An Employee Handbook: Why is it Necessary?

By Katherine Díaz, MBA

Having an Employee Handbook and reviewing it regularly to keep up with the times is essential in every organization. It provides uniformity and consistency in decision-making, legal compliance, and conflict prevention.

The Employee Handbook must be aligned with the business culture and corporate values, and should address topics related to applicable employment laws, regulations and policies. Also, given the changing circumstances, it is recommended to incorporate policies and guidelines related to current and important matters such as:

• remote work management
• proper use of artificial intelligence (AI)
• results measurement
• interaction with social media and more

When drafting the Employee Handbook, it is crucial to know which laws apply to your business, so that it operates within the legal framework, without making unnecessary commitments. It is important that you know that some laws apply to companies depending on the number of employees they have.

Policies or Guidelines

Some essential policies that we recommend to incorporating into an Employee Handbook Manual are, for example, those related to:

1. Sexual Harassment
2. Handling Situations of Domestic Violence in the Workplace
3. Prohibition and Prevention of Workplace Harassment
4. Drug testing, if the company decides to do them
5. Surveillance or Electronic Monitoring, if the company has security cameras 

Communication Tool

The Employee Handbook represents an extraordinary opportunity to communicate essential aspects of the organizational culture and what is expected from each employee. For example, it should include the following topics:

1. Company history, vision, mission, values, and expected behaviors
2. General employment aspects, like: working hours, meal period, payday, among others
3. Leaves of absence and benefits
4. Laws, regulations, and policies applicable to the company (e.g. domestic violence, harassment and discrimination, among others)
5. Internal policies and processes: attire, confidentiality, information systems management, among others
6. Rules of conduct and disciplinary process

Final Recommendations

1. Include employment topics that specifically apply to your business.
2. Do not copy handbooks from other companies, you could be making commitments that do not correspond to you.
3. Communicate essential aspects about the organizational culture in a pleasant and relevant way to all generations that are part of the organization. For example: distinct traditions, expected behaviors in accordance with the company’s history, vision, mission, and values, among others.
4. Inform employees about the behaviors that the company expects from them, including general duties, customer service protocol, treatment of colleagues, resolution of conflicts, and communications, among others.
5. Make sure that all hierarchical levels in the company are committed to what the Employee Handbook provides and that they serve as models of compliance with it.
6. Consider the possibility of getting specialized advice from a person trained and specialized in human resources and/or employment law to draft and review the Employee Handbook.

Drafting or reviewing an Employee Handbook may seem overwhelming, but it is important to remember that human resources -- the employees who support us in each project and endeavor-- contribute to making it possible for our vision to materialize and to achieve the organizational goals. We must select them appropriately, train them, provide them with the necessary tools and, above all, value them. Take advantage of every opportunity to reinforce in your employees everything that makes your business to be unique, generate results, and grow. 

The author is the president and chief executive officer of the human capital consulting firm HR Remarkable Talent. She has three decades of experience and is certified in Performance Evaluation.

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (“Popular”) has no affiliation or relationship with the people or entities mentioned in this article. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of its accuracy. Popular, its parent company, affiliates, subsidiaries or related companies are not, and will they be liable for, any special, direct, or indirect, or incidental damages resulting from the use of the information contained in this article, which was not prepared by Popular. Popular is engaged in providing financial services and is not engaged (directly or indirectly) in providing services related to the content of this article. If you require any service related to this article, you must request advice from a competent professional of your choice. Popular expressly rejects any and all liability for said advice.