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How should my company go about preparing or updating its Employee Handbook?
Home » Human Resources » Employee Handbooks » How should my company go about preparing or updating its Employee Handbook?If you have never had an employee handbook, it is wise to begin preparing a handbook immediately. If you already have a handbook, remember to review it regularly and update it as necessary.
The job of preparing employee handbooks usually falls to either the owner (in smaller companies) or the HR department (in larger companies). Recognize that even if you do not have written policies, your company follows a set of unwritten policies. Outline these unwritten policies and then expand into other topics. Don’t become overambitious by over committing yourself, but rather only write policies that you will actually follow. Once you have completed a draft handbook, have an attorney review it to make sure you have legally protected yourself and have not forgotten any key areas.
If you are updating a previous employee handbook, make sure that you provide all employees with the new updated version. In addition, keep in mind how updated policies will affect long-time employees. For example, consider how employees will respond to decreases in vacation or increases in paperwork.
Whether you are preparing a new handbook or updating your old one, talk to employees and other companies for advice. Your employees are likely your best source for ideas on what topics you should include, because they are the ones who have the questions and will be looking to the handbook for answers. You can also contact other companies and even, with their permission, borrow some of their applicable language. You want to do everything you can to make an employee handbook useful so that it becomes a reference tool for employees, rather than a paperweight.
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- What information do I need to tell the employees outside of the Employee Handbook?
- How should my company go about preparing or updating its Employee Handbook?