An open-source employee handbook template with inclusive policies, designed to help companies build value-driven cultures.
The Clef Handbook is an open-source employee handbook containing the complete set of policies used by Clef to build an inclusive, value-driven company culture. It addresses the lack of readily available inclusive policy templates by providing documented employment guidelines, hiring documents, onboarding materials, and benefits frameworks. The project aims to help other organizations implement equitable practices through shared knowledge and community contributions.
Company founders, HR professionals, managers, and team leads who are building or refining their organization's policies and want to create more inclusive workplaces. It's particularly valuable for startups and growing companies establishing their cultural foundations.
Developers and organizations choose this handbook because it provides a real-world, battle-tested policy framework that prioritizes inclusion—saving countless hours of research and debate. Its open-source nature allows customization while benefiting from community improvements, making it a living resource rather than a static document.
An employee handbook built for inclusion
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Based on actual usage at Clef, saving time on research and debate, as the README states: 'This repository contains all of the policies that we use at Clef.'
Explicitly addresses hidden biases through sections like Equal Opportunity Employment and Salary Transparency, aiming to 'foster an inclusive and transparent company culture.'
Encourages contributions via pull requests, making it a living document: 'All feedback and suggestions (especially in the form of pull requests) are very appreciated.'
Includes actionable templates for hiring, onboarding, and meetings, such as OKR templates and interview processes detailed in the Operations Documents.
Policies are tailored for U.S.-based companies and may not comply with international labor laws, requiring significant legal adaptation for global use.
Users must fork and edit Markdown files manually; while a templatized version exists, it's a separate project and not integrated, as noted in the README with an external link.
As a collection of text files, it lacks interactive features or built-in version control, which could lead to maintenance issues in dynamic organizations.