At a glance
| Document type | HR policy template |
|---|---|
| Issued by | Employer |
| Templates included | 3 ready to use versions |
| Download format | Word (.docx) |
| Statutory reference | Industrial Relations Code, 2020 |
| Last reviewed | 26 August 2026 |
| Maintained by | Engage HR editorial team |
Handbook, appointment letter and standing orders
Employers often treat these as three formats for the same content. They bind differently, and the handbook is the weakest of the three at fixing a term.
| Employee handbook | Appointment letter | Standing orders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Communicates policy and expectations across the organisation. | Fixes the individual terms on which one person is engaged. | Govern conditions of service directly where the Chapter applies to the establishment. |
| Who it is addressed to | Everyone, in general terms. | One named individual. | The workers of that establishment. |
| Can the employer change it | Yes, where the handbook reserves the right and the change is communicated. | Only by agreement, recorded in writing. | Through the process the Code provides, not unilaterally. |
| If the two conflict | The appointment letter generally prevails on individual terms. | Prevails over the handbook on the terms it fixes. | Prevail on the matters they cover, whatever the other two say. |
| Common mistake | Reproducing contractual terms, creating a second version that dates. | Reproducing policy text, which is frozen at the date of issue. | Assuming they do not apply without checking the headcount test. |
What goes in an employee handbook
A handbook that tries to cover everything goes unread. The list below is the working set, ordered as a new joiner would meet it.
- Welcome and how to use this handbook. Including, in plain terms, which parts are policy and which are contractual.
- About the organisation. What it does, how it is structured, who to ask about what.
- Joining. Documentation, induction, probation and how confirmation is decided.
- Working hours and attendance. Hours, shifts, weekly off, remote or hybrid arrangements, and how attendance is recorded.
- Leave. Types, entitlement, how to apply, approval, carry forward and encashment.
- Pay. Pay date, structure in general terms, reimbursements, and how to query a payslip. Not individual figures.
- Conduct. The code of conduct, conflicts of interest, gifts, confidentiality, and use of company systems.
- Prevention of sexual harassment. The prohibition, the committee and how to complain, cross referring to the standalone policy.
- Raising concerns. The grievance route and the whistleblower channel, distinguished from each other.
- Performance. How performance is reviewed, and what happens where it falls short.
- Discipline. What constitutes misconduct and the process that follows.
- Health, safety and wellbeing. Including any medical or insurance benefits, described without quoting sums assured.
- Leaving. Notice, handover, return of property, full and final settlement and the documents issued.
- Acknowledgement. Receipt and access, with a note that the current version governs.
Anything individual belongs in the appointment letter. Anything that changes often belongs in a standalone policy the handbook points to, so revising it does not mean reissuing the handbook.
3 policy templates
Employee Handbook for handbook front matter and structure
The opening pages do the legal work. This is the framing that keeps a handbook from becoming a contract by accident, plus the contents structure.
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK [Company Name] Version: [Version Number] Effective from: [Effective Date] Owner: [Policy Owner Designation] Supersedes: [Previous Version and Date] HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK This handbook describes how things work at [Company Name] and what we expect of each other. It applies to everyone employed by [Company Name] at [Locations]. WHAT THIS HANDBOOK IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT This handbook is a statement of policy. It is not your contract of employment. Your individual terms, including your designation, remuneration, place of work, hours, probation and notice period, are set out in your appointment letter. Where anything in this handbook differs from your appointment letter, your appointment letter governs those terms. [Company Name] may introduce, revise or withdraw any policy in this handbook. We will tell you when we do, and the current version is always the one at [Handbook Location]. Nothing in this handbook creates a contractual entitlement except where it says so expressly. Where the law requires something different from what this handbook says, the law applies. WHO TO ASK About this handbook: [Policy Owner Designation], [Contact] About your own terms or pay: [HR Contact], [Contact] About anything urgent and confidential: [Escalation Contact], [Contact] CONTENTS 1. About [Company Name] 2. Joining: documentation, induction, probation and confirmation 3. Working hours, attendance and [remote or hybrid] working 4. Leave: types, entitlement and how to apply 5. Pay: pay date, structure, reimbursements and payslip queries 6. Conduct: code of conduct, conflicts, gifts, confidentiality and use of systems 7. Prevention of sexual harassment 8. Raising a concern: grievances and the whistleblower channel 9. Performance: reviews and what happens where performance falls short 10. Discipline: misconduct and the process 11. Health, safety and wellbeing 12. Leaving [Company Name]: notice, handover, settlement and documents 13. Acknowledgement POLICIES REFERRED TO BUT NOT REPRODUCED HERE The following are maintained separately and may be revised without reissuing this handbook. The current version of each is at [Policy Location]. [Policy Name] | [Policy Name] | [Policy Name] | [Policy Name] Approved: [Approving Authority] Date: [Date]
Employee Handbook for acknowledgement page
The acknowledgement is where handbooks most often overreach, by asking someone to agree to terms they cannot negotiate. This version records receipt and access instead.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT [Company Name] Employee Handbook, version [Version Number], effective [Effective Date] Employee name: [Employee Name] Employee code: [Employee Code] Department: [Department] I confirm that: 1. I have received access to the [Company Name] Employee Handbook, version [Version Number], at [Handbook Location]. 2. I understand that the handbook is a statement of policy and is not my contract of employment, and that my individual terms are set out in my appointment letter. 3. I understand that [Company Name] may introduce, revise or withdraw any policy in the handbook, that changes will be communicated to me, and that the version in force at [Handbook Location] is the one that applies. 4. I understand that it is my responsibility to read the handbook, and to ask [Policy Owner Designation] if anything in it is unclear to me. 5. I have had the opportunity to ask questions about the handbook. Signature: ______________________ Name: [Employee Name] Date: [Date] NOTE FOR [Company Name]: this acknowledgement records receipt and access. It is deliberately not an agreement to the contents. Asking an employee to agree to policies they cannot negotiate produces either a refusal or a signature that establishes nothing, and it invites the argument that the handbook is contractual. Retain the signed copy against the employee record, and re-obtain acknowledgement whenever a new version is issued. FOR OFFICE USE Version issued: [Version Number] Date issued: [Date] Acknowledgement received: [Date] Filed by: [Name]
Employee Handbook for short form handbook for a small company
For an organisation without a policy library yet. It covers the same ground in plain language, and points outward for the two things that must exist separately.
WORKING AT [Company Name] Version: [Version Number] Effective from: [Effective Date] Owner: [Policy Owner Designation] BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE This is our handbook. It explains how things work here. It is not your contract. Your job title, pay, hours, notice period and location are in your appointment letter, and if this handbook ever disagrees with that letter, the letter wins. We can change anything in here. When we do, we will tell you, and the current version will be at [Handbook Location]. YOUR HOURS We work [Working Hours], [Working Days]. [Describe remote or hybrid arrangement.] Record your attendance in [Attendance System]. If you are going to be late or absent, tell [Manager Contact] before [Notification Time]. LEAVE Your leave entitlement is in your appointment letter. Apply through [Leave System] before you take leave, other than in an emergency, in which case tell [Manager Contact] as soon as you can. [Describe approval, carry forward and encashment.] PAY You are paid on [Pay Date] each month. Your payslip is at [Payslip Location]. If something looks wrong, ask [HR Contact] rather than assuming it will correct itself. Expenses are reimbursed against claims submitted through [Expense System] within [Claim Period]. HOW WE EXPECT PEOPLE TO BEHAVE Be honest. Do not take or give bribes or improper gifts. Tell [Manager Contact] if you have a personal or financial interest that could conflict with your work. Keep company information confidential, during and after your employment. Use company systems and devices for work, and assume anything on them can be reviewed. SEXUAL HARASSMENT Sexual harassment at work is prohibited and is misconduct here. We have an Internal Committee constituted for complaints, and its members and contact details are on the notice at [Display Location] and in our POSH policy at [POSH Policy Location]. Complaints go to that Committee, not through the routes below. RAISING A CONCERN If something about your own job, pay or treatment is wrong, speak to [Manager Contact], and if that does not resolve it, to [Grievance Contact]. If you think something dishonest or unsafe is happening, that is different, and it goes to [Whistleblower Contact] under our whistleblower policy at [Whistleblower Policy Location]. You will not be punished for raising something honestly. PERFORMANCE You will have [Review Frequency] reviews with [Manager Contact]. Where performance falls short, we will tell you what needs to change, in writing, with a date, and what support you will get. IF THINGS GO WRONG Misconduct is dealt with under our disciplinary process at [Disciplinary Policy Location]. You will be told what is alleged, given the chance to respond, and told the outcome. LEAVING Your notice period is in your appointment letter. Before your last day, hand over your work to whoever [Manager Contact] nominates and return everything belonging to [Company Name]. Your full and final settlement will be processed within [Settlement Period], and we will issue [List of Documents Issued]. QUESTIONS Ask [Policy Owner Designation] at [Contact]. Approved: [Approving Authority] Date: [Date]
What it has to contain
| Element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A statement that the handbook is policy, not contract | Without it, a reader cannot tell which statements they are entitled to rely on. Handbooks that read like commitments get treated as commitments, and the employer finds it has promised something organisation-wide that it only meant as guidance. |
| An express order of precedence | Say that the appointment letter governs individual terms where the two differ. Two documents describing notice periods differently, with nothing saying which wins, is an argument waiting to happen. |
| A reserved right to revise | Policies change. Where the handbook does not reserve the right to introduce, revise and withdraw them, a revision becomes a change of terms rather than an exercise of a reserved right. |
| A version number and effective date | Handbooks get reissued. Without a version and a date, the version in force when something happened, and the acknowledgement on file may relate to a version no longer in circulation. |
| A pointer to the current version | The handbook someone downloaded at induction is the one they will rely on. Naming a single location where the current version lives is what makes the reserved right to revise operate in practice. |
| The sexual harassment route, kept separate | Those complaints go to the committee constituted under the POSH Act, not through the general grievance route. A handbook that folds them into one channel will receive them in the wrong place. |
| An acknowledgement of receipt rather than agreement | Employees cannot negotiate a handbook, so asking them to agree to it produces either a refusal or a meaningless signature, and it strengthens the argument that the handbook is contractual. |
How to write one
- Decide what is contract and what is policy before drafting. List the terms fixed individually in appointment letters, and keep them out of the handbook except by cross reference. Everything the handbook says about a contractual term becomes a second version of that term.
- Check whether standing orders apply to the establishment. Where the standing orders Chapter applies, those orders govern the conditions of service they cover and a handbook cannot displace them. Establish this before drafting, because it changes what the handbook can usefully say about discipline, hours and classification.
- Keep volatile policies outside the handbook. Anything revised more than once a year belongs in a standalone policy the handbook points to. Otherwise every revision means reissuing the handbook and re-obtaining acknowledgements from everyone.
- Write the precedence and revision clauses first. The front matter does the legal work. Draft the framing before the content, because it determines how much the content can safely say.
- Cross refer rather than reproduce. For POSH, whistleblower and disciplinary matters, point to the standalone policy and give the contact details. Reproducing those policies inside the handbook guarantees the two will diverge.
- Version it and record acknowledgements against the version. Number each release, date it, and record who acknowledged which version. An acknowledgement that does not name a version cannot establish what the person was told.
- Review it on a schedule and reissue deliberately. Set a review date when the handbook is approved. Handbooks decay quietly: policies are revised elsewhere, contacts leave, and the handbook keeps describing an organisation that no longer exists.
The line between policy and contract
The single decision that determines whether a handbook helps or hurts is where the line between policy and contract is drawn, and whether the document says where it is.
A handbook is useful because it is general and revisable. An appointment letter is useful because it is specific and fixed. Trouble starts when the handbook restates what the letter fixes, because there are then two statements of the same term, maintained by different people, updated at different times.
The failure shows up in a specific way. An organisation revises its notice period in the handbook, does not reissue appointment letters, and later finds employees relying on whichever version suits them. Or the handbook describes a bonus in terms that read as an entitlement, and the employer discovers it has made an organisation-wide promise it meant as a description of practice.
The fix is structural rather than editorial. Keep individual terms out of the handbook. Say in the front matter that the handbook is policy, that the appointment letter governs individual terms, and that policies may be revised. Then anything the handbook says is understood by the reader in the way it is meant.
Where standing orders sit above both
For some establishments there is a third instrument that outranks the handbook and the appointment letter on the matters it covers.
Under section 28 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the standing orders Chapter applies to every industrial establishment in which three hundred or more workers are employed, or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months. Where the Chapter applies, standing orders govern the conditions of service they cover, and a handbook that conflicts with them does not displace them.
This matters for the handbook sections on classification of workers, hours and shift working, attendance, leave, and discipline, since those are the matters standing orders characteristically deal with. A handbook drafted without checking whether the Chapter applies can end up describing a disciplinary process the establishment is not entitled to use.
The practical step is to establish the position before drafting rather than after. Where the Chapter applies, the handbook's job on those subjects is to explain and point to the standing orders, not to set out a parallel set of rules.
It is also worth naming the grievance route. Under section 4 of the same Code, every industrial establishment employing twenty or more workers must have one or more Grievance Redressal Committees, with equal numbers representing the employer and the workers.
What to leave out
Most handbooks are too long, and length is what stops them being read. Four categories are worth removing on sight.
Individual terms. Designation, pay, notice, probation and location belong to the appointment letter. The handbook should say so and stop.
Figures that date. Sums assured, reimbursement caps, allowance rates and statutory ceilings all change. Describe the benefit and point to where the current figures live, so a revision does not require a reissue.
Policies reproduced in full. POSH, whistleblower and disciplinary policies are maintained separately and revised on their own cycles. Cross refer, give the contacts, and keep one authoritative version of each.
Aspirational material. Values statements and culture pages are not harmful, but a handbook that opens with several pages of them trains the reader to skim, and they skim past the parts that matter.
The test worth applying to any section: if this changes next quarter, what has to happen? If the answer is that the whole handbook is reissued and everyone re-acknowledges it, the content belongs somewhere else.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it causes trouble | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Reproducing contractual terms in the handbook | Notice periods, probation and pay structure now exist in two documents. The first time one is updated without the other, the employee relies on whichever is better for them. | Keep individual terms in the appointment letter and have the handbook say expressly that the letter governs them. |
| No reserved right to revise | Every policy change becomes a variation of terms requiring agreement, rather than an update the employer is entitled to make and communicate. | State in the front matter that policies may be introduced, revised or withdrawn, that changes will be communicated, and where the current version lives. |
| An acknowledgement that asks for agreement | Employees cannot negotiate a handbook. Asking them to agree either produces a refusal, which becomes its own dispute, or a signature that supports the argument the handbook is contractual. | Record receipt, access and the opportunity to ask questions, and say expressly that the handbook is not the contract. |
| Folding POSH complaints into the general grievance route | Those complaints belong to the committee constituted under the POSH Act. Receiving one through the grievance channel and handling it there is a failure of the statutory process. | Give the sexual harassment route its own section, name the committee and its contacts, and say plainly that it does not go through the grievance route. |
| No version number | Several versions circulate at once, and which of them was in force at any particular moment cannot be establir time, which makes the acknowledgements on file worth very little. | Number and date every release, state what it supersedes, and record acknowledgements against the version number. |
| Writing it once and never reopening it | Named contacts leave, systems change, policies are revised elsewhere, and the handbook goes on describing an organisation that no longer exists. Employees stop trusting any of it. | Set a review date at approval, and check the named contacts and system references at every review even when no policy has changed. |
Statutory reference
- Act
- Industrial Relations Code, 2020
- Key limits
- This page addresses what a handbook should contain and how it relates to other instruments. It does not state what standing orders must provide for, nor the procedure for certifying them, and it does not address the obligations arising under any enactment other than the two provisions stated.
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| Section 28 | Applies the standing orders Chapter to every industrial establishment in which three hundred or more workers are employed, or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months. |
| Section 4 | Requires every industrial establishment employing twenty or more workers to have one or more Grievance Redressal Committees, with equal numbers representing the employer and the workers. |
Frequently asked questions
Is an employee handbook legally required in India?
No statute requires a handbook as such. Particular policies are required or effectively required, most notably a policy on prevention of sexual harassment alongside a constituted Internal Committee. And where the standing orders Chapter applies to the establishment, those orders govern the conditions of service they cover. The handbook is a communication instrument that collects these, not an obligation in itself.
Is an employee handbook a contract?
It should not be, and the handbook should say so. Where a handbook restates contractual terms or promises entitlements without reserving the right to revise, it can be relied on as though it were. State in the front matter that the handbook is policy, that the appointment letter governs individual terms, and that policies may be introduced, revised or withdrawn.
What is the difference between an employee handbook and an HR policy manual?
In practice they overlap. The useful distinction is audience: a handbook is written for employees and explains what applies to them, while a policy manual is written for the people administering the policies and includes the process detail employees do not need. Many organisations maintain the manual internally and publish the handbook.
Should employees sign the employee handbook?
They should acknowledge receipt and access to a numbered version, not agree to its contents. Employees cannot negotiate a handbook, so a signature recording agreement establishes little and strengthens the argument that the handbook is contractual. Record the acknowledgement against the version number and re-obtain it when a new version is issued.
How often should an employee handbook be updated?
Set a review date when it is approved, and review at least annually. What decays is rarely the rule. It is the detail around it: named contacts leave, systems are replaced, locations move. A handbook that names people who no longer work there stops being trusted on anything.
Can the employer change the handbook without employee consent?
Where the handbook reserves the right to introduce, revise and withdraw policies, and the change is communicated, yes for policy matters. What the employer cannot do through the handbook is vary a term fixed in the appointment letter, which requires agreement recorded in writing.
Should the POSH policy be inside the handbook?
Cross refer to it rather than reproducing it. The handbook should carry the prohibition, name the Internal Committee with contact details and say plainly that complaints go there rather than through the grievance route, then point to the standalone policy. Reproducing the whole policy guarantees the two versions diverge.
What should a handbook say about pay?
The pay date, how the structure works in general terms, how reimbursements are claimed, and who to ask about a payslip. Not individual amounts, which belong in the appointment letter, and not figures that change, such as reimbursement caps, which belong in a policy the handbook points to.
Handbook versions in Engage
Engage holds the handbook as a versioned document, with acknowledgement recorded per employee against the version they received. So the question of who was told what, and when, is answerable from the record rather than from a mail thread. Reissuing a version raises acknowledgement requests to everyone it applies to, and the review date sits as a dated field rather than a line in the front matter.
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