Staff handbooks should include the policies and procedures that staff must follow and adhere to as part of their employment. Some policies and procedures are legally required to be included in staff handbooks, whereas others should be included for best practice.

Generally speaking, the specific policies and procedures that an employer should include in a staff handbook include the following:

• Disciplinary procedure

• Grievance procedure

• Sick leave policy

• Pension arrangements

• Health and Safety Statement

• Bribery, Corruption, Embezzlement Policy

• Equal employment opportunity

• Day-to-day working arrangements

• Social media policy

• Benefits

• Data policy

• Leave entitlements

• General organisational information

1. What is a staff handbook? 

A staff handbook – also called an ‘employee handbook’, ‘employee manual’ or ‘company policy manual’ is a written document provided by employers to their employees outlining the employer’s procedures, policies, standards and expectations for the workplace.

They are usually created by the human resources department of organisations. It conveys essential information concerning the standards and expectations demanded of the employee in the workplace, and so is often given to employees on their first day of employment.

Staff handbooks are mutually beneficial to both employers and employees. They help employers by allowing them to set clear expectations of their employees through policies and procedures.

Staff handbooks help employees by providing them with guidance and by setting clear expectations. Staff handbooks provide guidance on the culture of an organisation by outlining important background information of the organisation – such as its mission, values and purpose. Moreover, by outlining the policies and procedures applicable in the workplace, employees benefit from clear expectations as to what conduct is acceptable and unacceptable.

2. What to include in a staff handbook?

There are certain policies and procedures that employers are obliged to include in their staff handbooks in most common law jurisdictions. There are also other policies and procedures which many employers include for best practice.

(a) Policies/Procedures employers are legally obliged to include

There are five policies and procedures that employers are legally obliged to include in their staff handbooks in most common law jurisdictions:

(i) Disciplinary Procedure

Staff handbooks should include disciplinary procedures. A disciplinary procedure should include a general outline of the various stages involved in the disciplinary procedure - from a verbal warning to dismissal. The following is an example of such a general outline:

"Depending on the severity of the offence, the Company will follow the disciplinary process outlined below:

• • • Verbal Warning
    • Written Warning
    • Final Written Warning
    • Termination

While the Company will generally take disciplinary action in a progressive manner, it reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to decide whether and what disciplinary action will be taken in a given situation."

A disciplinary procedure should then explain each stage in more detail. 

In writing a disciplinary procedure, you should research whether there are particular requirements imposed in your specific jurisdiction. For instance, in England & Wales, the ACAS Code of Practice is authoritative and should be complied with.

You can find DocPro's template disciplinary procedure here: https://docpro.com/doc1882/disciplinary-policy-employer-employee

(ii) Grievance Procedure

Employers should include grievance procedures in their staff handbooks, outlining the procedures an employee should go through if they feel they have been unfairly or unjustly dealt with at the workplace or in disciplinary proceedings.

Grievance procedures should state who to approach with such a complaint, how to lodge a complaint and the procedure to appeal any initial decision.  

(iii) Sick Leave Policy

Handbooks should include a sick leave policy. It should state the procedures an employee is to follow if they are suffering from illness. Provisions describing when sick pay will be offered should also be included.

You can find DocPro's template sick leave policy here: https://docpro.com/doc1807/leave-policy-sick-leave-policy

(iv) Pension Arrangements

Employers often specify their pension arrangements in the staff handbook. This section should specify which, if any, pension schemes employees are given access to and information on how to enrol oneself to benefit from them.

(v) Health and Safety Statement

An employer should include a health and safety policy concerning its employees and company more generally.

Typical items covered in a health and safety policy include procedures to follow in case of minor accidents, serious accidents, or a fire in the workplace. Additionally, companies often include smoking policies and alcohol and drug policies as part of their health and safety policy as well.

You can find DocPro's template health and safety statement here: https://docpro.com/doc1712/health-and-safety-policy-employer-employee

(b) Policies/Procedures you should include for best practice:

There are many policies and procedures that employers should include in their staff handbooks for best practice. These include:

(i) Bribery, Corruption, Embezzlement Policy

Employers should include a corruption/bribery policy in their staff handbooks.

Jurisdictions worldwide have introduced laws making bribery a criminal offence – such as the Bribery Act 2010 (England & Wales), and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (USA).

Many of these laws hold companies liable for the criminal offence of bribery if any of the company’s employees make a bribe for the purposes of obtaining/retaining business for the company. Many, however, such as the Bribery Act, create a defence for companies if they can show they have adequate procedures to prevent such bribery.

Employers, by including a bribery/corruption policy in their staff handbooks can, thereby, achieve two things. Firstly, they can clearly convey to employees that bribery is unacceptable in the course of their employment. Secondly, even if bribery does occur, using the policy, the company might be able to argue that they have taken adequate procedures to prevent the bribery and defend itself from bribery allegations.

(ii) Equal employment opportunity

An equality policy or equal employment policy is not required by law. It is, however, good practice to include one in a staff handbook.

Including an equality policy is good practice because it can help employers avoid liability if they are the subject of a lawsuit for discriminatory treatment allegedly committed against an employee. In certain jurisdictions, such as England & Wales, having an employment policy is often influential evidence in determining whether discrimination has occurred, and can even establish a defence in some cases to discrimination altogether.

An equality policy should convey the employer’s commitment to treating all employees equally regardless of their age, gender, marital status, pregnancy, disability, race religion, sex, sexual orientation or medical record. The following extract, from DocPro's template equal opportunity employment policy states exactly this: 

"The Company will not tolerate any forms of discrimination, harassment, and unequal treatment in terms of recruitment, employment, promotion, transfer, training, working conditions, etc against employees encompassing the following characteristics:

(a) Age;

(b) Disability;

(c) Gender, transsexuality, and transgender;

(d) Marital or civil partnership status;

(e) Pregnancy or maternity;

(f) Race, including ethnic and national origin;

(g) Religion or belief;

(h) Sex;

(i) Sexual orientation;

(j) Disability;

(k) HIV/AIDS vilification; and

(l) Medical record."

Employers should state that their company provides equal access to wages, employment opportunities, benefits and promotions to employees and other individuals regardless of characteristics such as race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation etc.

You can find DocPro's template equal employment opportunity policy here: https://docpro.com/doc1669/equal-opportunities-policy-anti-harassment-and-non-discrimination

(iii) Day-to-day working arrangements

Employers should also include general information to guide employees on a day-to-day basis.

For example, employers might consider including a dress code. They might state what the dress code is, and what is considered appropriate attire as part of this dress code.

Employers might also include a policy on the use of office equipment. This would include guidance on matters such as the removal of office equipment from the office, procedures to follow if the equipment is broken etc.

Other common policies included in handbooks cover items such as internet access, email and workplace violence.

(iv) Social Media Policy

Employers should include a social media policy in their staff handbooks for best practice. A social media policy outlines the employer’s expectations when an employee posts information on any online network. It generally covers both posts on personal accounts or company affiliated social media accounts.

A social media policy effectively outlines what is considered ‘acceptable use’ of such online platforms and what conduct may impact the interests of the business. It should do this by stating the responsibilities of employees when using social media. Examples of such responsibilities include: 

"Responsibilities of employees when posting on social media include:

• • Know and follow the rules

  • Be courteous and respectful

  • Be honest and accurate"

It should also outline what disciplinary action may be taken if the conduct is inappropriate.

You can find DocPro's template social media policy here: https://docpro.com/doc1529/social-media-policy-employee

(v) Benefits

Employers should provide details of any employment benefits offered to employees.

Common benefits include medical and dental benefits, life insurance and retirement benefits. Employers should make sure to be detailed in their descriptions of each benefit.

In describing their employee benefits, employers should consider:

• Which employees are entitled to each benefit - full-time employees? part-time employees?

• Whether the employee must contribute anything to avail these benefits

• Who is covered by the benefits – only the employee or their spouses and other dependents as well?

(vi) Data Policy

Employers should include data policies in their staff handbooks. Data policies outline the company’s responsibilities and duties, and the procedures and protocols followed by the company to protect employees’ personal data and information.

You can find DocPro’s template data policy here: https://docpro.com/doc1687/internal-privacy-policy-personal-data-protection-policy-employer-employee

(vii) Leave Entitlements

A leave policy should be included in a staff handbook. A leave policy outlines the criteria applied and procedures to be followed for an employee to avail different forms of leave. The types of leave covered frequently include annual leave, sick leave, bereavement leave, maternity and paternity leave, casual leave, study leave and unpaid leave.

You can find DocPro’s template leave policy here: https://docpro.com/doc1811/leave-policy-comprehensive-general-company-policy

(viii) General Organisational Information (e.g. company mission, purpose, values etc)

Employers should include general information about their organisations in their staff handbooks. Such information should include the company mission, purpose and values. They also frequently feature a message from the CEO or other members of the senior management team.

Employers should also make sure to include the following disclaimers in their staff handbooks:

(i) Handbook is not a contract

As mentioned above, staff handbooks are not contracts and are not legally binding. By ensuring a handbook is not legally binding, employers will retain the flexibility to unilaterally change the handbook as they please. To make sure this is the case, a disclaimer should be included in the handbook to this effect (see above). An exemplar disclaimer to this effect is as follows: 

"Nothing in this Manual provides any entitlement to me or to any Company employee, nor is it intended to create contractual obligations of any kind."

(ii) Handbook is subject to change

This will ensure employers retain maximum flexibility by being able to change the handbook when and as they see fit.

An exemplar statement to this effect is as follows:

“The Company reserves the right to modify any of our policies and procedures, including those covered in this Manual, at any time. We will seek to notify you of such changes by email and other appropriate means. However, such a notice is not required for changes to be effective”

(iii) Employee acknowledges receipt of information in the staff handbook

Employers should include an acknowledgement which employees should sign and return to the employer.

The acknowledgement should state that the employee has been made aware of and has read all the policies and procedures as included in the staff handbook. 

An exemplar acknowledgement to this effect is as follows: 

"I acknowledge that I have received [a copy / an electronic copy] of the Employee Manual (“Manual”).  I have read the Manual, and I know what kind of information I can find in the Manual."

Once again, such an acknowledgement can be very influential evidence, in case of a dispute between an employee and employer.

(iv) The handbook replaces all previous versions of the document

A statement should be included to the effect that the current version of the handbook is the most up-to-date and has effect in place of any previous versions circulated within the company.  

TEMPLATE STAFF HANDBOOK: 

DocPro offers staff handbook templates including all the procedures and policies discussed in this article and more. This policy is suitable for small businesses and large businesses alike.

You can find DocPro’s staff handbook template here: https://docpro.com/doc1158/employee-handbook-manual-company

3. Publishing your employee handbook:

After creating a staff handbook, an employer should ensure it is circulated amongst employees.

Employers, generally have a choice between circulating the handbook electronically (in a PDF or Word format) or physically. Regardless of which method is chosen, employers should ensure that employees have easy access to the handbook. Employers should ensure the handbook is duly sent to all employees – whether by email or otherwise if being distributed electronically, or physically delivered to each employee if being distributed physically.

4. How is a staff handbook different from an employment contract?

Employment contracts are agreements that lay out the terms and conditions of employment. Employment contracts are intended, by the employer and employee, to be legally binding. Thereby, the terms and conditions included in an employment contract create rights and obligations for parties that are legally enforceable.

On the other hand, staff handbooks, generally, are not intended to be legally binding. This intention is often evidenced in staff handbooks by explicitly including a statement to this effect. An exemplar statement to this effect is as follows:

“I also understand that the purpose of this Manual is to inform me of the Company’s policies and procedures and that it is not a contract of employment. Nothing in this Manual provides any entitlement to me or to any Company employee, nor is it intended to create contractual obligations of any kind.”

Staff handbooks, thereby, are not contracts with terms and conditions that are legally enforceable by the employer and employee. They solely exist to provide guidance to employees as to what an employer might do in a given situation.

This means, if an employer fails to follow a staff handbook perfectly in a given situation, an employee will not be able to go to court and try to enforce that policy or procedure to make sure the employer follows it properly.

Another upshot of a staff handbook not being legally binding is that employers can unilaterally change anything in the handbook anytime they want.

Contracts that are legally binding, like employment contracts, can only be changed with the consent of all the parties to the contract. Thereby, an employer who wants to change terms of an employment contract, cannot unilaterally change its terms. The employer must obtain the consent of the employee to make such an amendment.

Staff handbooks, are not contracts and are not legally binding. As such, an employer need not obtain the consent of the employee before making any changes to the staff handbook. In other words, the employer can make any changes to the staff handbook as they please.

5. Do you need a staff handbook? Why have a staff handbook?

It is not a requirement whether legal or otherwise to have a staff handbook. Even though it is not a requirement to have a staff handbook, it is prudent to have one for the following reasons.

Employers have staff handbooks for two types of reasons: legal reasons and practical reasons.

Employers, firstly, create staff handbooks to comply with legal requirements. In many common law jurisdictions, employers are obliged to disclose particular policies and procedures to their employees. For example, in England & Wales, employers are obliged to convey to their employees their disciplinary and grievances procedures. Many employers choose the medium of ‘staff handbook’ to disclose this obligatory information.

We will cover the types of policies and procedures employers may be legally required to include in their staff handbook below.

Employers also have practical reasons to create a staff handbook for their employees. Practical reasons include: 

(a) Less burden on your human resources department

By stating important information– such as its mission, values, purpose – along with the policies and procedures followed by the organisation, a staff handbook should answer many of the obvious questions employees often have when they begin new employment. This will mean, less questions and less burden on your human resources team.

(b) Set clear expectations for employees

As earlier mentioned, staff handbooks through its policies and procedures set expectations for employees as to what an employer might do in a given situation. They also set expectations regarding the quality of work product, benefits entitlement etc.

Clearly setting these expectations for employees through a staff handbook will allow them to hit the ground running when they join your organisation, leading to higher productivity and better work performance.

(c) Employer protection

Staff handbooks, protect employers by serving as evidence that certain policies/procedures, which by law are required to be conveyed to employees by employers, have in fact been so conveyed.

Furthermore, the policies/procedures in staff handbooks, whilst not being enforceable by employees in and of themselves, are often nonetheless treated by courts as important evidence and are highly influential in determining whether an employer is in breach of something or not.

(d) Ensures equal treatment of employees

Please note that this is just a general summary of the position under common law and does not constitute legal advice. As the laws of each jurisdiction may be different, you may want to speak to your lawyer.