A well written, accurate and concise employee handbook outlining the various policies of the company as they relate to all employees is a key requirement for companies of almost any size. Employee handbooks serve a variety of purposes, including helping employees learn the policies of the company, protect the company from possible problem areas, and help structure the ways a company will handle various issues. In some cases, a properly written employee handbook may be helpful in certain legal circumstances.

As such, making sure that your company's employee handbook is helpful to employees and covers the right topics is of utmost importance. Some of the key elements of most employee handbooks include:

- An introduction to the company
- A section on definitions used in the employee handbook
- An outline of the company's terms of employment
- An outline of employee rights and responsibilities
- An outline of salary and other compensation administration, including information about taxes
- Overview of company benefits programs
- Employee relations procedures and guidelines
- General company policies and guidelines
- Employee services
- The most common HR forms and documents, and information about where to find other forms

Although writing an employee handbook from scratch can be intimidating, there are a variety of tools, software and other services designed to help HR professionals with this task. Many of these tools are also very helpful for updating existing employee handbooks, and making sure that all important topics are covered, including any that may be required by state or federal law.