Handbook Studio

The employee handbook, run like software.

Compose a branded handbook from 500 ready policies and 51-state addendums. Let your team propose changes with Word-style tracked changes — credited to every person — and prove receipt, employee by employee.

See it on opshyv.com Explore the features

⬡ 500 ready-to-edit policies ⬡ 51 state addendum packs ⬡ 100% of changes credited & versioned

Docs → Handbook builder One studio: employer facts, document style, and a live outline of the composed handbook.

⬡The problem

The document every employment dispute reaches for is a Word file nobody owns.

Policies live in five places. The PTO rule in the handbook, the real one in a manager's head, a third on the wiki — and state law in none of them.
Edits travel by attachment. Handbook_v3_FINAL_HR_edits.docx. Who changed the carryover language? Nobody can say.
Fixes wait for "the next revision." Re-issuing the whole book hurts, so the wrong text stays in force for months.
Proof of receipt is a spreadsheet. In a termination, an audit, a claim — "we emailed it" is not evidence.

⬡The library

Start from 500 policies, not a blank page.

Search a curated library across 14 categories — time off, conduct, technology, industry-specific. One click adds a policy, and it becomes your copy: fully editable, versioned, composed into the handbook at its right place.

Policy library search for harassment: seven matching policies with summaries and one-click add — Handbook builder → Policies Search "harassment" — seven policies, each summarized in plain English before you add it.

⬡State coverage

All 51 jurisdictions, suggested from where your people actually work.

Every state (plus DC) has an addendum pack. The picker detects your workforce's states, and state provisions compose after the federal sections — controlling wherever they're more protective.

State addendum picker: California and Massachusetts included, all 51 jurisdictions listed — Handbook builder → Composition California and Massachusetts in the handbook; 49 more a checkbox away.

⬡Generation

A real, branded document — not an export.

Generate, and the studio resolves your company facts, defined terms, and theme into a versioned document with PDF and DOCX artifacts. Legal-sensitive text carries an explicit attorney-review marker — the tool never pretends to be counsel.

The generated Northwind Trading Employee Handbook: serif document with resolved company facts and review markers — Docs → the generated handbook Real output: company facts resolved, acknowledgment window stated, review markers where counsel belongs.

⬡Living policies

Every change on the record. Any policy shippable on its own.

Each policy keeps an immutable version history — who, when, why. Fix one policy today and distribute just that update for acknowledgment; regenerate the full book when you're ready.

Policy edit panel: plain-text editing, parked pending edits, version history — Handbook builder → Edit policy The policy record: edits, parked drafts, versions — one surface.

⬡Team proposals

Anyone can propose. Nothing goes live by itself.

Managers and team members park pending edits — working drafts with their own collaborators and feedback thread. The live handbook is untouched until a docs admin reviews and publishes. Change stops waiting for the annual revision.

The Policies page: a feedback-requested pending edit above six active policies, each with Propose an edit — Docs → Policies One pending edit awaiting feedback; every policy one click from a proposal.

⬡Tracked changes

Redlining that names names.

Every revision is credited to the person who made it — insertions underlined, deletions struck through, each collaborator in their own color. The tracked changes lawyers and HR already trust, native to your handbook.

Tracked changes: 'accrues' struck through, 'earns' inserted, a new 40-hour carryover sentence underlined — credited to its author — Pending edit → Tracked changes "accrues" out, "earns" in, a 40-hour carryover cap added — all credited, all reversible.

⬡Review & feedback

Feedback lives next to the redline, not in a reply-all.

Add editors who revise and reviewers who comment. One click requests feedback from everyone — each gets a notification straight into the workspace.

Feedback thread beside the tracked changes — Pending edit → Feedback The discussion, in context.

Collaborators panel with editor and reviewer roles — → Collaborators Editors revise; reviewers weigh in.

⬡Acknowledgment

Proof of receipt, person by person.

Distribute to every active employee in one action — in-app for people with logins, tokenized links for everyone else. Delivered, acknowledged, and pending per person; re-acknowledgment on material revisions; CSV export when someone official asks.

Acknowledgment tracking: 10 distributed, 3 acknowledged, 7 pending, with per-person rows — Handbook builder → Acknowledgments 10 distributed, 3 acknowledged, 7 pending — and exactly who is which.

⬡How it runs

Blank org to acknowledged handbook — and every change after.

ComposeFederal sections, library policies, your own text, state packs.
GenerateA versioned, branded document — PDF and DOCX included.
DistributeEvery employee, tracked to the person, deadline included.
Propose & redlineThe team parks pending edits; every change is credited.
Publish & re-ackAdmin approves; the update ships alone or in the next edition.

⬡Guardrails

Built for the day someone checks.

Attorney-review markersLegal-sensitive text carries an explicit review flag through composition and generation.

Every action auditedEdits, publishes, and distributions land on the audit log with the actor attached.

Sensitive docs encryptedPII/PHI documents are restricted to HR and admins; acknowledgments record time and origin.

⬡The bottom line

Your handbook stops being a stale file and becomes a system of record.

Composed from a real library, generated on your letterhead, distributed with proof, revised in the open — inside the platform that already runs your people, benefits, and compliance.

Get started at opshyv.com See the whole platform →