An employee handbook is a foundational company document that communicates an organization’s policies, procedures, and expectations to its workforce. It is a guide for employees to understand company culture and access policies, and is a key tool for ensuring consistency and legal compliance across an organization.
In this article, we will explore how HR teams can create an employee handbook, including the essential elements that make up an employee handbook, why it’s a critical asset for both businesses and employees, examples of employee handbooks, and provide you an employee handbook template to help you create your own.
What Is an Employee Handbook?
An employee handbook is a comprehensive document that outlines a company’s policies, procedures, and expectations for its workforce, typically given to new team members during employee onboarding.
It serves as a guide to help employees understand the organization’s culture, work rules, benefits, and legal obligations. An employee handbook typically includes information on job responsibilities, attendance, compensation, behavior standards, health and safety protocols, and procedures for handling grievances or disciplinary actions. By providing clear guidelines, the employee handbook ensures consistency, fairness, and compliance with labor laws, fostering a transparent and structured workplace environment.
Key Components Of an Employee Handbook
An employee handbook resource typically includes between 50 and 150 pages (or slides) that cover every critical aspect of the employee-organization relationship.
Employee handbooks come in different forms, from eBooks and web pages, slide decks, PDFs, physical handbooks, and more. Whatever their format may be, their content includes similar components and sections, including:
Company overview
The company overview section introduces the organization to employees by outlining its mission, vision, core values, and history. It provides a sense of identity, aligning employees with the company’s goals and cultural values. This section helps set the tone and gives employees insight into the organization’s purpose and how their role contributes to its success.
Table of Contents
An employee handbook should be easy to navigate if you want your employees to read it from start to finish. Therefore, it’s critical to include a very detailed table of contents with each section highlighted. This allows employees to quickly find the information they need at that moment. It’s also a good idea to include the dates when certain content was updated—this allows employees to follow all the changes within your workplace policies.
Below you can see a great table of contents example from Uber’s business code of conduct document.
Legally compliant policies
This section outlines company policies that comply with local, state, and federal labor laws. These legally compliant policies include anti-discrimination and harassment regulations, workplace safety rules, and employee rights under laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Including these policies helps protect both the company and employees from legal risks by ensuring that the organization adheres to the necessary legal standards.
Code of conduct
The code of conduct defines the behavior expected of employees in the workplace. It covers issues like professional demeanor, dress code, communication standards, and ethical guidelines.
This section also highlights policies on workplace harassment, discrimination, and bullying, setting clear boundaries for acceptable and unacceptable behavior. By setting standards, the code of conduct ensures that employees understand how to contribute positively to the company culture.
You can see an example from CEO Marc Benioff in Salesforce’s code of conduct handbook below.
Workplace policies
Workplace policies in an employee handbook outline the essential rules, procedures, and standards that guide employee behavior and ensure a safe, productive, and compliant work environment. These policies cover various aspects such as code of conduct, attendance, dress code, internet and social media use, and health and safety regulations.
They also typically address anti-discrimination and harassment policies, confidentiality requirements, and grievance procedures. By establishing clear expectations for employees, workplace policies help ensure consistency, prevent legal issues, and promote fairness across the organization, fostering a cohesive and transparent work culture.
Working hours, PTO, and vacation
This section covers working hours and outlines the company’s expectations around attendance, punctuality, and overtime. It also explains time-off policies (PTO), vacation policies, and other leave entitlements (such as sick leave, parental leave, and bereavement leave).
Clear definitions of how employees can request time off, how PTO is accrued, and the company’s stance on work-life balance are essential to managing employee expectations around time away from work.
Compensation and benefits
The compensation and benefits section details the company’s pay structure, bonuses, overtime, and payroll schedules. It also provides information on employee benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and any wellness programs the company offers.
This section is crucial as it helps employees understand their financial and non-financial rewards, how they are compensated for their time, and what additional perks are provided.
Health and safety guidelines
The health and safety guidelines section outlines the company’s commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. It includes workplace safety procedures, emergency protocols, and employee responsibilities regarding compliance with safety regulations.
Companies must also include information on injury reporting, accident prevention measures, and any industry-specific safety regulations to protect employees and ensure a compliant workplace.
Disciplinary and grievance procedures
This section explains how the company handles disciplinary actions for violations of company policies and how employees can address concerns through formal grievance procedures. It details the steps taken for performance issues or policy violations, such as warnings, performance improvement plans (PIPs), and termination procedures.
Grievance policies provide a framework for employees to report workplace issues, harassment, or unfair treatment, ensuring that their concerns are heard and addressed fairly.
Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements
The confidentiality and non-disclosure section outlines the company’s expectations for employees regarding the handling of sensitive or proprietary information. It ensures that employees understand their responsibility to protect company data, trade secrets, client information, and intellectual property.
Employees may be required to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to formalize these obligations and protect the company from data breaches or the misuse of confidential information.
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When Does a Company Need an Employee Handbook?
Here are different applications for an employee handbook.
- When the company grows beyond a small team – As the organization grows, formal documentation becomes necessary to ensure consistency. A handbook ensures that every employee receives the same information about company expectations, reducing the chances of miscommunication.
- When hiring becomes more frequent – As a company expands and hiring ramps up, an employee handbook is mandatory to provide new hires with clear guidance on the company’s policies and procedures, culture, and expectations, making it easier to integrate new employees into the organization.
- To ensure legal compliance – A handbook outlines legal policies such as anti-discrimination rules, workplace safety protocols, and employee rights under regulations like FMLA and FLSA. This documentation protects the company in case of disputes and ensures employees are aware of their rights and responsibilities.
- When creating consistency across teams or locations – For companies with multiple locations or diverse teams, an employee handbook ensures that policies and procedures are applied consistently across the organization. This prevents discrepancies and confusion about expectations and maintains uniformity in how teams are managed.
- To clarify company values and culture – A handbook serves as a tool to communicate the organization’s mission, vision, and values. It helps establish a common understanding of the company culture, promoting alignment between employee behavior and organizational goals.
- When managing employee behavior and performance – An employee handbook outlines the processes for managing performance issues, handling grievances, and applying disciplinary actions, ensuring that employees understand the consequences of not meeting expectations.
Best Practices for Creating an Employee Handbook
Here are a few important tips to keep in mind while creating your employee handbook.
- Use clear and simple language: Ensure that the language in the handbook is straightforward and easy to understand. Avoid using legal jargon or overly complex terms that may confuse employees.
- Create a digital, online copy: Create an online version that is accessible via your company’s intranet software or employee portal. This ensures that employees can access the handbook anytime, from any device, whether they are in the office or working remotely.
- Update frequently: Policies and laws can change over time, so it’s important to keep your employee handbook up-to-date. Review it at least annually or whenever there are significant changes to labor laws, company policies, or benefits.
- Make it accessible: Ensure that all employees have easy access to the handbook. Whether you provide printed copies, offer a PDF version via email, or upload the handbook to a shared drive, employees must be able to refer to it when needed.
- Include table of contents and search functionality: Whether in a physical or digital format, organizing the content and providing quick links to key sections helps employees navigate the handbook easily. Search functionality is especially important for digital handbooks, enabling users to find specific policies with minimal effort.
- Use visuals and videos: Make the handbook more engaging by incorporating visual aids such as infographics, flowcharts, or diagrams that explain complex processes such as performance reviews. You can also include videos for the onboarding process, workplace safety, or anti-harassment training, making the content more interactive and easier to absorb.
- Adhere to the legal requirements: Ensure that the handbook includes legally compliant policies. This includes sections on anti-discrimination, harassment, and workplace safety, as well as policies that adhere to federal, state, and local labor laws.
9 Examples of Great Employee Handbooks in 2024
We’ve already emphasized how employee handbooks come in totally different formats. It’s time to prove the point.
Here are ten of the best employee handbook examples to use as inspiration when creating yours:
1. JetBlue
JetBlue’s handbook is a rare example of an employee handbook where all the information on company values, policies and employee benefits is presented in a way that doesn’t make readers feel overwhelmed. It’s a straightforward document that is presented in a PDF-format that can be sent digitally or that could be printed into a physical document as well.
2. Facebook
Facebook has chosen to not include a set of rules in their official handbook. This is an example of an employee handbook that just tells the story that should motivate new recruits and long-term employees.
Facebook actually prints off physical copies of their handbook (pictured here) and sends it out to all new employees, known as Facebook’s little red handbook.
What makes it great? It transmits the company’s values, introduces everyone to the context, and empowers the whole organization.
3. Toggl
Toggl’s official employee handbook isn’t available for public access, but the company displays brief handbooks that introduce prospective employees to the company culture on its website.
The manuals guide people interested in applying for jobs at Toggl through their remote work policies, core values, and manifesto – during the application process, meaning employees are able to see if Toggl is a fit for them before they apply. This resource allows the company to attract hires that share their values.
4. Starbucks
First of all, it’s worth highlighting that Starbucks refers to its employees as partners. This single practice boosts employee morale significantly.
The company’s Standards of Business Conduct regulate relationships between employees as well as customer relationships. It comes in a form of Q&A and therefore is easy to read and memorize – and is digitally available as a PDF.
5. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola’s code of conduct is a comprehensive 41-page document – as we would expect from an enterprise company of its size. The manual guides employees through principles that should guide their decisions in the workplace.
While the document contains a lot of information, a number of charts, maps, and other visual elements help to illustrate each point and make the information more digestible.
6. HubSpot
HubSpot’s employee handbook, or Culture Code, is a 153-page presentation, which actually doesn’t look so boring as it sounds. The company shares inspiring quotes, provides guidelines for using good judgment, and what’s most importantly, ignores policies and procedures.
The large document covers everything an employee needs to know at HubSpot – while also setting the company’s culture tone.
7. Zoom
Zoom’s employee handbook starts with a message from Eric Yuan, Founder and CEO at Zoom, which is followed by a clear table of contents. It’s remarkable how different policies are grouped based on the purpose they serve.
At the bottom of the page, you can also see when the current version of the handbook has been created. It’s a clearly outlined and well-organized document that any employee could use to find answers to common HR-related questions at Zoom.
8. Twilio
Twilio is the first employee handbook example on this list that makes it easy to switch between sections in one click with a simple-to-use and intuitive user navigation feature that includes jump links to various sections. That is important too, as employee can visit any necessary section without scrolling all the way through its comprehensive 44-page document.
9. Trello
Trello has built an employee handbook template right inside their own platform – allowing it to use its handbook as a way of conducting product knowledge training with new employees and building its brand right into its core internal processes.
Each key component of an employee manual has a separate card that’s split into different sections. This employee handbook is incredibly easy to update, collaborate on, and make accessible by the entire organization.
Best Tools for Creating Employee Handbooks
It’s easy to make your employee handbook the most boring piece among all your process documents. If you want your employees to read it, try to keep it short and replace text with visual elements when possible.
Here are a few tools that will help you make an employee handbook for your company that is memorable, effective, and easy to read:
1. Workest by Zenefits
- Price: Free
- G2 Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Workest is an employee handbook builder who creates very simple text-based manuals. If you don’t have wild ambitions for designing an outstanding, unique handbook, the tool is the right choice for you to create a solid, standard handbook that looks official and gets the job done.
2. Visme
- Price: Free on a Basic plan
- G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Visme is online software for creating visual brand experiences. Alongside other features, the platform offers a tool for creating employee handbooks. You can choose one of the multiple templates and customize it with your brand identity elements. It’s a great tool that provides HR teams with a suite of design features, created for non-design experts.
3. Canva
- Price: Forever free plan available
- G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Canva functions similar to Visme, or any other drag-and-drop graphic design platform. It also offers a variety of employee handbook templates to choose from and allows users to realize almost any creative idea. Like Visme, it provides users with a plethora of tools that help non-design professionals create stunning company handbooks.
4. Blissbook
- Price: From $62.50/month (free trial available)
- G2 Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Blissbook is a dedicated tool for making employee handbooks. It not only facilitates the creation of visually appealing manuals but also offers opportunities for managing the resulting handbooks in a more effective way. It allows for communicating content changes to employees, collecting electronic signatures for compliance, tracking each policy’s version history, and more.
5. Airmason
- Price: From $83.25/month (7-day free trial available)
- G2 Rating: n/a
AirMason is another dedicated employee handbook builder on the list. It allows employers to track electronic signatures, notify employees of content updates, and receive activity reports. It also includes a wide range of templates that include handbooks designed for various industries, as well as various brand styles (such as modern, vibrant, chic, etc.)
Onboarding & Training Clicks Better With Whatfix
While employee handbooks provide the foundation for consistency, accuracy, and efficiency in complex operations, managing and updating them effectively is essential for long-term success. This is where Whatfix can play a pivotal role.
By integrating Whatfix into your employee portal or HR system, organizations can create interactive and easily navigable digital versions of their handbook. With features like in-app guidance, walkthroughs, and search functionality, employees can quickly access important policies and procedures when they need them, improving compliance and understanding.
This dynamic and user-friendly approach to employee handbook management not only boosts efficiency but also empowers employees with the right resources at the right time, fostering a culture of accountability and clarity.
To learn more about Whatfix, schedule a free demo with us today!
Employee Handbook FAQs
How do you distribute an employee handbook?
Distribute the handbook during onboarding as a physical or digital copy. Make it accessible through the company intranet or employee portal, ensuring employees can easily refer to it at any time.
How often should an employee handbook be updated?
The employee handbook should be reviewed and updated at least annually or whenever there are significant changes to labor laws, company policies, or procedures.
Is an employee handbook legally binding?
While an employee handbook is not typically considered a contract, it can be used as evidence in legal disputes. It is advisable to include a disclaimer that it is not a contract, though it is still a critical document for outlining employee rights and responsibilities.
Can the handbook be different for employees in different locations?
Yes, the handbook can be tailored to meet location-specific laws and regulations, such as different labor laws, while keeping core company policies consistent across all locations.
What happens if an employee does not follow the handbook’s policies?
If an employee fails to follow the policies outlined in the handbook, disciplinary action may be taken, ranging from a warning to termination, depending on the severity of the violation. The handbook should clearly outline these consequences.
