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, Washington state requirements, and best practices, 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 currently available only on the Premium plan.
Note: The Employee Handbook tool currently supports Washington state only. Policies are tailored to Washington state and federal requirements.
To get started:
Find the Employee Handbook tool in your Gusto account.
View your handbook and review the included policies.
Edit or add policies to fit your business.
Preview the employee view.
Publish your handbook to your team.
To open your handbook:
Sign in to your Gusto admin account.
Go to HR Resources.
Select Employee Handbook.
Select View your 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 state and employee count, that shaped the included policies.
Scroll down to see the full table of contents, organized into these sections:
Employment fundamentals
Time off and leave
Pay and time
Behavior and safety
Performance and hiring
Benefits
Leaving the organization
Each policy in the table of contents is tagged to help you understand its significance:
Legally required — This policy is required by Washington state or federal law.
Reduces risk — This policy is not legally required, but there are compliance implications worth addressing.
You’ll also see an Unused policies section. These are policies not currently included in your handbook that are available to add whenever you’re ready.
To edit a policy:
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. For example:
Equal opportunity and discrimination prevention — You can update which employees it applies to and whether it covers all federally protected characteristics.
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 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.
To remove a policy:
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:
Select Publish.
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. 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
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 Washington state and federal requirements and helps you focus on the decisions that matter most. For policies where you need more flexibility, you can create a custom policy and remove the existing one.
Q: Can I use a custom policy instead of editing a restricted one?
A: Yes — custom policies are a good workaround if you need to make significant changes that go beyond what’s allowed in a Gusto-managed policy. When adding a custom policy, you’ll choose which section it belongs in, and you can remove the original policy if needed.
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. We do not automatically pull from your existing Gusto settings, and changes made in the handbook will not update those settings either. You’ll 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: Can team members download a PDF of the handbook?
A: Yes. Team members can view and download a PDF copy of the handbook from their Gusto account, the same way they would for any other custom document.
Q: What if my company has employees in states other than Washington?
A: The Employee Handbook tool currently supports Washington state only. If your company operates in Washington and other states, work with our HR pros for guidance on compliance and policies in your other states.