# Do I Need an Employee Handbook or Policy Manual?

> No law in Ontario, Alberta, or federally requires a full employee handbook. Each jurisdiction instead mandates specific written policies: Ontario requires a workplace harassment policy for all employers plus a disconnecting-from-work policy for employers with 25 or more employees; Alberta and federally regulated employers must have a violence and harassment prevention policy regardless of size. Bundling these into one handbook is common practice, not a legal requirement.

Published 2026-08-23 · Last reviewed 2026-08-16 · [Canonical page](https://canadalegalcenter.ca/articles/do-i-need-an-employee-handbook-or-policy-manual/)

Legal information, not legal advice.

## The verdict: no single law requires a handbook, but specific policies are mandatory

**No, not as a single package.** No statute in Ontario, Alberta, or under federal law requires a business to maintain a comprehensive "employee handbook" or "policy manual" as such a document. What the law actually requires, in all three jurisdictions, is a set of *specific* written policies on specific topics, triggered by your employee count, your industry, or whether you're federally regulated. Most employers bundle those mandatory policies into one document they call a handbook, but the bundling itself isn't the legal requirement, the individual policies are.

That distinction matters because it changes what you're actually checking for: not "do I need a handbook" but "which of the mandatory policies apply to me, and have I put them in writing the way the law requires."

## Which specific policies the law actually requires, and at what size

The written policies that are legally mandatory differ by jurisdiction and, in Ontario, by employee count.

<div class="table-scroll">

| Jurisdiction | Policy | Who it applies to | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Workplace harassment policy | All employers, regardless of size | [Occupational Health and Safety Act, s 32.0.1(1)-(2)](https://www.ontario.ca/page/code-practice-address-workplace-harassment) |
| Ontario | Disconnecting-from-work policy | Employers with 25+ employees | [Employment Standards Act, 2000, s 21.1.2](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/written-policy-disconnecting-from-work) |
| Ontario | Accessibility statement, policies, and multi-year plan | Businesses/non-profits with 50+ employees | [Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005](https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-create-accessibility-plan-and-policy) |
| Alberta | Violence and harassment prevention plan | All employers, regardless of size | [Occupational Health and Safety Code, s 390](https://search-ohs-laws.alberta.ca/legislation/occupational-health-and-safety-code/part-27-violence-and-harassment/) |
| Federal (federally regulated employers) | Harassment and violence prevention policy | All federally regulated employers | [Canada Labour Code, s 125(1)(d), (z.16)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-125.html) |

</div>

In Ontario, the [OHSA harassment policy duty](https://www.ontario.ca/page/code-practice-address-workplace-harassment) requires the policy to be in writing, reviewed at least annually, and either posted at a conspicuous place in the workplace or made available in a readily accessible electronic format. The [disconnecting-from-work requirement](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/written-policy-disconnecting-from-work) only kicks in once you employ 25 or more people, and the policy must be provided to all employees, not just posted. The [AODA accessibility documentation duty](https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-create-accessibility-plan-and-policy) has its own, higher, 50-employee threshold and requires the statement, policies, and plan to be made *publicly* available, not just given to staff.

In Alberta, the [OHS Code's violence and harassment prevention plan](https://search-ohs-laws.alberta.ca/legislation/occupational-health-and-safety-code/part-27-violence-and-harassment/) has no size threshold: it applies to every employer, and it must include measures to control the hazards of violence and harassment, procedures for informing workers, confidentiality protections, and reporting and investigation procedures. [Alberta.ca frames violence and harassment as workplace hazards](https://www.alberta.ca/workplace-harassment-violence) that must be addressed as part of the hazard assessment every Alberta employer is already required to conduct.

Federally, employers covered by the Canada Labour Code (banks, telecommunications, interprovincial transportation, and similar federally regulated sectors) must [make a copy of their harassment and violence policy readily available to employees in both printed and electronic form](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-125.html), and must [develop that policy in conjunction with the workplace policy committee, workplace committee, or health and safety representative](https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/workplace-health-safety/harassment-violence-prevention.html), not unilaterally.

## When does putting a policy in a handbook actually bind an employee?

A handbook's legal weight depends on whether its terms became part of the employment contract, not on whether the document exists. In *[Ellis v Artsmarketing Services Inc](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscsm/doc/2017/2017canlii51563/2017canlii51563.html)*, an Ontario Small Claims Court found that layoff provisions in an employee handbook did not apply to the employee because her employment contract had no contractual basis for layoff and there was no other reference or acknowledgement tying her to the handbook's layoff terms. The handbook existed; it just wasn't incorporated into her contract.

The practical implication is that a policy sitting in a binder or PDF does not, by itself, create obligations an employer can enforce or rely on later. Whether a given handbook provision has contractual force in your situation depends on the wording of the employment contract and what the employee was told or asked to acknowledge, questions specific enough that this article can't answer them for your particular handbook.

## What you can do next

If you're trying to work out what your business is required to have in writing, the concrete next steps are:

1. Check your employee count against Ontario's two thresholds (25 for disconnecting-from-work, 50 for AODA documentation) if you operate in Ontario, since the harassment policy duty applies at any size.
2. Confirm whether your business is federally regulated (interprovincial transport, banking, telecommunications, and similar sectors) or provincially regulated, since federal employers answer to the Canada Labour Code's harassment and violence prevention regime instead of the provincial OHS regime.
3. If a dispute arises over whether a handbook term applies to a specific employee, that's a question about the individual employment contract and what was communicated at the time, which is a matter for the applicable employment standards office, the Ontario or Alberta courts, or (for federally regulated workplaces) the mechanisms under the Canada Labour Code, depending on where the dispute sits.

## Frequently asked questions

**Does Ontario's workplace harassment policy requirement apply to small businesses too?**

Yes. In Ontario, the requirement to prepare a written workplace harassment policy, review it annually, and post it or make it electronically accessible applies under the Occupational Health and Safety Act regardless of how many people you employ; there is no size threshold for this specific policy.

**What size employer needs a disconnecting-from-work policy in Ontario?**

In Ontario, only employers with 25 or more employees must have a written policy on disconnecting from work in place and provided to all employees. Smaller Ontario employers are not subject to this particular Employment Standards Act requirement.

**If I have a handbook, are its policies automatically enforceable against an employee?**

Not automatically, in any of the three jurisdictions covered here. Ontario case law (a Small Claims Court decision) found that handbook terms bind an employee only where the employment contract expressly references the handbook or the employee otherwise acknowledged that its provisions applied.

**Do Alberta employers need a written harassment and violence policy?**

Yes. Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Code requires every employer to develop and implement a written violence and harassment prevention plan, covering hazard controls, worker information procedures, confidentiality, and reporting and investigation steps, regardless of employer size.


## Sources

1. [Ontario.ca - Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act, 'Written policy on disconnecting from work'](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/written-policy-disconnecting-from-work), Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 21.1.2 (retrieved 2026-07-17)
2. [Ontario.ca - Code of Practice to Address Workplace Harassment](https://www.ontario.ca/page/code-practice-address-workplace-harassment), Occupational Health and Safety Act, RSO 1990, c O.1, s 32.0.1(1)-(2) (retrieved 2026-07-17)
3. [Ontario.ca - How to create an accessibility plan and policy](https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-create-accessibility-plan-and-policy), Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, SO 2005, c 11 (retrieved 2026-07-17)
4. [CanLII - Ellis v Artsmarketing Services Inc., 2017 CanLII 51563 (ON SCSM)](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscsm/doc/2017/2017canlii51563/2017canlii51563.html), Ellis v Artsmarketing Services Inc, 2017 CanLII 51563 (ON SCSM)
5. [Alberta OHS Laws - Occupational Health and Safety Code, Part 27 (Violence and Harassment)](https://search-ohs-laws.alberta.ca/legislation/occupational-health-and-safety-code/part-27-violence-and-harassment/), Occupational Health and Safety Code, Alta Reg 191/2021, s 390
6. [Alberta.ca - Workplace violence and harassment](https://www.alberta.ca/workplace-harassment-violence), Occupational Health and Safety Act, SA 2020, c O-2.2; Occupational Health and Safety Code, Alta Reg 191/2021, Part 27
7. [Justice Laws Canada - Canada Labour Code, s 125](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-125.html), Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c L-2, s 125(1)(d), (z.16)
8. [Canada.ca - Requirements for employers to prevent harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces](https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/workplace-health-safety/harassment-violence-prevention.html), Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c L-2, s 125(1)(z.16); Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, SOR/2020-130