Writing employee handbooks is challenging. Making employees interested and excited to learn about your employee policies is even more challenging!
Traditional handbooks have their problems. There are hundreds of policies to remember, walls of text that are difficult to read, and so much suffocating legalese that new hires won’t even make it past the second page. Your handbook needs to stand out just as much as your company does!
Companies with a strong onboarding process improve employee productivity by 70%! Your employee handbook is the first step to developing an excellent onboarding process and boosting employee engagement. The number one thing that your employees want to see is a company handbook that has all the essential employee policies they need to know. AirMason has put together the top 10 employee policies that you need to include in your employee handbook.
Employee Policy #1 – Code of Conduct
Each company has its own rules and procedures that employees need to keep in mind. That’s why at the very top of our list we’ve included your code of conduct.
A code of conduct can be quite multifaceted and made up of many policies. Here are some of the most important parts of your code of conduct to include:
- Standards of Conduct
- Workplace Violence
- Drugs & Alcohol
- Confidentiality
- Code of Ethics
While the code of conduct is essential for your employees to have access to for their own sake, it is equally as important to have this policy for your organization. Setting employee expectations early on can reduce or even fully eliminate confusion and only boosts the chances of employees succeeding in achieving the goals they set out for themselves. After all, happy employees lead to higher productivity, and what company doesn’t want that?
Employee Policy #2 – Benefits
Another essential employee policy for your company handbook is a comprehensive list of all the benefits you offer and instructions on how to access them. Benefits such as health insurance, retirement packages, flexible work schedules, and more need to be properly documented.
This section will undoubtedly be one of your employees’ most important resources. In simple terms, consider all the benefits questions you would want to be answered as a new hire, and don’t hesitate to include them.
Employee Policy #3 – Compensation
Money makes the world go round. Whether it’s hourly, salaried, or commission-based, your employees will want to know how they’re getting paid. Payment schedules and a breakdown of deductions are some examples of what would be expected in this section.
In addition, information regarding raises or promotions would also be a valuable employee policy to include.
Employee Policy #4 – Onboarding
Bringing someone on board is always exciting, but what employee policies do you have in place for these new hires? Welcome packages, orientation periods, and to-do lists are some of the best employee policies to include to help make onboarding easier.
A walkthrough of their first week, month, and quarter sets the stage for what a new employee needs to know to start on the right track. It can also identify some milestones they will want to hit right off the bat.
It’s found that when managers take an active role in their onboarding process, employees are 3.4 times more likely to say their onboarding experience was exceptional. Consider a more personal onboarding experience for new hires featuring their direct managers, and your productivity will boom!
Employee Policy #5 – Paid Time Off
Your employees will need time away from work, either through sick days, vacation, or other scenarios. Time off is an essential employee policy to include. Making sure you provide information regarding sick days, vacations, and leave of absence helps ease the onboarding and day-to-day functions at your organization.
Eliminating the need for questions answered in the employee handbook every time an employee needs time off leads to better workflow, less confusion, and overall higher productivity for your company.
Employee Policy #6 – Termination and Resignation
Sometimes team members will move and change. Because of that, employee policies that deal with termination and resignation are essential for employees to understand how to have a smooth exit.
Having your employees understand the processes in place when leaving your company, how much advance notice they should give, and when they can expect to receive their final paycheck can help to avoid conflict and set expectations early on.
Employee Policy #7 – Overtime
Finally, a very important employee policy to include is a section dedicated to overtime, and how both salaried and hourly team members will be paid for extra hours worked. Overtime laws vary by country and state, so make sure you check in with an expert on the subject when writing your policies.
