Employee handbook

What is Employee handbook?

An employee handbook is a written document that sets out a company's policies, expectations, and benefits - things like leave entitlement, working hours, code of conduct, and how to raise a grievance - in one place new and existing staff can refer to.

It does two jobs at once: it tells employees what to expect, and it gives the company a documented, consistently applied policy to point to if a dispute comes up. For a small team it can start short - a handful of pages on leave, hours, and conduct - and grow as questions come up that policy should answer.

A handbook is a document, not a system, so it does not enforce anything by itself. The leave policy it describes still needs to be applied consistently, which is where HR software earns its keep - turning the written rule into an accrual, an approval flow, and a balance everyone can see.

Related terms

• Leave policy
• Employee onboarding
• GDPR for HR

See also

• HREvio vs Factorial
• HREvio vs Personio