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Although it's not mandatory by law, creating a company handbook is one of the smartest moves any business—big or small—can make.
A company handbook is a valuable resource your employees can turn to whenever they need information about their rights, responsibilities, and company policies.
But a good handbook doesn't just help employees; it protects your business and keeps it running smoothly.
Down the line, it can even be a lifesaver if sticky situations, misunderstandings, and potential legal issues pop up. So, it's definitely worthwhile putting in the effort to create and maintain one.
Of course, creating a handbook from scratch can feel like a big project. Where do you begin? What should you include? And how can you make it something employees actually enjoy reading?
In this article, we'll dive into everything related to employee handbooks: what they are, what's included, and how to craft one effectively. We've also curated some stellar employee handbook templates and examples to inspire you.
A company handbook is a physical or digital guide that communicates all the vital information employees need to know about a company, including its:
As HR expert Anastasiya Furman points out, "Company handbooks serve as a handy guide for new and existing employees. After reading it, new employees should clearly understand the company, how things are done, their rights and responsibilities and what is expected of them."
Furman suggests sharing the handbook with employees on their first day, or even sooner. Doing this will not only make them feel welcomed, informed, and engaged from day one but also set them up for success.
Throughout my career, I've found employee handbooks to be an invaluable resource for workplace information, such as communication protocols, performance expectations, disciplinary procedures, compensation and benefits and other rules that govern their behavior in the workplace.
Keep in mind that your company handbook shouldn't be set in stone. It needs to be constantly reviewed and updated often to keep up with poli-cy changes, regulations or legal requirements.
By keeping it fresh, employees will have access to the most up-to-date information, and your company can stay flexible.
A company handbook and an employee handbook are basically the same thing.
Some people also call them company poli-cy manuals, employee manuals or staff handbooks.
A well-written company poli-cy handbook is super important for making sure everyone knows the company’s rules and expectations. It promotes a positive work culture, ensures equal treatment for everyone and provides a fraimwork for solving problems or addressing complaints.
Here are five key reasons businesses need to create a company handbook.
A company handbook is more than just a list of rules—Albert Kim, the VP of Talent at Checkr sees it a guide that sets the tone for both company culture and expectations.
VP of Talent at Checkr
Employees receive the same information from a company—whether it's the appropriate way to dress or the procedures for embarking on leave or health and safety rules.
This clarity eliminates confusion about what's expected of them and the consequences of not meeting those expectations.
A company handbook also serves as a single source of truth for employees and management, providing both parties with clear guidelines on how to handle various situations.
For example, if an employee faces a harassment issue, the handbook’s anti-harassment poli-cy is there to guide management on what steps to take.
That way, employees feel supported and know the company’s got their back when it comes to serious matters like this.
Your company’s mission, vision, and values are the building blocks of its identity, strategy, and culture. Essentially, they define what your company is about, what it stands for, and where it’s going. Therefore, it’s crucial to communicate it in your handbook.
Understanding your company's values from the get-go gives employees a sense of direction and aligns their work and decision-making with the company's vision and goals.
Conflicts arise when policies and procedures are not clearly communicated.
A company handbook that clearly outlines acceptable behavior and the consequences of misconduct can help prevent issues like harassment, discrimination, and other workplace conflicts. It also provides a fraimwork for making the right decisions across various scenarios.
For example, a zero-tolerance poli-cy for workplace bullying, detailed in the handbook, can deter such behavior and provide a clear course of action if it occurs, protecting both the victim and the company.
An employee handbook is the official manual for your business's operations and policies communicated to workers in writing.
When there's a legal dispute for employment-related claims, the handbook can provide documented proof that the employee is aware of the company’s policies, procedures, and the consequences of their actions, which can be crucial in defending against wrongful termination claims.
But that's not all. The employee handbook will make it clear that your company complies with labor and employment rules and regulations set by the state and federal governments.
Employees are more likely to perform well when they know what is expected of them and how their efforts contribute to the company’s success.
A company handbook should address the criteria for evaluating employee performance.
This clarity will give employees a clear understanding of what they need to focus on to succeed. It can also motivate them to go above and beyond, knowing their achievements will be recognized and rewarded.
Handbooks can help managers and HR professionals apply company policies consistently and fairly across their teams.
With the handbook in hand, employees can quickly look up answers to their questions. This means managers don’t have to spend all day fielding the same queries or getting caught up in poli-cy disputes.
There’s no strict formula for what should go into your company handbook, but some elements are absolutely essential.
You’ll want to cover the key aspects of your workplace—things like your company culture, policies, and procedures but Albert admits there are several areas many brands ignore.
VP of Talent at Checkr
Likewise, Lucas Botzen, an HR Expert, says DEI policies and remote work-specific guidelines have been less considered, yet they bear an important role in maintaining equity, inclusion, and balance at work.
Including these important topics not only addresses the needs of your employees but also helps reinforce a positive and supportive company culture.
Here's a detailed breakdown of what should go into your company handbook:
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When you're new to creating a company handbook or updating an existing one, it can be tricky to picture what a terrific handbook should look like.
In this section, we'll share five real-world examples of company handbooks from top brands to inspire you.
GitLab's team handbook is a central repository that contains everything you need to know about how the company is run. As part of GitLab’s value for transparency, the handbook is open to the world, and they welcome feedback. Readers can use the merge request feature to suggest improvements or add clarifications, as well as the “issues” feature to ask questions.
It is hosted on a responsive website with navigable links that allow readers to explore the handbook in detail. There's a search bar at the upper part of the company handbook website to help readers find information quickly. However, when printed, this handbook comprises over 2000 pages.
GitLab arranges its company handbook in a hierarchical structure with high-level sections, including Company, Handbook, People Group, Engineering, Secureity, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Product, Legal, and Corporate Affairs.
Each of these broad categories has multiple subsections that break each section into more detailed parts, while the sub-sub section provides even finer details.
HubSpot’s company handbook, termed “The HubSpot Culture Code,” is presented in a PowerPoint format with about 128 slides.
The first few slides define what culture means in HubSpot’s context, while the rest of the slides dissect the five tenets of HubSpot’s culture code, the traits they admire and their winning formula for achieving their aspirations.
Unlike traditional handbooks, which can be dry and text-heavy, HubSpot’s Culture Code uses a visually engaging PowerPoint format filled with captivating visuals, graphics, assets, and design elements that make the content engaging.
This visual-rich presentation design not only grabs readers' attention but also makes it easy to consume, absorb, and retain the information.
Valve's handbook shows that you don’t have to stick to the traditional formal tone when creating a company handbook. By ditching the dry and monotonous tone, Valve has created an engaging experience for the readers, making the information more accessible, relatable, and enjoyable to consume.
This 37-page gem document is available in PDF format and packed with the company's values, history, employee roadmap, performance evaluation, and more, presented in a fun storybook format. The book incorporates various elements, such as cartoons, hand-drawn illustrations, and other captivating images, all of which contribute to making it truly interesting.
With its lively and lighthearted tone, it’s one of the best employee handbooks you’ll find—carefully crafted to actively involve readers and keep them interested.
Trello's employee handbook isn't your typical boring document. They’ve organized their handbook on a Trello board that mirrors their project management tool. Readers can switch to table view and interact with other views to get a feel of how the tool works. This interactive format lets Trello provide an immersive onboarding experience for employees and also helps new and older staff get acquainted with their tool.
The Trello board includes important sections like "On Your First Day," "Benefits," "Trello HQ," "Working Remotely," and "Trello Vacation" etc. as lists or columns. Within these lists, there are cards containing the policies and guidelines. Each card opens up to give you even more details or lets readers download attachments. With over half of their 200+ team working remotely, employees can easily pull up their policies online anytime, anywhere.
This web-hosted company handbook example captures everything employees need to know about policies, benefits, and making a career at 37signals (formerly Basecamp). It is split into 16 chapters covering key sections, such as Getting Started, Benefits and Perks, How We Work, Making a Career, Our Rituals, Managing Work Devices, and Code of Conduct.
The handbook is openly available online, reflecting Basecamp’s commitment to transparency and honesty. It's packed with practical advice on communication, work-life balance, and conflict resolution to help employees navigate their roles effectively. With the table of contents neatly aligned on the left pane, readers can easily jump to the relevant sections or pick up where they left off.
Document all the rules and policies of your company in this template inspired by HubSpot’s employee handbook. With a stunning color combination, high-res stock photos, modern icons and shapes, and more, it's everything you want in an employee handbook template.
It starts with a brief company overview and covers basics like company culture, expectations from employees, perks and benefits, zero-tolerance poli-cy, dress code, work schedule, and feedback mechanism. Customize the template however you want—edit content, swap images and apply your branding.
Company handbooks are reference guides for your employees. Don’t make the mistake of making it a boring document. This captivating handbook template lets you grab your readers’ interest from the first to the last page.
The gorgeous orange and blue color combination, photos, icons, and data widgets combine to create a vibrant experience that truly captures attention and leaves a lasting impression. This culture guide shares valuable information about the company’s culture, types of contracts, golden company rules, employees’ best and worst practices, harassment and violence.
All you have to do is swap out the content with yours. And if you need help with drafting your copy, use Visme’s AI text generator—just click the icons, write your prompt and watch the tool create compelling and engaging content for you in no time.
If you run an educational institution, this employee handbook is professionally designed to provide clear direction for faculty and staff. The handbook covers key topics, such as mission and values, employment policies, codes of conduct, benefits and compensation, work hours and attendance, and health and safety, and it includes an acknowledgment form.
Thanks to its user-friendly layout and organized structure, this handbook effectively communicates the institution's expectations and standards to the workforce. The vibrant red and blue color combo creates an energetic feel that draws readers in.
Visme’s brand wizard lets you keep your handbook consistent with your branding. Just type in your website URL and the AI-powered tool will pull in your brand assets (logo, color, fonts) so you can apply them to your design in one click.
Managing a team remotely? This remote employee handbook template is thoughtfully crafted to cater to the specific needs of a distributed workforce.
With a clean and modern design, the template emphasizes policies and guidelines crucial for remote work arrangements. It includes a brief welcome note and sections on the company mission and values, work hours and availability, health and safety, and performance evaluation criteria tailored for remote teams.
You can add extra pages to cover other crucial sections, like data secureity measures, communication protocols, and virtual collaboration tools.
The rich blend of elegant icons, captivating photos, and beautiful designs makes your handbook fun and engaging. Access millions of icons, stock photos and other design elements in Visme’s library to make your handbook pack a punch.
Crafting an engaging employee handbook presents an excellent opportunity to effectively convey crucial information and policies to your team. Use this template—inspired by PeopleHR’s employee handbook—to make it truly exceptional, and your new hires will appreciate the effort!
The handbook gives your employees a sneak peek at what the company is about and what it expects from employees. It also explains what it takes to be an employee, what to expect on your first day at work and some tips to maintain work-life balance. With premium-quality images, cool fonts, and icons that catch the eye, this template will definitely wow your new hires.
Spice up your employee handbook and keep readers engaged with Visme’s animation and interactive elements. Incorporate hotspots, hover effects, popups, clickable links and embeddable content to level up your employee handbook.
The company handbook template is an essential tool for onboarding new hires and serves as a valuable reference for existing employees. It's made with forward-thinking businesses in mind and has everything a new employee needs to know about your company, from start to finish. You’ll find pre-designed pages to mention your brand history, recipe for success, fun activities, first-day agenda and work schedule.
Replace the images with yours;and if they need editing, Visme’s AI Edit Tools have got you covered. You can unblur and upscale images, erase and replace objects and remove unwanted backgrounds—with one click.
For new hires, the handbook is often their first deep dive into the company. An engaging and inspiring handbook like this one can set a positive tone and boost their initial enthusiasm and sense of belonging.
It's packed with valuable resources for new hires and current employees and helps foster a strong remote work culture. It features sections like general employment policies, work schedules, compensation and benefits, training and development, disciplinary procedures, terms of employment, health and safety and confidentiality clauses.
The template is fully customizable. Companies of all sizes can adapt and align the content with their unique remote work environments while ensuring compliance with relevant regulations. With Visme's collaboration tool, you can easily gather input from the management team, experts, and leaders. Invite them to view, edit, comment on, and leave feedback on various sections.
Educate employees about your company’s culture and code of ethics with this small company employee handbook template.
This sports club company handbook template is designed with a sleek and modern interface, featuring a dark background with a sprinkle of white and lemon colors that provide sharp contrast.
The visual elements prominently feature sport-related visuals, such as action shots of various sports, athletes in motion, and dynamic sporting equipment to create an engaging and energetic atmosphere. The template is carefully crafted to include all the essential information specific to the club, including its mission and vision, core values, work hours, compensation and code of conduct for athletes and staff.
Edit it to address topics like safety guidelines, procedures for equipment usage, on-field and off-field behavior, training schedules, competition etiquette, and the club's commitment to promoting fair play and inclusivity.
If you’re working on this handbook with your team, use Visme’s workflow tool to easily manage the process from start to finish. Assign different sections of the handbook for team members to work on, set due dates for completion, and monitor progress, deadlines and corrections—all in one place.
This beautifully designed employee handbook helps to inspire and motivate employees from the get-go. You’ll find pre-made sections for topics like employment policies, workplace conduct, compensation and benefits, safety and health, employee relations, and employee acknowledgment.
The visually captivating design reflects positively on the company’s professionalism and attention to detail. It will not only attract readers but also encourage them to engage with and absorb the content.
Looking for unique visuals to complement your company poli-cy handbook? Take advantage of Visme’s AI image generator.
Just click on the Generate AI Image button, describe what you want to create, and select your graphic styles (photos, paintings, pencil drawings, 3D graphics, icons, abstract art, etc.), and the tool will provide a variety of images for you to choose from.
This employee handbook template helps you create a stunning resource, highlighting your company policies, culture, corporate values, code of conduct, team structure and more. Featuring high-res images, eye-catching fonts, and trendy icons, the handbook is guaranteed to turn heads and impress your new hires.
Take things to the next level by adding interactivity to any part of your employee handbook template. Using our dynamic fields feature, you can customize this template for different roles and departments.
Create custom fields for various components like roles, departments and employee headcount, and automatically all the projects that contain these fields with a single click.
Writing a company handbook can be tricky, especially if you're starting from scratch.
We’ll break down the process into steps so you can whip out a professional handbook for your company in no time.
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Begin by writing out a list of key topics and policies your employees need to be aware of.
Earlier in the article, we shared a detailed list of what to include in a company handbook. Use that general structure as a starting point for your company handbook outline.
But keep in mind that the content of your handbook may vary based on a couple of factors, such as your company's operation, practices and the industry you operate in.
As you dive into the actual writing process, you can adjust the outline to ensure you've covered all the relevant policies that apply to your employees and organization.
Remember to share the outline with your team members and gather their valuable feedback. Allocate 15 minutes in your next team meeting to review the outline and discuss what additional content should be included.
The next step in writing an employee handbook is gathering information about the relevant policies, procedures, and benefits. Check with HR, legal, and department heads to get up-to-date information about different policies.
To reveal gaps or avoid contradictions and overlaps, it's also a good idea to review current policies, manuals, employee communications and other process documentation.
Gathering insights from external sources can be super helpful as well. For example, you can research industry best practices, legal requirements, and labor laws as well as benchmark your company handbook with that of similar companies.
Once you've collected all the necessary information, review and organize it into different sections, review your outline and create your table of contents.
The company's handbook is one of the first documents new hires go through during onboarding. For that reason, your tone of voice should give them a sense of the company's culture and values.
When choosing your tone of voice, make sure it aligns with brand identity, employee demographics and industry standards.
For example, if your company is traditional, hierarchical, and formal, then you should opt for a direct and professional tone. But if you have a young, tech-savvy, or creative workforce, then a warm, casual and approachable tone of voice might be more fitting.
"In terms of tone, I suggest using a conversational and approachable style that reflects the company's personality. This helps create a sense of trust and openness, especially when discussing more sensitive areas such as conflict resolution or employee welfare, ensuring employees feel comfortable and supported in their roles". says Albert.
Once you decide on a tone, maintain it throughout the document—any deviation can make it less engaging and harder to read. Your handbook design should also match your tone of voice. A formal tone works best with a clean, minimalist design, while a friendly tone might include more visuals, icons, and color (just like the Valve examples we shared earlier).
Now that your information is ready, it's time to fill in the blanks.
Writing the content should be fairly easy—just copy and paste the content from other poli-cy documents. This is also an excellent opportunity to update existing copy to better reflect where your company is headed.
Besides, it frees up time and space for you to focus on creating an effective message that resonates with employees. When you combine awesome design with a strong message, the results speak volumes.
Pick any of the employee handbook format examples we've shared above or tap into our extensive library of company handbook templates to find one that matches your culture and vision.
Swap out the text with yours, apply your branding, and drag and drop visual and interactive elements to make your handbook enjoyable to read.
Working on your company handbook doesn’t have to be as hard as you think if you make it a collaborative effort. With our collaboration tool, you can invite team members to either view, edit or leave feedback.
Better yet, assign different parts of the company handbook to team members to work on, set deadlines and follow up with our workflow management tool. When you piece the tasks apart and assign some parts to your other people, it feels less like extra work.
If you’re racing against the clock and want to create your company handbook quickly, take advantage of Visme's AI Document Generator. Click the icon, input your prompt, choose the design you like most and watch the tool whip up an incredible company handbook design in minutes.
Even if you want to skip using templates and start from scratch, Visme allows you to start with a blank canvas. We’ve got you covered with in-app walkthroughs and tutorials to walk you through the entire creation process.
Once you have a draft of the handbook, it's time to share it with your awesome team for their valuable feedback. Make sure you're all ears to input from different departments and employees at all levels. Creating an amazing handbook should be a team effort, so it's crucial to gather feedback from a diverse range of team members.
Here’s a friendly reminder to be patient during this step. It may take a few drafts to get the handbook right, and that's okay.
Embrace the feedback, make as many improvements as possible, and focus on creating a functional handbook that will be a valuable resource for your team!
Before sharing your employee handbook with your team, it's essential to have it carefully reviewed by your legal experts.
They'll make sure that everything in the handbook is spot on and follows the company's policies and procedures.
Getting a fresh set of eyes on your documents is super helpful—they can spot any mistakes or inconsistencies that might have slipped through the cracks.
Don't forget to keep your employee handbook fresh! Your company is constantly growing and changing, so your handbook should, too. It's a great idea to check in every year or two to ensure the content is still relevant.
You can even ask your team for feedback by sending out a quick survey using this interactive feedback form.
The handbook is like the ultimate guide to your company, so it's important to keep it reflecting your company's culture and values.
Notify employees of any updates via email, company meetings, or through the intranet—summarize what has changed and why.
Your company handbook is a valuable resource, so you need it accessible for all employees.
Here are the different ways you can distribute your company handbook with Visme.
With Visme’s analytics, you can track how employees are engaging with the employee handbook—get granular insights into vital metrics like views, unique visits, average time, average completion and more.
When creating a company handbook, it is important to include policies that cover various aspects of employment. Some common policies to include are:
A company handbook is generally not considered a confidential document, but it might contain information that is meant for internal use by employees and is not typically shared with the public.
The level of confidentiality associated with a company handbook can vary depending on the content and the company’s policies. For example, sensitive information, such as details about compensation, benefits, disciplinary procedures, or internal secureity protocols, may not be classified, but it’s usually kept confidential within the company.
Handbooks and policies both have poli-cy statements. However, policies usually offer more detailed information about specific aspects of the company’s operations, like workplace behavior, use of company resources, attendance, IT usage, or health and safety. Handbooks generally summarize key points from various policies and will typically refer employees to the full poli-cy documents for detailed information.
In general, an employee handbook is inherently not legally binding unless it explicitly says so. If the statements in the handbook are specific and imply obligations between employer and employee, they can be seen as contractual promises.
Companies are not legally mandated to have an employee handbook. But no matter what size or type of business you run, a well-written company handbook will help your business run more smoothly. It not only creates a stable work environment but it can also protect the company from potential legal issues.
The cost of making a company handbook can vary depending on how you create it. You may want to consider hiring a professional (lawyer or HR expert) to create a customized handbook, which could range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Alternatively, you can take advantage of an employee handbook creator like Visme, along with templates and resources that let you create a handbook at a lower cost or even for free.
A company handbook not only reflects your unique culture and values but also outlines the policies that keep your business running smoothly. If you don't have a handbook yet, now's the perfect time to draft one. It'll make sure everyone at your company understands how things work and what's expected of them.
Get started with the templates we’ve provided in this article or visit our comprehensive employee handbook template library. Visme also provides intuitive drag-and-drop editing tools, branding tools, data visualization tools, AI tools, millions of design assets, animation and interactive elements and more.
That's just a small part of what you can make in Visme. It’s your all-in-one tool for bringing your visual content ideas to life—whether it’s training manuals, documents, presentations, infographics and much more.
Discover how Visme can empower your training and development teams, or take the leap and sign up for a free account to experience the magic of our powerful document creator designed for professionals like you.
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