Policies

Employee Handbook Template (Free Word Download)

An employee handbook template gives you a ready outline covering everything from onboarding to exit — company overview, conduct, compensation, leave, security, and grievances — so you're customizing a structure instead of building one from a blank page. Download the free Word version below.

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What This Template Covers

14 sections, structured to take an employee from day one through exit:

  1. Welcome and about the company
  2. Employment basics
  3. Working hours and attendance
  4. Leave and holidays
  5. Compensation and payroll
  6. Workplace conduct
  7. Anti-harassment and respectful workplace
  8. Information security and technology
  9. Performance and development
  10. Health, safety and wellbeing
  11. Travel and expenses
  12. Grievances and employee concerns
  13. Separation and exit
  14. Policy changes and acknowledgement

How to Use This Template

  1. Treat this as an outline, not a finished document — each section needs your company's actual policy details filled in (reference your leave policy, attendance policy and WFH policy templates directly rather than duplicating their content here)
  2. Have your anti-harassment section reviewed against the POSH Act requirements specifically — this is one section worth getting right, not just filled in generically
  3. Set a version number and review date, and actually update it as policies change
  4. Collect a signed acknowledgement from every employee that they've received and reviewed the handbook

Disclaimer: this is a general template, not legal advice. Review it against your company policy and applicable law before use.

Related: Leave Policy Template · Work-from-Home Policy Template · Attendance Policy Template

Frequently asked questions

At minimum: company overview, employment basics, working hours and leave, compensation, conduct expectations, anti-harassment policy, information security, performance process, health and safety, expenses, grievance process, and exit procedures.

Not as a single mandated document, but several of its components (POSH Act compliance, working hours disclosure) are legally required in some form. A handbook is the standard way companies consolidate and communicate them.

Long enough to be complete, short enough to actually be read. This 14-section outline is meant to be filled in concisely per section rather than expanded into a lengthy legal document — link out to detailed policies (leave, WFH) instead of duplicating them inline.

At least annually, and whenever a referenced policy changes (leave rules, WFH eligibility, compensation structure) — an out-of-date handbook that contradicts current policy is worse than no handbook.

Yes, this is standard practice — a signed or digital acknowledgement that the employee received and reviewed the handbook protects both the company and the employee if a policy is later disputed.

Need this automated instead of filled in by hand?

Meagle 360 generates and tracks HR records like this automatically, for every employee.

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