Employee handbook drafting, fixed price
A first employee handbook, or one that has outgrown a page of house rules, drafted from your intake and reviewed by our legal team.
$1,200 to $2,500, fixed before we start. First draft in 10 working days.
Updated
PD-HB-0042; rev 2026-09; reviewed
Employee handbook
Contents
- 1Employment basics
- 2Leave
- 3Conduct
- 4Performance and discipline
- 5Grievances
- 6Leaving
2Leave
2.1Each type of leave in this handbook has a rule, a request route and a record. The rule says who may take it and for how long; the request route says who approves it; the record says where it is written down.
2.2A request is made in writing to the person named in appendix A, before the leave begins, and is recorded on the day it is approved.
What it is
An employee handbook is the document that sets out an employer's rules, benefits and procedures for its staff in one place, with an acknowledgement form that each person signs to record that they have read it.
Who it is for
A company hiring its first ten people, a scaling team that has outgrown a page of house rules, or a firm whose auditor or investor has asked to see the handbook. The request usually comes when the team grows past the point where the founder answers every question in person, or when a first manager is hired and needs the rules in writing to apply them. The document is drafted for the managers who will apply it, not for the legal team that reviews it, so each section can be read on its own and acted on without a call.
What you get
2 deliverables, in Word (.docx) and PDF, with one round of revisions.
- Employee handbook, in your brand or ours
- Acknowledgement form for staff to sign
What the sections cover
| Section | What it settles |
|---|---|
| Employment basics | Status, probation, hours, pay dates, expenses |
| Leave | Annual, sick, parental and other leave, how it is requested and recorded |
| Conduct | Expected standards, conflicts of interest, use of equipment and data |
| Performance and discipline | Reviews, warnings, the steps before dismissal |
| Grievances | How a complaint is raised, who hears it, what is written down |
| Leaving | Notice, handover, return of property, references |
Most handbooks fall apart at the leave section. Ours has a leave section that works: each type of leave has a rule, a request route and a record.
What it costs
$1,200to $2,500
The employee handbook is $1,200 to $2,500. The quote is fixed before we start and does not change. Maintenance is a separate plan, $29 to $99 a month, that keeps the employee handbook current when a rule it names changes.
How the document is made, from intake to delivery, is set out in how it works.
- Band
- Themed suite
- First draft
- 10 working days
- Revisions
- One round included
- Review
- Our legal team, before delivery
- Format
- Word (.docx) and PDF
- Maintenance
- $29 to $99 a month
What we need from you
The intake asks where your staff are employed, how you hire, pay, review and let people go, what leave you offer and how it is requested, how you handle grievances and discipline, and which of your current documents still apply. Name anything you already use, and send the files once we reply. Where you have no answer, the intake offers the common options and you pick one.
How it is drafted and reviewed
We draft from the intake against the employment law of the jurisdiction you named, in plain sentences a new manager can follow. Our legal team reviews the draft before it reaches you, and the review is recorded in the revision block on the document. You then read it, mark what you want changed, and we revise once. The handbook arrives in Word and PDF with a document ID, a revision code and an acknowledgement form, and the final version is filed with us for the maintenance plan.
Drafted against
- Employment law of the jurisdiction you name in the intake
- Your existing contracts and policies, where you have them
What maintenance covers
When the rule changes, your document changes. Under the maintenance plan we track the employment rules you were drafted against, issue a revised handbook with the changes marked, and keep the document ID and revision history current. Without the plan, the handbook is still yours to use and to edit; it simply stops being tracked.
$29to $99a month, optional
Questions about the employee handbook
- Is the employee handbook drafted for the country my staff work in?
- The employee handbook is drafted against the employment rules of the jurisdiction where your staff are employed, which the intake asks you to name. A handbook for staff in more than one country is scoped in the intake and quoted before we start.
- Do you advise on how the employee handbook applies to us?
- PolicyDrafters does not advise on how the employee handbook applies to your organisation. The handbook is drafted from your intake and reviewed by our legal team before delivery, and adopting and applying it is your organisation's responsibility.
- How long does an employee handbook take to draft?
- The first draft of the employee handbook is delivered 10 working days after a complete intake. Your review and the one included revision round add whatever time you need.
- Can you draft from our existing employee handbook?
- An existing employee handbook can be the starting point: name it in the intake and send the file once we reply. The new draft keeps what works, rewrites what does not, and marks every change so your managers can see what moved.
Guides that go deeper
How much does it cost to have an employee handbook written?
Templates cost least, legal practices most. A drafted handbook is priced by jurisdictions, headcount, existing documents and extra policies, then quoted as one figure.
Updated
What is the difference between a policy and a procedure?
A policy states the rule and who it applies to; a procedure states the steps, owners and records. Most documentation fails by mixing the two. How to keep them apart.
Updated
Policy templates vs drafted policies: when is a template enough?
A template is enough when the rule is generic, nobody will audit it and you will edit it honestly. It stops being enough when a reader compares it to what you do.
Updated
When does a growing business need an employee handbook?
No US federal law requires a handbook. The need is practical: a first manager who is not a founder, a first remote hire, a first leave request or an investor's request.
Published
How often should company policies be reviewed, and by whom?
Annually by convention, and whenever the rule or the facts change, after an incident or an audit finding. Who reviews, who re-approves, and how the review is recorded.
Updated