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A sample employee and worker-owner handbook template for existing worker cooperatives.
Democratic ownership depends on clear expectations. A policy handbook helps translate member rights, responsibilities, and workplace policies into an accessible operating document.
Existing worker co-ops formalizing policies, onboarding, and member expectations.
Heirloom Library entries are summaries and wayfinding notes. The original source is the best place to read the full resource.
Open original resourceRelated
U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives
A USFWC collection of short guides and tools on worker co-op fundamentals, including member engagement, boards, structure, decision-making, onboarding, member removal, and meeting templates.
Democracy at Work Institute
A DAWI-hosted AORTA resource outlining a conflict-resolution process that can be used by cooperatives.
Democracy at Work Institute
A DAWI guide to democratic management practices organized around power, information, people, and money, with tools and examples for worker co-ops and democratic workplaces.
This free, editable 2012 Word document is a sample employee handbook for an operating worker cooperative. It is useful for seeing how one co-op organized member expectations and workplace policies and for building a checklist of topics a new handbook may need to address.
It is not a current employment-policy template. Do not adopt its leave, wage-and-hour, discipline, safety, benefits, privacy, or other legal language without rewriting it for the cooperative's workforce, practices, contracts, and current jurisdiction-specific requirements with qualified support.