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Staff handbook introduction

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Staff handbook guidelines

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On staff handbooks

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Should you have a staff handbook?

Why have a staff handbook?

A staff handbook can not only provide detailed guidance to your staff on their rights, but also you can use it to set out their obligations, including the behavioural standards you expect. Plus, some policies can even help to reduce your legal risk.

Tip. There’s no magic to creating a staff handbook; it’s simply a collection of key policies and procedures, usually also including an introduction at the front (see The next step ).

What to include in a staff handbook

There are no rules about what policies you must include in your staff handbook. However, there are a couple of legal requirements to be aware of:

• if you have five or more employees, you must have a written health and safety policy
• if the following aren’t covered in your written statement of employment particulars, they must be in a “reasonably accessible” document, such as a staff handbook: (1) disciplinary rules and procedure; (2) grievance procedure; (3) terms about sickness, sick pay and any other paid leave; (4) pensions information; and (5) any employer-provided training entitlement.

Tip. Including the following policies in your staff handbook can potentially help you avoid civil or criminal liability: (1) equality, diversity and inclusion; (2) dignity at work; (3) whistleblowing; (4) data protection; and (5) anti-bribery.

Other than that, topics you might want to cover, depending on the nature of your business, include: alcohol and drugs; computers, telephones, email, internet and social media; confidentiality; dress and appearance; holidays; sickness absence; personal relationships at work; timekeeping; flexible working; stress and mental wellbeing; redundancy; retirement; and family-friendly policies, e.g. maternity and paternity leave, etc. (see The next step ). This list isn’t exhaustive.

Order and form of staff handbook

It’s up to you how you order your handbook. This could be alphabetically or by grouping policies into topics. You must also decide whether your handbook is to be contractual or not - we discussed this in yr.24, iss.4, pg.6 (see The next step ).

Tip. It’s recommended you divide your handbook into two parts - one being contractual and the other non-contractual. As a broad rule, consider making policies that impose behavioural rules and obligations on employees contractual and making everything else non-contractual.

Trap. Even if you’ve made a particular policy non-contractual, it’s still possible for it (or part of it) to become contractual through custom and practice, e.g. a policy containing enhanced redundancy payment terms. If you’ve followed those enhanced terms without exception for a period of time, they may have become contractual.

Tip. Review your handbook annually to ensure it’s still up to date with the law and continues to reflect your current practices and business needs.

For a staff handbook introduction, staff handbook guidelines and our previous article, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 26, issue 9.