Employee Handbook (UK)
This template is a comprehensive employee handbook designed for organizations operating in England and Wales. It covers essential workplace policies including disciplinary and grievance procedures, equality and diversity, health and safety, data protection, and the use of AI tools. The document is structured to be non-contractual, allowing for easier updates as UK employment laws evolve.
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
England and Wales
Note: This Handbook is a suite of workplace policies, not an employment contract. Pay, notice, benefits and restrictive covenants belong in the contract of employment and the written statement of particulars, and must not be repeated here. It is written for staff who work in England and Wales. If you have staff in Scotland or Northern Ireland, Part 2.2 explains why it does not cover them as it stands. Each Part is drafted to stand alone so that any single policy can be extracted and published on its own: Part 1.6 sets out what has to travel with it. Complete every yellow field, choose one Option in each Option block and delete the others, then complete Schedule 1 and Schedule 2. Parts 17 to 19 are included only where the trigger in the note at the head of each of those Parts applies to your organisation. Delete any Part that does not.
PART 1. ABOUT THIS HANDBOOK
1.1 Purpose. This Handbook sets out how [full legal name of the employer] (the "Company", "we" or "us") expects work to be carried out, and the procedures we follow when questions of conduct, performance, health, safety or fairness arise. It applies to work carried out in England and Wales.
1.2 Status. This Handbook is not contractual. Nothing in it forms part of any contract of employment or engagement, and nothing in it creates a contractual entitlement to any payment, benefit or procedure. It does bind you as a set of workplace rules: failure to follow it may be dealt with under Part 5. Where this Handbook and your contract of employment conflict, your contract prevails.
Note: Leaving contractual status undeclared is a governance failure, because you cannot manage change control or enforceability expectations without it. Non-contractual is the right default and is the position drafted above. If a specific policy is intended to be contractual, say so expressly in that policy and give it a controlled amendment mechanism. Do not leave the question open. The second risk this paragraph manages is accidental incorporation: a handbook that promises rigid procedures, fixed benefit amounts or guaranteed outcomes can be read as contractual whatever the status clause says, so keep the promises here at the level of process.
1.3 Defined terms used throughout this Handbook.
"Company" means [full legal name of the employer].
"Handbook" means this document and every Part and Schedule in it, at the version identified in Schedule 1.
"Manager" means the person to whom you report, or in their absence the next most senior person available to you.
"Working Day" means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday in England and Wales.
"Worker" means anyone who performs work for the Company personally, whether as an employee, a worker, an agency worker or a contractor, to the extent the relevant Part says it applies to them.
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England & Wales note
This version is drafted for England & Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland differ on some points — for example notice periods and tribunal procedure. Tell GitLaw where you hire and it adjusts the draft.
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