Office Manual Tips,
By TorontoJobs.ca

Some companies spend a lot of time preparing an office manual only for it to become outdated, irrelevant or ignored. Other companies don’t spend enough time on it, or don’t have one, which can result in confusion or, to a greater risk to the company, legal issues for the company at some later date.

This article will cover some tips to keep in mind if you’re preparing a new office manual for your employees or if you’re updating an existing one.

Overview
An office manual should generally contain information about a company’s standard policies and procedures for the successful operation of the business. The manual should be viewed as a tool for managers and employees to refer to in the event that there is a question on how something in the company should be handled. It should also be used for training purposes for both new and existing employees.

Management should be Responsible for It
The managers are the ones who have the overall responsibility of the running of the business. As such, although the manual should have input from the employee(s), it should be written and updated by management based on the needs of the company.

Also, if there is more than one manager, all managers need to ultimately agree on the best practices of the organization. There can be discussion and perhaps even disagreement among the managers as to the various policies or procedures, but at the end of the day all managers should agree on consistent policies and procedures to be followed within the company.

Policies and Procedures
Make sure all policies and procedures are included and updated in the office manual, even if you think everyone knows them or you think that they’re obvious. The less confusion you have with employees regarding how something is to be done, the better your company will function.

Get Sign-Off from Employees
Employees should sign an acknowledgement that they have received and reviewed a copy of the company’s manual as well as have had an opportunity to ask questions about it. This acknowledgement should occur both at the start of their employment (and should be noted as part of their employment offer letter) and at minimum at least once a year. A copy of this signed acknowledgement should be kept in each employee’s personnel file.

Communicate Change(s)
Update the manual as circumstances in your company change. Formally communicate changes to the manual to your employees when the changes occur, either through an email or at an office meeting, or both. Ensure the employees have been given an opportunity to understand and ask any questions about the change(s).

Make it the right length
Keep the office manual targeted to your organization. Make sure that the manual meets the requirements of your office by including content that is relevant to your business. Don’t add information that is too extraneous to your business that will make the manual too lengthy and don’t exclude information that is relevant to your business.

Make it easy to read
Don’t make it too difficult for people to read and don’t include a lot of legal jargon.

What to Include
You should include everything that is relevant to your company, including areas such as:

• Objectives of the manual
• A description of the company’s product(s) and service(s)
• A brief history of the company
• Job descriptions of the various positions
• Description of the hiring process to be used
• Operational policies and procedures, such as:
• Dress code
• Computer protocol, including policies such as internet surfing
• Office hours
• Emergency procedures
• Vacation and sick day policies and procedures
• Smoke break policy
• Overtime policy
• Maternity leave policy
• Business Expense policies
• Sexual Harassment Policies
• Employee Conduct
• Progressive Discipline policies
• Exit interview questionnaire
• An organizational chart

Ask for Feedback
Ask for feedback on the manual from employees. Ask them what they like and don’t like about it and what they think should be changed.

Tailor it
You could have multiple manuals depending on the type of role, department or division of a company. Make sure that there is no confusion as to which manual is applicable to which employees if you do have multiple manuals.

Make it Easy to Find
Make sure that employees can find the manual easily by uploading it to a shared drive on your network or making a printed copy available in your office.

Have it reviewed
Have an independent person review the manual, whether it’s by an internal human resources professional, an independent human resources consultant or an employment lawyer.

Consistent Policies and Procedures
Apply policies and procedures consistently with employees so that the manual has integrity. You can note in the manual that policies and procedures may be overridden by management depending on extenuating circumstances that are not covered within the manual or where applying the existing policies and procedures to a situation may not make sense.

Employment Law
You should note within the manual that any existing employment laws (for example, Safety or Employment Standards) will override your manual’s policies if your manual doesn’t comply with those laws.

Acknowledgement
Make sure any new employees acknowledge in writing having received a copy of and reading the manual as early as possible in their employment. Allow them to ask questions.

Let existing employees know that all new employees will be made aware of the policies and procedures within the manual.

Conclusion
An office manual can be a tremendous tool for management to use and refer to in the event of an issue related to a policy or procedure. It can create the best practices that employees should use when conducting the operations of the business. It does take time to create a manual, but once done up it is relatively easy to keep it updated.

Note: This article is not intended to provide legal advice and should not be used as such. Please consult a lawyer if there is any clarification required on the above.

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