Employee Handbook

Importance of having an Employee Handbook It can settle disputes before they start, help avoid confusion and offer proper guidelines. A handbook can be used to bring together employment and job-related information which employees need to know, such as holiday arrangements, company rules and disciplinary procedures. It is also a useful source of information to new staff members as part of the induction process. It provides a basis where issues are dealt with fairly and consistently. The purpose of a clear and concise handbook sets company policies and procedures.

While it often varies from business to business, specific areas that an employee handbook may address include: A welcome statement, which may also briefly describe the company's history, reasons for its success and how the employee can contribute to future successes. A mission statement, or an overview of the company’s goals and objectives. The importance of confidentiality. A “how to” guideline on requesting holidays, attendance policies; what kind of paperwork is required in case of a medical leave request and so on.

Why is an employee handbook vital in Egypt? The labour Law in Egypt is vague in certain areas. For example complicated procedures are required to limit the number of sick, paid days an employee is entitled to, it can drag on for months. Having policies clearly communicated to employees at inception of their employment, limits these complications.

There are policies that are not mentioned in the labour law in Egypt which may be vital to an organisation. A handbook is a means to communicate and set proper boundaries to staff. Some examples include: Formal dress code; smoking policy; limit professional advice to outsiders without checking with management; limit employees on signing of contracts before checking with legal or management; the importance of client confidentiality; mission and values of the company.

The process of requesting holidays as well as limiting the carrying forward of holidays is important. Labour law allows employees to carry forward balances indefinitely, there is no mention of any cut off date. An employer however can limit the holidays not to carry forward to the following year as long as it's properly communicated in an employee handbook. This avoids a huge accumulation of carried forward balances which are due to employees at the end of their employment.

Some of the topics that can be included in a Handbook are: Hours of work, attendance and punctuality, employee benefits, appraisal systems, probation period, rest breaks, number of hours of work per day. Confidentiality policy, dress code, smoking policy, IT policy, use of telephone internet and , annual leave entitlement, maternity leave, sick leave, emergency leave, etc.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What are Employee Handbooks? A: Employee handbooks are written manuals explaining what is expected of each employee, and what each employee can expect from the organization they work for.

Q. How often will Employee handbooks need to be updated? A. The handbooks will need to be updated whenever an organization changes its working conditions or the staff requirements. When this happens all the old handbooks must be collected in and updated ensuring out of date information is not left in the workplace.

Q: Do I have to give my staff Employee Handbooks? A: You do not have to provide them, but increasingly they are being used in the workplace. They can be a useful resource for employees ensuring they have all the relevant information available to them at all times. This can bring benefits such as freeing up HR resources from dealing with minor queries.

Q. Which staff members require the Handbooks? A. It is advisable to issue one to each staff member, or at least ensure that all staff have access to one on a server. It is also important to request that every employee signs an acknowledgement of having read and received a handbook.

Q. What should Employee Handbooks contain? A. The handbook simply needs to contain the information relevant to your organization. It can be a brief, pages long handbook offering clear guidelines and policies. It helps summarise all the HR required processes each and every employee needs to be informed of. It needs to provide guidelines and “how to” answers to most of the processes any employee needs to know about.

Q. What does a company benefit by having an Employee Handbook? A. In Egypt, labour law is vague in some areas and the only clarity, or limits a company can set, is through an employee handbook. There are also many important aspects of the daily running of an organisation that the labour law does not address such as giving feedback to outsiders, limitations on what an employee can and can not say, confidentiality of the business or client information, the importance of legal advice before signing any contracts or forms.

Contact names: Maral Aynedjian Mansour, CPA - Managing Director Address: Keys Payroll LLC, 4 Road 203, Digla, Maadi, Cairo 11431, Egypt Tel: /