s expectations, on whom they can rely, and the proper channels of communication.
Informal onboarding leaves new employees to familiarize themselves with the business without anyone’s assistance, thus potentially creating confusion and disorder. In general, formal onboarding is widely used since it’s simple to follow and leaves new hires more satisfied about their position in the company.
The Recruitment Stage
Before you start with your onboarding new employees checklist, you should first set up the recruitment flow and adequately convey your company’s goals, ethics, principles, and the importance of your employees. Keeping your message clear and succinct should be your primary concern.
Go through your company’s website design, job offer description, and all the interview questions in a way that represents the company’s core values. Try advertising on the best job posting sites to speed up this process. Present new employees with an assignment that will let them know what to expect on the job and give you a sense of what to expect from your new hires.
One of the best practices for onboarding questions for new employees is to let them know how their day at work will look, which will set up positive and clear expectations. Notify them of any policies that concern them, including dress code, remote work, vacations, working hours, and any legal issues.
New employees should be aware of who they report to and which person is in charge of what. Make sure you give them a basic overview of the company’s culture, such as work ethics and social etiquette for employees. And, of course, let them know that they’re not alone; they’re part of the company’s network.
Job Offer
If everything goes well and you’ve successfully prepared your onboarding activities for new employees, let the candidates know that you appreciate the time and effort they’ve invested in this job application. This is also your last chance to remind them or clarify what the job will entail to avoid any confusion down the line. Consider using the best background check sites to confirm that the person you want to hire is who they say they are.
Now it’s time to extend a job offer to your preferred candidate. If they accept, let them know how delighted you are that they’ve decided to work with you and your company. This is the moment when the onboarding truly begins.
As soon as the candidate accepts your job offer, give them access to your company’s onboarding systems for new employees. Forward them job-related documents and the plan for their first week at work. Let them know it’s not expected that they study everything; you’re just giving them the info for clarity’s sake.
Provide your new employee with access to email, phone, and other communication tools. Simultaneously, inform your team about the new addition and send welcome emails to the new employee. These onboarding documents are meant to engage new employees with the company and the team they’ll work with.
Office Space
Eventually, you’ll introduce your new hires to the office space during the onboarding of new employees, which will show them what an average day at work looks like. You can do this before giving new hires their job offer, or when they start working.
It’s important for new employees to have a sense of belonging in the workspace and among colleagues, as it will ultimately affect their performance. It will also give them some first-hand experience of the company’s work ethics and culture.
Show new hires where they’ll work and what they’ll use. Go through other offices and introduce them to other colleagues. If new employees have any questions, be there to answer them. Show them the kitchen and other non-working spaces that they’ll use daily.
First Day at Work
New employees will likely be ecstatic and confused, terrified and hopeful on their first day, so make them feel like they’re accepted by their peers. One of the best practices for onboarding new employees is scheduling their first day with colleagues. Schedule short meetings at the start and the end of the working day, especially if the team works remotely.
You should also give them some breaks during their first day. Set up a team lunch and talk about topics that aren’t related to work. Prepare a swag bag with company gifts and supplies as a welcome gesture.
Use the first day to let new employees know what they’ll work on and what they’ll need to focus on in the next one to three months. Make sure they get all the equipment they need for work and focus on familiarizing them with their new colleagues.
The First Few Weeks
Our successful tips for onboarding new employees don’t just cover the first day; you need to think several weeks in advance to help them truly fit in. Set up meetings with other teams and team leaders, your best employees, and senior people within the company. That way, they’ll get an idea of what they have to do to earn a promotion in the future. If the team is working from home, using the best conference call services might greatly enhance this process.
Use this time to organize weekly and annual goals and define key performance indicators. Provide feedback on new employees’ input, as this part of the ongoing onboarding process might be the most important. To continue successfully onboarding new employees, ask for their input and any problems they’re experiencing. During the first few weeks, they should have a mentor who will be of great assistance in introducing them to all the intricacies of the workplace.
To strengthen team connections, set up fun team-building events. And, of course, give new hires recognition when you feel they’ve earned it.
One-Year Plan
Your onboarding efforts as an HR Manager may indeed last a whole year as you assist your new employees and follow their progress. HR teams may use the best tenant screening services to seek help, but no matter how you choose to proceed, the cost of onboarding new employees will be well worth it. Be assured that these efforts will help you find top-performing employees who will become long-term members of your team.
By Nemanja Vasiljevic ·
October 08,2021
Imagine getting a brand new job at, say, a library. You’re super excited, but on your first day of work, you trip over a bunch of books and break your arm. What are you supposed to do now? Besides getting a cast, you need to get your workers’ compensation insurance; our guide on how to act if an accident happens is here to tell you how.
If your first question is “What is workers’ comp?” we have to say the answer is far from simple. First, we’ll need to introduce some statistics, break down all those complex legal terms, and walk you through the application steps for workers’ compensation.
Work accidents happen even in the safest circumstances. Statistics tell us that the most common ones are: slips, trips, or falls on level ground (29%), handling, lifting, or carrying (20%), being struck by moving objects (10%), acts of violence (8%), falls from a height (8%). If any of these things happen to you, you’ll want to ask: “How does workers’ comp work?”
Known as workman's comp until the name was changed to make it gender-neutral, workers’ comp is a system that protects both employees and employers. While workers can get medical and disability benefits if they get workplace injuries, employers get protection from occasionally fraudulent lawsuits.
The Claim Process
We’ll start with the assumption that your employer is supportive and aware that only happy workers are good workers. As such, they would have introduced you to the claim process in case of an accident. But you may still be wondering: “What is a workers’ comp claim?” In that case, you’ll need to go through our step-by-step guide:
First of all, you need to act in a timely manner. In most cases, that means reporting an injury or illness to your employer within 4 to 90 days of occurrence. Deadlines differ from state to state, but the general rule is: The sooner, the better.
File a written complaint with the state workers’ comp agency. Again, there’s a deadline, usually between one and three years. In case of an occupational disease or cumulative injury, the time starts from the date you first experienced disability, even if you hadn’t known your working conditions caused it.
“What is the cost of workers’ comp insurance?” you might ask. Fortunately, this shouldn’t be your concern. Just make sure your doctor is familiar with the fact you’re covered by workman’s comp insurance so that he can bill your employer or their insurance carrier.
Consult an attorney for help with legal terms and protecting your needs if your claim is denied.
A Disputed Claim
There’s always the possibility of having your claim disputed since both employers and insurance companies do everything in their power to deny workers’ comp claims and limit compensation. If there’s a dispute, you might be asked to undergo an IME with a supposedly neutral doctor. “What is an IME for workers’ comp,” you ask? It stands for “Independent Medical Examination,” and it’s a procedure often requested by insurance companies to validate your doctor’s decisions.
Judges often ascribe significant weight to IME reports, so the results might affect your case. Be well-prepared for the examination: You’ll be asked questions about how your injury happened and undergo some physical exams and tests. You can challenge the report legally if it’s limiting or cutting off your benefits, but make sure to contact a workers’ comp attorney for that.
A Denied Claim
Of course, what can be disputed can be denied as well, so asking yourself, “What do I do if my workers’ comp claim is denied?” is only natural. One option is to give up on the claim or even start job hunting. We wouldn’t recommend this, however, because there are still options for you to make good on your rights. Firstly, you have the right to contest the decision via an appeal. If the negotiations don’t work out, and you can’t reach a settlement, the next step is a summons to a formal hearing.
The hearing would be your final chance to fight for your rights and present your case. “What is a workers’ comp hearing like?” is the next question, right? The legal proceedings are pretty standard - you are trying to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company, but in court. That’s why you need to hire a lawyer and gather all the necessary evidence, such as medical records, doctor’s reports, and bills, to present to the judge. After testifying, the court will reach the verdict on whether you get workers’ comp insurance within 30 to 90 days.
You Got Your Workers’ Comp and Recuperated: Now What?
Even after your claim is settled and you’re all better, there are some legal things to get done. Once your condition is stable enough to get back to work, you’ve reached the MMI. What is the MMI in workers’ comp cases? It stands for “Maximum Medical Improvement” and means that you’ve reached the point where your health conditions are no longer expected to improve. From then on, the insurer is only obligated to pay for secondary medical services, and that for a limited time.
The Bottom Line
We would like to encourage you to ask your employer everything about workers' compensation terms and conditions during your onboarding process. Now that you know the answer to the question “What is workers’ comp?” you’ll know what to look out for. The main thing to remember is that you have rights and you’re entitled to exercise them - just make sure you have the proper legal support, too.
By Danica Djokic ·
October 08,2021
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