Do we need an employee handbook?

There is no specific legislation that says you must have an employee handbook, but it is good practice to do so particularly as your business grows.  Policies and procedures set out expectations for employees, assist in ensuring consistency and fairness across the organisation and can, in some cases, be used as evidence to defend claims.

As a minimum, we advise you cover the following policies in your staff handbook:

  • Disciplinary procedure
  • Grievance procedure
  • Capability procedure
  • Equal opportunities policy
  • Whistleblowing policy
  • Anti-bribery and corruption policy
  • Data protection policy and privacy notice (to deal with the processing of personal data under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018).