Employee handbook checklist for growing companies

Employee handbook work starts when a company hires its first few people in a second country. A handbook is a plain guide to how your company works day to day. It tells staff what to expect and what you expect back. It is not a contract, and it is not a law book. This checklist shows what to put in, what to leave to contracts, and how to keep each country's rules in the right place.

What an employee handbook is for

A good handbook answers the questions people ask in their first month. When do I start and finish? How do I ask for leave? Who do I tell if something goes wrong? When these answers sit in one place, managers spend less time repeating themselves, and staff treat each other the same way.

Keep the tone simple. Write in short sentences. Say "you" and "we". Add a date and a version number on the first page so everyone knows which copy is current. Review it at least once a year and whenever a country changes its rules.

Sources: Ministry of Manpower (Singapore), pages on the Employment Act, key employment terms and itemised payslips (mom.gov.sg).

The sections every handbook needs

Most growing companies do well with ten short sections. Each one can be a page or less.

Welcome and values. Who you are, what you do, and how decisions get made.
Working hours and rest days. Usual hours, breaks, and how rest days are set.
Pay. The pay period, the pay date, how overtime is handled, and how to read a payslip.
Leave. Annual leave, sick leave, public holidays, and how to apply.
Conduct. Respect at work, conflicts of interest, gifts, and use of company devices.
Raising concerns. A named person, a back-up person, and a promise of fair treatment.
Data and confidentiality. What staff must keep private and how to store files.
Safety. Basic office safety and who to call in an emergency.
Performance and pay reviews. How often, who runs them, and what is looked at.
Leaving the company. Notice, handover, and return of equipment.

Add a short page at the front that says how the handbook fits with each person's contract. That one page prevents many arguments later.

What belongs in the contract, not the handbook

Some terms are personal to one person. Put those in the employment contract or a written terms letter. A handbook can change as the company grows. A contract should only change when both sides agree.

Singapore gives a clear list. The Ministry of Manpower names key employment terms that an employer gives each employee in writing. They include the employer and employee names, the job title and main duties, the start date, and the working hours, days and rest day. They also include the salary period, basic salary, fixed allowances and fixed deductions, the overtime rate, the types of leave, any medical benefits, the probation period, and the notice period.

Hong Kong asks for less detail but is just as firm. Before work begins, the employer must tell each employee the wages, the wage period, the length of notice to end the contract, and any end of year payment. If the contract is written, the employee gets a copy to keep. Any contract term that cuts a right set by the Employment Ordinance is void.

Sources: Ministry of Manpower (Singapore), key employment terms page (mom.gov.sg); Hong Kong Labour Department, A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance, Chapter 2: Contract of Employment (labour.gov.hk).

Keep the handbook local to each country

One global handbook rarely works. The safest design is a short core that applies everywhere, plus one country page for each place you employ people. The core covers values, conduct, data, and how to raise concerns. The country page covers hours, leave, pay and notice.

Here is why this matters. In Hong Kong, wages must be paid as soon as practicable and no later than seven days after the end of the wage period. An employee under a continuous contract is entitled to at least one rest day in every seven days, and a rest day means a full 24 hours. Hong Kong also limits what an employer may take out of pay, such as a cap on deductions for damage and for recovering overpaid wages.

In Singapore, the Employment Act covers employees under a contract of service, whether local or foreign, full time or part time. Managers and executives are covered by the Act's core rules. The Act's part on rest days and hours of work does not cover them, but it does cover other staff who earn a basic salary of $2,600 a month or less. Employers must also give itemised payslips to the employees the Act covers. A payslip shows the basic salary, allowances, deductions, overtime and the net pay.

If you copy the Singapore page into Hong Kong, you will get something wrong. Name a local owner for each country page, and ask a local adviser to read it before you publish.

Sources: Hong Kong Labour Department, A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance, Chapters 3 and 4 (labour.gov.hk); Ministry of Manpower (Singapore), itemised payslips page (mom.gov.sg).

Roll it out and keep it current

A handbook only works if people read it. Hand it out on day one, and ask each new hire to confirm in writing that they received it. Hold a short talk for managers, because staff will ask them first.

Keep records straight. In Hong Kong, an employer must keep a wage and employment record for each employee for the past 12 months. It covers items such as the start date, job title, wages for each pay period, leave taken, and the notice period. It must be kept for six months after the person leaves. A tidy handbook makes these records easier to match to what staff were told.

When you change the handbook, tell people and give the new date. When a change touches pay, hours or notice, treat it as a change to conditions of service. In Hong Kong, the employer must explain such a change clearly, and give a written copy if the change is in writing or the employee asks for one.

A quick checklist

One core handbook, plus one page for each country.
Personal terms in the contract, not the handbook.
A version number and a date on page one.
A named owner for each country page.
A signed receipt from every new hire.
A yearly review, and a review whenever local rules change.

This is general information, not legal advice. A lawyer qualified in each country where you hire can confirm what applies to your handbook.

Sources: Hong Kong Labour Department, A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance, Chapter 2 (labour.gov.hk); Ministry of Manpower (Singapore), Employment Act pages (mom.gov.sg).

Sources

Ministry of Manpower, Singapore: Employment Act, who is covered, key employment terms, itemised payslips (mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/employment-act/who-is-covered; mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/contract-of-service/key-employment-terms; mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/salary/itemised-payslips)
Labour Department, Hong Kong: A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 (labour.gov.hk/eng/public/ConciseGuide.htm)