What employee handbook means
An employee handbook is the written answer to how things work here.
Contracts deal with the individual relationship: this person, this role, this salary. A handbook deals with everything that applies to everybody. Working hours, leave, conduct expectations, the disciplinary procedure, how to raise a grievance, benefits, IT and data rules, health and safety, and what happens on exit.
Whether it forms part of the contract depends on how it is written and how it is introduced. Some employers expressly incorporate it, making its terms contractual. Others state that it is a statement of policy which the employer may vary, keeping flexibility but reducing enforceability.
Either way, it does something the contract cannot: it demonstrates that a procedure existed, was published, and was followed.
How it is used
The handbook earns its keep at the moment something goes wrong.
A disciplinary case begins. Was there a published procedure? Did the employee know what conduct amounted to gross misconduct? Was the process in the handbook followed? Was the employee given the hearing the handbook promised?
Those questions decide unfair dismissal cases at the National Industrial Court, and an employer with a published handbook, an acknowledgement signed by the employee and a paper trail showing the procedure was followed is in a very different position from one relying on what everybody understood.
A workable Nigerian handbook covers: working hours and attendance, remuneration and how it is paid, leave of all kinds including annual, sick, maternity and compassionate, conduct and what constitutes misconduct and gross misconduct, the disciplinary procedure including hearings and appeals, the grievance procedure, confidentiality and data handling, IT and social media use, health and safety, harassment and how complaints are handled, and exit procedures.
Every employee should sign an acknowledgement that they received it, and that acknowledgement should be kept.
Key features
- Sets out workplace rules applying to everybody, unlike the individual contract
- May or may not be contractual, depending on how it is drafted and introduced
- The disciplinary and grievance procedures are the most important parts
- Evidences that a fair process existed and was followed
- Should be acknowledged in writing by each employee
- Needs reviewing when the law or the business changes
How this works in Nigeria
The National Industrial Court's approach makes the handbook more valuable to Nigerian employers than it used to be.
Because a termination now requires a valid reason and a fair process, an employer must be able to show what the process was. A handbook setting out the disciplinary procedure, published and acknowledged, is the natural evidence of that. Employers without one are left arguing that a fair process was followed without being able to say what it was.
Small Nigerian businesses often skip it on the basis that they have only a handful of staff. That is exactly the size at which a single dispute is most damaging, and a short handbook of ten pages does the job.
Care is needed on incorporation. A handbook expressly incorporated into the contract becomes contractual, which means the employer cannot vary it unilaterally. Most employers prefer to state that it sets out policy, that it may be updated, and that specific terms such as the disciplinary procedure will be followed.
Data protection has also raised the stakes. A handbook should cover how employee data is handled and how employees must handle customer data, because the Nigeria Data Protection Act reaches both.
Handbook vs employment contract vs policy document
Three documents that overlap and should not be merged.
The employment contract is individual. It covers this employee's role, salary, notice and specific obligations, and it can only be varied by agreement.
The handbook is collective. It covers rules applying to everybody, and where it is drafted as policy rather than contract the employer can update it as the business changes.
A standalone policy document deals with one subject in depth, such as a data protection policy, an anti harassment policy or an IT acceptable use policy. Large employers keep these separate so they can be updated without reissuing everything.
A small Nigerian business is usually best served by a contract per employee and one handbook containing the policies, moving to standalone policies as it grows.
Limits and risks
A handbook nobody read achieves less than it should. Where employees never acknowledged receipt, an employer may struggle to show they knew the rules.
Handbooks also go stale. Provisions written before the Nigeria Data Protection Act, or before the National Industrial Court's approach settled, can be actively unhelpful.
Copying a foreign template is a common shortcut and a poor one, because it imports entitlements, procedures and legal references that do not match Nigerian law.
And a handbook that promises a procedure the employer does not follow is worse than none at all, because it becomes evidence of the standard the employer set for itself and failed to meet.
Worth knowing
Get every employee to sign an acknowledgement of receipt, and keep it. At the National Industrial Court, an employer who cannot show the employee knew the disciplinary procedure is in nearly the same position as an employer who never had one.
Questions people ask
What is an employee handbook?
A document setting out the workplace rules that apply to everybody: hours, leave, conduct, discipline, grievances, benefits, data handling and exit procedures. It complements the individual employment contract.
Is an employee handbook part of the contract?
It depends on how it is drafted. Some employers expressly incorporate it, making it contractual and unvariable without agreement. Most prefer to state that it sets out policy which may be updated, while committing to follow specific procedures.
Does a small Nigerian business need a handbook?
Yes, and arguably more than a large one, because a single dispute is more damaging. A short handbook covering conduct, discipline, grievances and leave does most of the work.
Why does the disciplinary procedure matter so much?
Because the National Industrial Court asks whether a fair process was followed. An employer with a published procedure, a signed acknowledgement and a paper trail showing it was followed is in a far stronger position than one without.
Can I use a handbook from another country?
It is a poor idea. Foreign templates import entitlements, procedures and legal references that do not match Nigerian law, and a handbook that promises something the law does not require still binds the employer who published it.
How often should a handbook be updated?
Whenever the law or the business changes materially. The Nigeria Data Protection Act and the industrial court's approach to fair process have both made older handbooks incomplete.