EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS
Reduce the risk of disputes and employment claims with policies that are easy to understand and apply
Protect yourself at tribunal by showing that you have met your obligations
Protect your business interests with policies tailored to your company
OUR HANDBOOKS
For £1250 + VAT, our handbooks include:
27 easy-to-read policies tailored to your business
A consultation with an employment solicitor to tailor the policies to your business needs
Digital copies of your policies
To reduce our environmental impact, we no longer include a paper copy of the handbook as standard, as most of our clients did not need it. We still offer an optional, professionally printed copy if you need one, priced at £150 to cover the cost of printing and postage.
Individual and Additional Policies
We can draft additional policies not included in our standard handbook. These policies will be priced upon the complexity of the policy and the work involved.
Policy Reviews
We also offer reviews of your existing policies. Reviews are priced based on the amount of work involved in reviewing them. We will ask to see your documents to provide a quote and advise if it is more economical to start over with new policies.
Get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Our handbook includes 27 essential policies:
Holiday pay
Drugs and alcohol
Bribery
Modern slavery
Recruitment
Performance improvement
Appraisals
Absence management
Disciplinary
Right to work
Generative AI
Religious and National holiday celebrations
Use of computers, email and internet
Training and development
Company cars
Harassment and bullying
CHANGES IN 2024
The government has passed several acts affecting workers' rights which come into effect this year, including:
changes to holiday pay and entitlement for irregular and part-year workers
rights to request flexible and predictable working
additional leave for carers and parents with a child in neonatal care
changes to paternity leave entitlement and extended protection from redundancy for parents
a new duty to prevent sexual harassment
Our handbook is up to date with your new obligations.
DOES MY BUSINESS NEED AN EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK?
Having an employee handbook is not a legal requirement but is certainly good practice. It is a method of collating all the important points you want to bring to the attention of your employees. As an employer, you are required to provide quite a lot of information to your employees and having a central document, whether printed or electronic, is an efficient way of making sure this happens. It also makes it easier for you to keep the information up to date.
Compared to the cost of a tribunal claim and poor morale, a good handbook is an extremely valuable investment.
The benefits of a good handbook include:
Fewer disputes
Without clear guidelines, your workplace and workforce can develop its own culture, which may not be what you intend. A staff handbook can set clear expectations around behaviour, ensuring staff know what is expected and are confident about how to resolve problems through the correct channels. Not only does this make for a better work environment, it reduces the risk of tribunal claims against you.
Defend yourself against claims
Apart from being a good source of helpful information for your new employees, tribunals have used employee handbooks to make decisions which have supported the employer.
Showing that you followed your policies can help you defend yourself against claims of unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal. You can also defend yourself from vicarious liability for employees’ behaviour by showing that you took reasonable steps to prevent misconduct.
Attract and retain talented employees
Wellbeing, flexibility, diversity, and ethics are more important to workers than ever. You can attract talented staff by demonstrating your culture, then help them to reach their potential with policies to support staff (for example, menopause, family-friendly, equal opportunities).
Good grievance and whistleblowing policies will encourage staff to be more open about problems so that they can be resolved before they escalate or drive people away.
DID YOU KNOW...
WHAT MAKES A GOOD HANDBOOK?
Easy to read
Handbooks are often too long or complicated for staff to engage with or understand. This can lead to managers making mistakes when applying them, having to fill in the gaps themselves, or ignoring them altogether. All of which put you at risk of tribunal claims. Easy-to-read policies ensure employees can quickly find the information they need and apply it to the situation.
Tailored
There is no one ‘standard’ process that works for all businesses. Every business is different, and individual factors will affect your practices. You should tailor your policies to fit your business so that the processes are achievable and your needs are met.
Up to date
If a policy is out of date, it might not protect you at a tribunal. For example, when a company dismissed an employee for attending work with Covid, the dismissal was found to be unfair partly due to the fact their health and safety guidance was outdated and didn’t include any instructions about Covid.
Integrated
Too many handbooks are an uncoordinated collection of documents from previous HR professionals, templates, other businesses, and updates based on online advice. This leaves a risk that policies will contradict each other. Instead, your policies should complement each other – especially in areas where there might be some overlap. Our handbooks will be consistent in tone and tailored with your business culture in mind.
GET IN TOUCH
Do you have a legal matter you'd like to discuss with us? Get in touch using the details below or use the form here and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss your enquiry.
Address: Spencer Shaw Solicitors Limited
St Mary's House, 68 Harborne Park Road,
Harborne, Birmingham, B17 0DH
Opening hours:
Monday - Friday 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays - Closed
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