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A Guide to Singapore Company Employee Handbook – Our Professional Team Are Ready to Assist You Drafting Your Handbook

Everything must be kept professional in a business, including the relationship between an employee and employee. The Singapore Employee Handbook serves to meet that requirement. Setting clear guidelines and expectations on acceptable workplace behaviour, the Company Employee Handbooks or Staff Handbook is a useful guide all companies should prepare. This helps to safeguard the business, providing an area of reference whenever disputes or disciplinary issues arise. 

The Singapore Employee Handbook is also sometimes referred to as the “company employee manual”, “staff handbook” or even “employee handbooks”. However, essentially they all mean the same thing. The Singapore Company Employee Handbook is a guide book which is given by the employers to any staff who joins their company.

 

What Is an Employee Handbook and Why Do I Need It?

Every business owner is going to have to prepare a Company Employee Handbooks (unless you’re a sole proprietorship that is). This handbook helps to set the foundation for what the professional working relationship should be between an employer and an employee in the company.

Just like the contract that your employee signs before they take on the job, the Company Employee Handbook or Singapore Staff Handbook serves as the guidelines which set the expectation for what the employees need to do once they join the company. It is the manual which dictates all the company’s work rules, what is expected of the employee, what policies they need to follow, what their responsibilities are while they are employed with your company and more.

Both employers and employees need to have a copy of this. For the employer, it is useful in helping you manage your company’s expectations with your employee’s conduct. It is a professional way of communicating what you expect from them once they sign that employment contract. The Employee Handbook is an efficient manual which explains all the policies and the procedures in your company, so that you don’t have to manually explain it again each time a new staff joins the team. Additionally, you need this handbook to help you maintain a fair, balanced and consistent treatment of all employees under your care through the guidelines which have been set in the handbook.

Even employees stand to benefit from having the Employee Handbook as a reference. For new staff, it lays out clearly what is expected of them once they join the team. For the existing staff, it is a manual they can refer to whenever they need to refresh their memory on what the policies of the company are. For employees at all levels, the Employee Handbook is there to serve as a guide whenever they need it to ensure they are always demonstrating acceptable, professional behavior while they’re at the workplace.

 

What Else Does the Singapore Employee Handbook Contain?

Other than the company’s policies and regulations, the handbook can contain several other important pieces of information. This includes:

• The employee’s leave entitlements. Leave entitlements in Singapore are carried out per the Employment Act, or in accordance with the regulations in the Childcare Development Co-Savings Act.
• A welcome note in the introduction, welcoming new employees to the company.
• The work hours the employee is expected to complete.
• An explanation of the business code of conduct in relation to business ethics and clients.
• Details of the code of conduct in relation to internet usage and confidential information.
• An explanation of the company’s administrative procedures.
• The appropriate dress code.
• Details of how harassment is addressed at the workplace.
• Details regarding the available learning and development programs.
• The benefits and remuneration package the employee is entitled to.
• Details regarding health and safety regulations.
• Details of the performance appraisals.
• Details regarding how disciplinary issues are handled and the action taken.

 

Don’t Forget to Keep Up with the Laws

The Employee Handbook must be kept abreast of the laws and regulations in relation to employment in Singapore. As the local laws change, your handbook must be updated to reflect those changes.

 

Have You Prepared Your Employee Handbook? We Can Help

If you haven’t already prepared an Employee Handbook for your business, you should. A well-documented set of guidelines depicting the professional relationship between an employee and the business saves you valuable time, energy, resources and money. On top of that, it helps to boost the morale and confidence among your employees when they clearly know what is expected of them.

Ready to prepare your Singapore business Employee Handbook? Let our friendly, experienced and professional team at 3E Accounting guide you through the process. We can assist with the drafting of your handbook so you can rest easy knowing you’ve covered all the policies that you need to.