Employee Handbooks

Introduction

The Employee Handbooks resource consists of national, state and key local handbook templates designed for use in an employee handbook.

Each individual handbook template includes associated guidance for employers and information on when to include the policy in your handbook (e.g., employer coverage requirements and exclusions, whether the policy is required to be in your handbook).

Access Employee Handbook Templates

You can easily access our handbook templates by selecting Resource Types on the top navigation bar and then selecting Employee Handbooks under Templates and Posters.

Employee Handbooks Homepage

From the Employee Handbooks homepage you can:

• Access tables of contents for the National Handbook as well as state supplements;
• Search within the Employee Handbooks resource;
• Select a category to explore, such as Employee Benefits or Workplace Conduct; and
• See a list of new and recently updated Employee Handbook templates.

Navigate Using Handbook Categories

If you are looking to locate all the handbook templates in a particular subject area, click on the breadcrumb bar (shown below) and select the category of interest from the dropdown.

A category includes all handbook templates relating to a particular subject (e.g., the Time Off and Leaves of Absence category includes all the national, state and key local leave templates).

Content Structure

The Employee Handbooks resource provides:

• A National Handbook, containing federal and generally applicable handbook templates listed in a sample table of contents;
• A California Handbook, with a sample table of contents; and
• State Supplements, with an individual table of contents for each state and the District of Columbia.

Each handbook template includes four sections:

• When to Include,
• Customizable Handbook Template,  
• Guidance for Employers, and
• Additional Resources.

When to Include: The "When to Include" section offers insight into when and why your organization would choose to include a specific template in its handbook. For example, where inclusion of a template is dependent upon an employer having a certain number of employees, the employee threshold will be indicated here. See Equal Employment Opportunity Handbook Statement [15-19 employees]. This section also describes exclusions to employer coverage and provides information around when a policy is required to be in a handbook.

Customizable Handbook Template: This section includes legally mandated, recommended or optional language your organization would use in its handbook. These statement templates can be customized to include your organization name and HR contact details and to suit your specific compliance and business objectives.

Guidance for Employers: This section contains a bulleted list of tips, warnings and other considerations you must be aware of when including the template in your handbook and implementing it across your organization.

Additional Resources: This section provides links to any related handbook templates, 50-State Charts and relevant information in the Employment Law Guide.

How to Use the Employee Handbooks Resource

Whether your organization is operating in one or several states, it is important to understand that the content in the Employee Handbooks resource has been drafted for optimal use in a handbook with two distinct parts (see below for exception for California employers): (1) a National Handbook, containing federal and generally applicable handbook templates and (2) individual state supplements that include state and key locality-specific handbook templates.

Your organization may choose to offer one general handbook (e.g., the National Handbook) and then manage your state and local differences by providing employees with their applicable state supplement, which can be appended to the general handbook. This method helps to capture variances in state and local law and bring them to the attention of employees. It also ensures that employees receive only policies that apply to them, based on their state or locality.

California employers: Due to its more complicated legal landscape, California templates are integrated with national templates into a single state handbook. This means that where the interplay between federal and state law is more complicated, federal requirements have been integrated with California law within the language of the template itself.

The content in the Employee Handbooks resource can be used as a guide either to create a new handbook or update an existing handbook.

Create a New Employee Handbook

You can use the Employee Handbooks resource to help you create a new employee handbook for your organization. For national handbook templates and all states other than California, begin by browsing the National Handbook Table of Contents, which provides links to the national handbook templates, organized by category.

Select the sample national handbook templates you wish to view and use the When to Include and Guidance for Employers sections to ensure you understand their implications. You can then download your selected templates into Word, customize them to your specific needs and use them to build your handbook. You may download all selected templates at once into a single Word document. See Multi-Export Functionality below for details.

Next, for all states other than California, you will want to create any necessary state supplements, which you can find listed by state on the Employee Handbooks homepage. Handbook templates in the state supplement address the additional or corresponding state and key local laws an employer must follow for employees working in that particular jurisdiction. Where noted in the guidance, some of the state-specific templates should be read and understood along with the related national template found in the National Handbook.

California employers: For California, since the interplay between federal and state law is more complex, federal requirements have been integrated with California law within the language of the state's handbook template itself. If preparing a California handbook, consult the California Table of Contents. Here you will find links to handbook templates based on: 1) California laws specifically; 2) federal and California laws combined; and/or 3) generally applicable templates not based on a state-specific legal consideration.

After selecting the state and local handbook templates you wish to include, and ensuring you understand their implications by reviewing the When to Include and Guidance for Employers sections, download the templates into Word. You may download all selected templates at once into a single document. See Multi-Export Functionality below for details. Next, customize them to your specific needs and use them to build your handbook.

It is recommended that you consult legal counsel to review changes made to templated language and your final handbook/policies, as adapted.

Update an Existing Handbook

You can also use the Employee Handbooks resource to guide you when adding or revising templates in an existing employee handbook. To begin, locate the handbook template you are interested in.

For each template, review the When to Include section to ensure the template applies to your organization. Next, review the Guidance for Employers section for tips and warnings concerning some of the legal pitfalls in a particular handbook template's enforcement and implementation.

If you elect to use the template, you can download it into Word and customize it to your specific needs and use it to update your handbook.

It is recommended that you consult legal counsel to review changes made to templated language and your final handbook/policies, as adapted.

Customize a Handbook Template

Many of our templates contain bracketed text, signaling a particular customization choice. For instance, many templates include the following text: [insert Company Name]. When you see such bracketed terms, insert your company's name or other details into the policy. In other instances, optional language is provided in bracketed text which you may choose to include or not include.

At times, you may also need or wish to customize a handbook template beyond adding in language in the bracketed text areas. You should work with legal counsel as needed for further customization and review. The templates are not intended as a substitute for legal advice.

Download Handbook Templates

You can download individual templates or multiple templates at once and then customize the templates for your organization.

To download an individual template into Word, select the Download button, located in the top right navigational bar above each handbook template.

Multi-Export Functionality

To download multiple handbook templates at once into a single document, go to the Employee Handbooks homepage. Here you can access our sample tables of contents for the National Handbook and each state, and you can export multiple templates at once.

Clicking on the "Export Templates" button activates the multi-export process. When you click, you will see a list of key steps to follow in compiling your handbook. You can either use the "Select All" option to include all handbook templates in the table of contents or select them individually. You must select at least one template to be able to export.

You can use the info button to the right of each template title to take a quick view of our "When to Include" section before exporting.

Once you have made your selections, click the "Export Templates" button again and you will see a pop-up listing all selected templates. If this list is accurate, you can proceed with your export - if not, you can cancel and revise your selections.

Once you click "Export" from the pop-up, your selected templates will download into a single, compiled document.