Gusto's Employee Handbook tool lets you create, customize, and distribute a compliant employee handbook without starting from scratch. The handbook comes pre-drafted with policies based on federal law, best practices, and state requirements so you can focus on reviewing and personalizing rather than writing from the ground up.
Once published, your handbook works like a custom document. Team members get an email to view, acknowledge, or sign it in Gusto, and they can download a PDF copy anytime.
The Employee Handbook tool is part of HR Resources, which comes included with the Premium plan. If you already have the legacy HR Resources add-on on your Simple or Plus plan, you can still use it. HR Resources is no longer available as a new add-on to Simple and Plus customers as of September 15, 2026.
Note: The Employee Handbook tool covers federal requirements and the requirements for each state where your employees work, including all 50 states and Washington, D.C. City and county requirements are coming soon.
Industry-specific policy guidance is not available yet for any state.
To open the Employee Handbook tool, follow these steps.
Go to People, then HR resources.
On the Employee handbook card, select Get started.
If you already started a handbook, select View handbook on the card instead.
When you select Get started, you can choose between two options.
Build one with Gusto — Get a handbook based on your states and team size, ready to review in minutes. You can share it, track acknowledgments, and edit your policies in Gusto. Your handbook covers federal requirements and the requirements for each state where your employees work. City and county requirements are coming soon. To start, select Build my handbook.
Upload your existing handbook — Add the PDF of the handbook you already use, and keep your own wording. Your policies stay exactly as written. You can share it and track acknowledgments. To start, select Upload my handbook.
If you were a Mineral customer and are not sure which option fits, select Ask an HR expert. You’ll usually hear back within one business day.
To use your existing handbook, follow these steps.
On the Employee handbook page, select Upload my handbook under Upload your existing handbook.
On the Add your handbook page, select Upload files or drop a PDF in the box (the file must be a PDF smaller than 10 MB), then select Continue.
On the preview step, make sure the document is correct, then select Continue.
On the Send document step, choose who should receive your handbook. Both Future hires and Current team members start selected. You can always customize an individual’s onboarding documents when you add them to Gusto.
Select Send document.
After you send your handbook, the Employee handbook page shows your PDF. Under Acknowledgments, you can see how many team members received it and who has not acknowledged it yet. To add a different PDF later, select Replace PDF. We also save your PDF in Documents, then Shared.
You have a clear next step instead of only downloading a PDF as a custom document.
Gusto knows which document is your current handbook, which helps us support you if you decide to move to Gusto’s handbook later.
You can share it with your team and track acknowledgments in Gusto.
If you were a Mineral customer, you can choose a handbook you already added to Gusto instead of uploading it again. Team members who already acknowledged that document do not need to acknowledge it again.
To choose a handbook from your shared documents, follow these steps.
On the Employee handbook page, select Choose my handbook under Start with an existing handbook.
On the Which one is your handbook? page, use Search shared documents or Filter to find your handbook. To check a document first, select Preview.
Select your handbook, then select Use as my handbook.
If you do not see your handbook, upload it on the same page. Select Upload files or drop a PDF in the box (the file must be a PDF smaller than 10 MB). Check the Name, which team members see, then select Continue.
Select View handbook to open the handbook overview. You’ll see the following sections:
Company name and logo — Gusto automatically pulls in your existing company logo. Go to your company settings if you need to update it.
Handbook at a glance — A summary of key details about your business, like your states and employee count, that shaped the included policies.
Scroll down to see the full table of contents. The sections you see depend on your states and the policies you include. Common sections include the following.
Introduction
Employment fundamentals
Time off and leave
Pay and time
Behavior and safety
Performance and hiring
Benefits
Equal employment opportunity
Leaves of absence
Leaving the organization
Each policy has tags to help you understand its significance.
Legal requirement — This policy is required by state or federal law.
Reduces risk — This policy is not legally required, but there are compliance implications worth addressing.
If your employees work in more than one state, you also see gray tags when you hover over a policy. These tags show how the policy applies across your states.
Varies by state — Some states have their own requirements, shown in the State Specific Differences section of the policy.
Same everywhere — All employees get the same policy, with no state-specific differences.
Combined for everyone — The policy combines state requirements into one list that covers all your employees.
WA only — This policy is required only in Washington. It does not apply to your employees in other states.
You can also see policies that are not in your handbook yet. Select Add policy, then select the Unused policies tab. The list only includes policies that apply to your states, and you can add them whenever you’re ready.
To edit a policy, follow these steps.
Select the pencil icon in the top right of the policy, or select the policy itself.
Make your changes in the drawer that opens on the right side.
Select Save.
Any editable content appears underlined in the policy text. Select an underlined field to edit that specific detail. When you do, you’ll also see context about why the policy is included along with helpful tips.
Note: Your handbook autosaves as a whole, so you can come back and finish editing later. However, changes to a specific policy or a new custom policy are not saved until you select Save or Add policy. If you close the drawer before saving, those changes will be lost.
What you can edit depends on the policy type.
Custom policies — You have full editing control.
Legally required or best practice policies — These are partially editable to keep them compliant. Here are some examples.
Personnel file access — You can only change whether to include the disagreement section and any additional disagreement details.
Harassment prevention — You can adjust who it applies to, the investigation process, training frequency, and bystander intervention training.
Paid sick leave — You can update the accrual rate, who the leave can be used for, and similar details.
Policies that are not editable — Some policies cannot be edited for your states. They open with About policy and say This policy is not editable. You can still remove them from your handbook.
Policies are pre-written with compliance in mind, which is why full editing is not available for all of them. If you need more flexibility, consider creating a custom policy and removing the existing one.
If your employees work in more than one state, a policy can have a base policy and settings for each state. Here are the terms you see in the edit drawer.
Base policy — The setting that applies to every employee. It’s at the top of each setting in the edit drawer.
By state — One row for each state under the base policy. A state that uses the base policy shows Matches base policy. A state that differs shows its own value.
Locked settings — State law sets the value, so you cannot change it. The row says This value is set for [state] and cannot be changed.
State Specific Differences — A heading in the policy text. The sections below it are for states that differ from the base policy.
When you change the base policy, each state follows it unless the new value does not meet that state’s legal minimum. In that case, the state keeps its required value. If you enter a value that a state does not allow, you see an error.
To change a setting for one state, follow these steps.
Open the policy’s edit drawer.
Find the setting you want to change.
Under By state, change the value in that state’s row.
Select Save.
To remove a policy, follow these steps.
Open the edit drawer.
Select Remove from handbook at the bottom.
Review any warning that appears if the policy is legally required, then confirm.
You have two options for adding policies to your handbook:
Add a Gusto-created policy — Browse the available library and add policies to your handbook.
Add a custom policy — Write any policy specific to your industry or company. When adding a custom policy, you’ll choose which section of the handbook it belongs in.
Pro tip: Use the three-line menu in the top left to jump between sections without scrolling through the entire handbook.
You can preview the employee view of your handbook before publishing to see exactly what your team will see. To preview, select More in the top right, then select the preview option.
To publish your handbook, follow these steps.
Select Publish handbook.
Choose who receives it — all current team members, specific individuals or departments, or future hires only.
Choose whether team members need to sign to acknowledge receipt.
Confirm to publish.
After publishing, you’ll get confirmation that your handbook is live. Select See employee view to see what your team members see. The button at the top of the handbook changes to Republish handbook.
Team members get an email letting them know they have a handbook to view, acknowledge, or sign in Gusto. This email is sent once, so follow up with team members directly if you need to remind them.
The employee experience for viewing, signing, and downloading the handbook works the same as it does for any custom document.
Once your handbook is published, you can preview, download, rename, update recipients, and view signature status the same way you would for any other custom document.
You can also continue editing your handbook after it's been published. When you're ready to push updates, republish the handbook. Here's what to expect:
The previous version is automatically archived
Team members who already signed the original version retain their signed copy
Archived versions are visible in the Documents tab
Team members are not automatically asked to sign the updated version — when you republish, you can choose whether to send it out again for signature
Your handbook does not update automatically when a law changes or a policy is revised. If your handbook was published with an earlier version of a policy, or a new policy requirement applies to your business, you need to apply the change yourself and re-share the handbook with your team.
To apply an updated policy, remove the previous version of the policy from your handbook, then add it again from the Gusto policy library.
Gusto tells you about relevant law changes through HR Law Updates.
Your options for switching depend on how you started your handbook.
Uploaded handbook — You can replace it. Select Replace PDF on the Employee handbook page. When you do, you see the same options again. You can build a handbook with Gusto, or you can upload a different PDF.
Handbook built in Gusto — After you start building a handbook in Gusto, you cannot choose or upload another document as your handbook.
Q: Why am I unable to edit some policies freely?
A: Policies are partially editable by design. Limiting full editing helps keep your handbook compliant with state and federal requirements and helps you focus on the decisions that matter most. Some settings are locked because state law sets the value. A locked setting says This value is set for [state] and cannot be changed. Some policies cannot be edited at all and show This policy is not editable. If you need more flexibility, add a custom policy and remove the existing one. When you add a custom policy, you choose which section it belongs in.
Q: What if I have employees in more than one state?
A: Your handbook covers federal requirements and the requirements for each state where your employees work. Each policy has a base setting that applies to everyone. If a state’s law requires something different, that state gets its own setting and its own section in the policy text. For guidance on compliance in your states, ask an HR Expert.
Q: Do employees see policies for states where they do not work?
A: Yes. Employees see the sections for every state your handbook covers, not only their own.
Q: What happens to my handbook if I add a work address in a new state?
A: Your handbook draft updates to include the new state, but your team members keep the version you already published. Review the new state’s sections, then republish the handbook when you’re ready to share the update.
Q: What happens to my existing handbook now that multi-state handbooks are available?
A: Your existing handbook is not affected. A published handbook stays as it is. When you’re ready, add the new state policies to your current handbook from Add policy. Republish the handbook to share the changes with your team.
Q: Does my handbook update automatically when laws change?
A: No. If your handbook was published with an earlier version of a policy, or a new policy requirement applies to your business, remove the previous version of the policy, add it again, then re-share the handbook with your team.
Q: Do existing policies, like PTO and time tracking, pull from my Gusto settings? Does making a change in the handbook update these in Gusto?
A: Not yet. Gusto does not automatically pull from your existing settings, and changes made in the handbook do not update those settings either. You need to enter those details manually for now. This integration is planned for a future update.
Q: Do team members need to sign the handbook again if I make changes?
A: Not automatically. After you republish an updated handbook, you can choose whether to send it out again for signature.
Q: What do I do with an employee handbook from a previous provider, like Mineral?
A: You have two options. Select Start with an existing handbook to choose it from your shared documents or upload the PDF. Or select Start fresh with Gusto to build a new handbook. For more about what changes as we move these tools in-house, see Transitioning from Mineral to Gusto's built-in HR Resources.
Q: What’s the difference between the two handbook options?
A: Building a handbook with Gusto creates a new handbook based on your states and team size, and you can edit your policies in Gusto. Uploading your existing handbook keeps your policies exactly as written, but you cannot use the full handbook builder. You can share either option with your team and track acknowledgments.
Q: Can I edit my handbook if I start with an existing handbook, like my Mineral handbook?
A: Your policies stay exactly as written. To make changes, select Replace PDF on the Employee handbook page and add an updated one. You can also build a new handbook with Gusto.
Q: Can I switch from my existing handbook to a Gusto handbook?
A: Yes. Select Replace PDF on the Employee handbook page, then select Build my handbook.
Q: Can I switch from a Gusto handbook to my Mineral handbook?
A: Not on your own. Submit a request through Ask an HR expert and we’ll help.
Q: I’m still editing my handbook in Mineral. What should I do?
A: Select Ask an HR expert on the Employee handbook page, and our HR Expert team can help.