Employee Handbook Section Template

What is an employee handbook?

An employee handbook is a structured collection of company policies, benefits, and workplace guidelines that gives every employee a single reference for how the organisation operates — from leave policies and expense rules to code of conduct and disciplinary procedures.

Handbooks exist in most organisations, but they rarely work as intended. A 120-page PDF on the intranet is technically available, but nobody reads it. Employees ask HR the same questions repeatedly because finding the answer takes longer than sending a message. A structured template solves this by breaking the handbook into searchable sections, each following a consistent format. When employees can ask a question and get the relevant policy in seconds, HR spends less time answering routine queries and more time on strategic work.

Who should use this template?

This template is for teams responsible for workplace policies and employee experience:

• HR Directors — ensure all policies are documented, current, and accessible across every office and country
• HR Business Partners — publish handbook sections that answer the questions employees ask most, reducing repetitive queries
• Legal and Compliance Teams — maintain auditable policy documentation that reflects current labour law and regulatory requirements
• Office Managers — document site-specific guidelines (parking, building access, facilities) in a format consistent with the corporate handbook

What’s included in this template?

The template has two parts: structured metadata fields and the section body.

Metadata fields classify each section:

• Section title and handbook chapter reference
• Policy category (e.g. leave, expenses, conduct, benefits)
• Applicable locations or entities
• Effective date and next review date
• Section owner — the HR professional accountable for keeping it current

Section body documents the policy:

• Policy statement — what the policy is and why it exists
• Scope — which employees, locations, or contract types the policy applies to
• Guidelines — specific rules, allowances, and expectations with practical examples
• Procedures — how to request, report, or comply (step-by-step where needed)
• Related policies — links to connected handbook sections and external references

How to create and customise this template in Elium

1. Open the Template Builder — Go to your profile menu and select the Template Builder tab, or click “+ Create” and choose “Create a new template”.
2. Set the scope — Choose an icon, enable the template, and decide whether it applies platform-wide or to specific spaces (e.g. your HR Policies or Employee Handbook space).
3. Add structured fields — Click “Field” to add metadata: text fields for section title and chapter reference, a tag field for policy category, a tag field for applicable locations, date fields for effective and review dates, and a user field for section owner. Mark section title and policy category as mandatory.
4. Build the section structure — Use the “+” button to add content blocks: text blocks for policy statement, scope, and guidelines, a numbered list block for procedures, and a link block for related policies. Add placeholder prompts (e.g. “Which employees does this policy apply to?”).
5. Preview and save — Review the template layout, then save. HR teams can now create handbook sections using a consistent format, and you can apply it to existing content in bulk.

How AI helps you create and use this template

Capture faster. Paste an existing policy document or legal brief into Elium’s AI. It extracts the scope, key rules, and procedures — then drafts a structured handbook section that HR reviews and refines rather than reformatting manually.

Retrieve smarter. An employee asks Elium’s AI: “How many days of parental leave am I entitled to in Belgium?” The AI returns the exact entitlement, eligibility criteria, and application procedure from the relevant handbook section — no scrolling through a 120-page PDF.

Why teams use Elium for employee handbooks

A handbook only works when employees actually use it. Static PDFs and buried intranet pages fail because finding a specific policy takes more effort than asking a colleague or submitting an HR ticket. Elium changes this: structured sections are searchable by topic, AI answers policy questions directly, and updates reach employees without redistributing entire documents.

Bouygues Construction — 53,500 employees across 80 countries — uses Elium to centralise operational knowledge across distributed teams. By structuring documentation in a single platform, they gave employees a consistent reference point regardless of location, reducing the friction that comes with scattered policies across regional offices.