Comparing Handbook and Policy Approaches: Advantages and Challenges
Author: Brightmine Editorial Team
Employers are not legally required to have an employee handbook, but most use one to communicate workplace expectations, explain employee rights and benefits and support consistent policy administration. These handbooks may take several different formats.
Organizations also may choose not to compile their policies into a handbook and instead create and distribute standalone individual policies. Because there is no single required format, employers have latitude in how they structure and organize their handbook and policies.
For HR, the structure matters because it affects how easily employees can find policies that apply to them, how consistently managers apply those policies, and how much administrative work is required when laws change. The right structure can help HR:
- Reduce confusion (e.g., employees understand which policies apply to them and pose fewer routine questions to HR);
- Manage multistate compliance and avoid unnecessary updates (e.g., a well-chosen structure can make updates easier when laws change, reducing the risk of outdated or inconsistent policies); or
- Shape the employee experience (e.g., it determines whether employees see consistent benefits and expectations across locations).
When choosing how to organize an organization's policies, HR should consider the employer's size and industry; where the employees work; the number and complexity of applicable federal, state and local laws; employee experience; the internal resources available to maintain the policies; and, of course, cost and efficiency.
Before finalizing a structure, HR should confirm who will own policy updates, how frequently they will be reviewed, and how employees will be notified when policies change.
The chart below summarizes the most common handbook and policy approaches and highlights the advantages and challenges for each approach:
