How do you ensure your employees have read and understood the Employee Handbook?

The HR Blog

You have a new starter, and you give them all the documentation to read, then you ask them to sign a document to say they have read and understood them, which they do.  But how do you know they have read the Employee Handbook?  The answer is you don’t.

Our recommendation would be to factor in some time during their first week for them to read all the documents.  How long should it take?  To know that you will have to time a person within your business to see how long it will take.

If there are any health and safety forms these need to be read within this time.  We have attended investigations and disciplinaries when the employee has stated they have no knowledge of a procedure or policy.  You then provide them with their signature, whereupon their response is ‘I signed it because I was asked to but didn’t read it’.

Giving them time to do it and talking them through the policies will show how important it is to you and your company.

Our recommendation would be go set aside time with the employees, it will also give you time to get to know them.

Need help, contact us on TellMeMore@HRBusCons.co.uk

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