THE HUMAN RESOURCES EXPERT: EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

Employee Handbook can be seen as a policy or guide document in a company that details what is expected of a staff, his dos, don’ts, rights, expectations etc. It is a document that contains all the employee needs to refer to at all times to meet the terms and conditions of his/her employment. The content of an employee handbook varies from company to company. This variation may be because of type of company, size of the company and the overall objective and goal of the firm. A well-prepared employee handbook removes the confusion and doubt resulting from what employers should expect from their employees or vise versa.
For a small entrepreneurship business, the sole owner normally writes the handbook to align with his reasons for establishing the business and all that he expects from his employees. In the case of a large establishment, this is normally the work of the Human Resources department or any other committee that may be formed for the sole purpose of preparing the handbook.
Preparing an employee handbook is always a very tedious and sensitive job to do, as it has to put into consideration the expectations of both employers and employees alike. It is so because once the handbook is prepared and circulated as a working document, the information therein becomes policies and guides to action for both the employees and employers.
Policies, procedures, rules, guides, and regulations are always decided in advance and agreed upon by those formulating them and passed on to the Management or decision makers for final approval before they are put down in print and circulated as working documents. These ideas agreed on are always presented in simple and straightforward manner by choosing short words that represent the actual reasoning and ideas of those formulating the rules.
The contents and policies in an employee handbook should be reviewed periodically by the Human Resources department and amendments effected to reflect the corrections and additions to the existing handbook.
New staff after going through the process of recruitment and orientation is always handed over a copy of the employee handbook to guide him and expose him to all that is expected of him and his rights as an employee of the company. Also, any time the employee handbook is reviewed, the updated version is always circulated to both the existing and new staff alike to keep them abreast of the changes and additions. In most cases, it is advisable to get feedback from existing staff during review periods to assess their opinions on the policies in the handbook. Such feedbacks will help Management to decide on the type of changes and additions to be made to improve working conditions as well as productivity.
When employee handbook is being drafted, it is always important to be sure that the policies to be added are in conformity with the company’s growth plans, philosophies, goals and objectives.
It is always good to include disclaimers at the introduction of an employee handbook to avoid staff seeing the handbook as an employment contract. This is done normally to avoid future litigation from employees whose employment may be terminated. It is always very necessary and advisable to have your legal department or your company lawyer to review the handbook before it is circulated to make sure it conforms with the current federal, state and local government laws of employment.

The employee handbook is a very important document in an organization because it communicates to the employee what the employer expects him to do at all time as well as what the company has to provide for him to assist him in carrying out his duties.
Another importance of employee handbook is that it makes the employer to abide by the laid down policies as stipulated in the handbook instead of favouring one staff over another for no just reason.
The employee handbook also provides a very good teamwork environment, as employees know that they will be treated equally as stated in the policy document (handbook).

A very good and well-written employee handbook should start its introduction like this;

“ This Employee Handbook establishes Laws, Policies, Procedures, Rules and Regulations, Guides to action, Benefits and Working Conditions that will be followed by all XYZ Co. Ltd. Employees as a condition for their employment at the company.
Note that this XYZ Co Ltd. Employee handbook is not a contract of your employment and is not intended to create a contractual obligation in any way for the company.
The Regulations, policies and procedures outlined in this employee handbook will be applied at the discretion of XYZ Co Ltd. Note also that XYZ Co Ltd reserves the right to deviate from the policies, procedures, benefits, and working conditions described in this handbook. Furthermore, the Company reserves the right to withdraw or change the policies, procedures, benefits, and working conditions described in this handbook at any time. But the Company will make every effort to notify employees when an official change in policy or procedure has been made though employees are responsible for their own up-to-date knowledge about changes in the Company policies, procedures, benefits, and working conditions…………………………………..”.

A Typical Employee Handbook should have all the following;