Develop an Employee Handbook

Recommended Content for Your Employee Handbook

By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

Woman Reading and Writing in an Employee Handbook

An Employee Handbook Summarizes the Rules

Jacob Wackerhausen

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Free Policy Samples, Forms, and Check Lists:

| A | B | C | D | E | F-G | H |
| I-K | L-N | O-Q | R-S | T-V | W-Z |

Looking for ideas about the content of a comprehensive employee handbook? Here’s a list of the policies, procedures, and professional behavioral expectations found in many employee handbooks. This sample table of contents also covers pay, benefits, performance expectations and legal issues.

Please do pick and choose for your own employee handbook and I'll work to continue to develop the content back-up and samples. When additional resources are available on the site about a particular handbook item, I have linked additional articles, policies, checklists, and forms.

As with any document you distribute to employees, you need to have your employee handbook reviewed by an employment law attorney. It is too easy to unconsciously create contracts that limit your ability to manage your workplace. You also want to manage your relationship with your employees legally, ethically, and by interacting consistently so you don’t create perceived favoritism. Additionally, the purpose of an employee handbook is to let employees know what is expected so that they have the opportunity to perform effectively.

In all cases, you want to prepare an employee handbook receipt and acknowledgment form for employees to sign. This receipt should acknowledge that the employee has read and understands the policies and guidelines presented in the handbook.

Further, this statement should reaffirm the "employment at will" status of the employment of each employee. Finally, the statement should contain a disclaimer, similar to the disclaimer in the actual employee handbook, that the employee understands that the contents are simply policies and guidelines, not a contract or implied contract with employees.

Official Disclaimer:

The private websites, and the information linked to both on and from this site, is opinion and information. Please note that Susan makes every effort to offer accurate, common-sense, ethical Human Resources management, employer, and workplace advice on this website, but she is not an attorney, and the content on the site is not to be construed as legal advice.

The site has a world-wide audience and employment laws and regulations vary from state to state and country to country, so the site cannot be definitive on all of them for your workplace. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. When in doubt, always seek legal counsel.