Clear policies and a good employee handbook set the rules of the road for your team — and give you a fair, consistent basis for every decision. We help Sussex and Surrey employers build practical, compliant handbooks that protect the business and answer everyday questions.
You don’t have an employee handbook
You’re growing and need clear ground rules
Your policies are outdated or inconsistent
You want policies that support your contracts
An employee handbook brings your key policies together — from absence and holiday to disciplinary, grievance, equality and IT use. It sets expectations clearly and gives you a fair, consistent framework to rely on when issues arise.
Without it, decisions get made case by case, which looks inconsistent and unfair — and inconsistency is exactly what fuels grievances and claims.
That’s where MJV Consulting comes in. We build handbooks that are practical, compliant and actually used.
Good policies give you and your managers a consistent, dependable basis for everyday decisions. When two similar situations are handled the same way, employees see the fairness in it — and you can act with confidence.
Keeping policies current matters too: an out-of-date equality or sickness policy can create confusion, and the Employment Rights Act 2025 brings changes worth preparing for. We keep your handbook practical, compliant and genuinely useful.
We look at your existing policies (or gaps), your working practices and your risks to decide what you actually need.
We draft clear, compliant policies tailored to your business — covering the essentials without drowning you in jargon.
We help you introduce the handbook properly, so employees acknowledge it and managers know how to apply it.
We update your policies as the law and your business change — including the ERA 2025 reforms — so they stay reliable.
The framework we work through with every client — and the
version we’re happy to talk through on a free discovery call.
✓ Handbooks tailored to your business and sector
✓ Fully compliant and aligned with the ACAS Code
✓ Plain-English policies your team will actually read
✓ Consistent framework that supports fair decisions
✓ Kept up to date with employment law changes
There’s no law requiring a single handbook, but you are required to have certain written policies — including disciplinary and grievance procedures — and to make health and safety arrangements clear. A handbook is simply the tidiest way to bring these together. We’ll help you build one that’s practical rather than box-ticking.
The core set usually includes disciplinary and grievance procedures, sickness absence, holiday, health and safety, equal opportunities and data protection, with others added to suit your business. It’s about having the right policies, not the most. We’ll help you identify the ones that matter for your size and sector.
Most handbooks are best kept non-contractual, so you can update policies without needing to renegotiate contracts each time — while the genuinely contractual terms sit in the contract itself. Getting this split right gives you flexibility and protection. We’ll help you structure it correctly.
A yearly review is a sensible habit, plus an update whenever the law changes or your business does. Policies that quietly fall out of date are less use just when you need them. We’ll help you keep yours current — and with the Employment Rights Act 2025 phasing in, now is a good moment to check them.
Very much so. Clear, consistently applied policies make fair decisions easier and show you’ve treated people even-handedly, which is exactly what matters if a decision is ever questioned. They give your managers a confident footing day to day. We’ll help you put policies in place that genuinely support good decisions.
It’s worth a look. Employment law has moved on in recent years, and more change is arriving under the Employment Rights Act 2025, so an older handbook may not reflect the current position. Updating it is usually quick and gives real peace of mind. We’ll review what you have and refresh what needs it.
They will if it’s written for real situations rather than as a legal document to file away. A good handbook answers the questions managers actually ask, in plain language. That’s how we write them — practical, clear and genuinely useful when a situation comes up.
Yes — you hold a lot of personal information about your people, and a clear data protection policy shows you handle it responsibly and in line with UK GDPR. It also gives your team confidence that their details are safe. We’ll help you put a straightforward policy in place that fits how your business actually works.
It’s well worth it. A simple acknowledgement that someone has received and read the handbook removes any ‘I didn’t know’ further down the line, and it reinforces that the policies matter. It needn’t be onerous — a short sign-off on joining and after any major update is plenty. We can build this into your onboarding.
It isn’t a strict legal requirement for a small business, but having one is genuinely good practice — it gives people a safe, clear way to raise serious concerns internally before they look elsewhere. It signals an open, trustworthy culture. We can add a proportionate whistleblowing policy to your handbook so it’s there if it’s ever needed.
Your employees deserve a workplace where they can thrive and so does your business. Contact MJV Consulting to explore how our workplace wellbeing solutions can transform your organisation.
