Q&A #57 – Should Board policies be included in a nonprofit organization’s employee handbook?

Question: I am the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization that has a basic set of Board policies, including a Code of Ethics, Conflict of Interest Policy, Record Retention Policy, Whistleblower Policy, Confidentiality Policy, Board Fundraising Policy, Gift Acceptance Policy, and Accounting Policies and Procedures. We are currently reviewing our employee handbook, and the question has come up whether these policies should be written into the employee handbook. Should Board policies be included in an employee handbook?

Answer: A good general rule of thumb is that any Board policies that affect the duties of a nonprofit organization’s staff should be reflected in the employee handbook. How you reflect these policies in an employee handbook is largely a matter of style, preference, and efficiency. There are a few different common and acceptable methods.

One acceptable method is to have standalone Board policies (often collected in a Board manual) and duplicate the policies that are relevant to staff in the employee handbook. However, this approach can be challenging to maintain because you have to remember to consistently reflect any changes to the policies in multiple places.

The method I generally prefer is to list the relevant policies in the employee handbook and include references to the Board manual, Bylaws, or other documents where the policies are maintained, as applicable. This method generally avoids the need to update the policies in multiple places. Additionally, this method can make it easier to call your staff’s attention to any modifications that are necessary when applying the policies at the staff level (for example, a staff member may be required to disclose conflicts of interest to the Executive Director, while Board members may be required to disclose conflicts to the President or Chair).

Planning Tip – Always be on the lookout for areas in which your organization’s day-to-day practices have drifted from its policies and update your policies (or change your practices accordingly). In addition to Board and committee members, staff can be a great resource for identifying these areas due to their on-the-ground knowledge and experience. Their constructive input should be solicited periodically.

As for which policies to include (or reflect) in the employee handbook, most of the policies you listed are indeed generally relevant to an organization’s employees, with the possible exception of the Board Fundraising Policy. For example, staff are the individuals most likely to observe and report possible violations within the scope of a Whistleblower Policy and are typically have the most day-to-day contact with the records addressed in the Record Retention Policy. Whichever method you choose, ensuring that your employees are familiar with these policies and know where to locate them should be an important training priority.

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