How often should you update your employee handbook and distribute it to your employees?

An employee handbook doesn’t need to be a document/booklet (contributing to making it difficult to update and have version control) it can be pages on your intranet, internal Comms platforms. I’ve worked in both kinds of places where employee handbooks were a thing and others where it wasn’t. Not having it made it obvious the lack of appreciation of what an employee needs Some orgs are too small and therefore do the when it comes up attitude - even if small, have our basics be brilliant. A revision check pages on the intranet every Q or ever two Qs - as the law updated - would be optimal.

O manual do funcionário deve sempre estar em conformidade com as normas trabalhistas vigentes e com as políticas internas da empresa, que são dinâmicas. Por isso o manual do empregado deve ser atualizado pelo menos uma vez ao ano.

Employee handbook should be reviewed and updated at least once a year if not more. Countries/states bring changes to different laws and policies on a yearly basis. Similary, Organizations improve their existing policies or introduce new policies as per its requirements so in order to keep everything updated and according to standards, the relevant custodians should incorporate the necessary changes and inform the employees.

Don’t make it an ordeal. Administrators check the links work, gather MI on the handbook, capture what queries come through and match with updates on the handbook - by doing this the people team collectively can focus on updates and planning how, what and when to execute. Be consistent in your approach whatever works for your organisation. This also builds and increases trust so your workforce understand you’re not just reacting but being proactive in ensuring everyone’s safety, wellbeing and protection is being upheld.

Build an online version and keep updating that. Employees can sign once year and stipulate they are signing for changes to occur with the year - you can also specifically state what you’re going to working on or keep it dynamic. This opportunity also gives you a great place to build the relationship with your internal Comms team(s)/person. Collaborate with them to come up with a plan on how to reach all employees.

Really depends on how your employee handbook is distributed. BUT for online versions/intranet you can gather management information to help guide you to tell the narrative. However, if you want more meaningful ways of understanding if the handbook is useful/helpful, easy to navigate, does the job and more then that engagement happens with your Business Partners. HR/People Business Partner are key for putting their ears to the ground. If they have access to the right channels and are empowered in their roles - they’ll tell you what’s really going on.

Think outside the box. 70% of our workforce from 2025 are Gen Z - what’s the most appropriate way we support, protect and empower all employees? What works in terms of getting important employment information? Can I get creative in delivery? Create meaningful content - infographics, videos, short podcasts and so on. Make the connections for employees. They’ll often need the employee handbook when something is affecting them - ensure you and the team approach that from compassionate and appreciation

I think it becomes too common for employers to want to rewrite their entire handbook each time a single issue comes up. While it is important to update the handbook, keep in mind that you don't have to rewrite the whole thing just to implement a single new policy or amend an existing one. It is perfectly acceptable (and economical) to put out a new policy dealing with a single issue without rewriting the whole handbook. Just make sure that your handbook has language that the company has the right to amend at any time.