Regardless of the size of a small business, the owner would have definitely developed workplace procedures, expectations, and policies either informally or formally. The employees must be aware and have a proper understanding of these to help run the company more effectively. Also, that goes a long way in ensuring that the organization does not break state or federal laws.
An employee handbook is basically a compilation of an organization’s protocols and policies and employees’ legal rights and obligations. Having this handbook helps communicate responsibilities and rules to employees.
Now, let’s dive in to gain insight into the various vital aspects of an employee handbook.
How to Create the Perfect Employee Handbook for Small Businesses?
Illustrated below are four steps that business owners can take to start the procedure of creating an employee handbook.
- Begin with Values and Culture
Employee policies can include dress code, performance review procedure, attendance rules, etc. For business owners, thinking about the organization’s values and culture is a good place to begin when one is pondering over the employee policies.
Small business owners must consider their personal values and what they are willing to emphasize. They should also consider how to form a culture and value system that will help motivate the employees to deliver their best performance and work with the organization long-term.
It will indeed prove to be sensible if one drafts a mission statement prior to creating the employee procedures and policies.
- Create the Policies
After clearly identifying the values, business owners can think about developing policies that are necessary for the organization’s functioning and will be embraced by employees.
- Be Aware of Applicable Laws
An employee handbook is not a contract with the organization’s employees. But it does set expectations. Therefore, business owners should follow local, federal, and state laws while preparing some parts of this handbook. One can visit the state government’s web portal for a detailed description of the state’s laws.
- Look into the Employee Handbook of Other Organizations
Business owners can look through employee handbooks and the policies of other organizations. But they must ensure that they don’t copy them entirely. Looking into them would plan out the procedures and policies. One can get access to a sample employee handbook via the internet itself.
Must-includes in an Employee Handbook
Given below are the essential elements that business owners must include in an employee handbook:
- Workplace Security and Safety
To keep any potential litigation or confusion away, business owners must define the steps that they must take to keep the workplace (non-physical and physical) safe.
- Social Media and Digital Conduct Policy
Business owners must define the way employees can (or cannot) represent and talk about the organization on social media.
- Company Vision, Overview, Values, and Mission
Entrepreneurs should define the organization’s vision, purpose, and mission so that employees can be completely clear about and aligned with the firm’s values.
- Perks, Compensation, and Benefits
Employees will probably navigate to this section first as it’s a crowd favorite. Regarding compensation, business owners must define how employees are paid, overtime policy, frequency and time of payment, and alternative compensation. For benefits, entrepreneurs must provide an overview of what they offer in terms of life insurance, retirement plans, etc.
- Code of conduct
Some areas to cover within the code of conduct are customer privacy and data management, ethical policies and standards, conflict resolution policy, rest periods, meal breaks, etc.
Besides these, employers must also include equal opportunity and anti-discrimination policies, medical and family leave policies, hours of operation, Paid Time Off (PTO) and schedule, conflicts of interest and nondisclosure, and vital disclaimers.
Thus, business owners must keep in mind the points mentioned above while creating their employee handbooks. They must also note that if their company lacks proper infrastructure related to risk management, payroll, or HR, they can face problems related to creating the employee handbook. In that case, they can opt for us to manage these important areas. Further, they can go through our blogs if they are willing to know more about what we do.
