Lister Shearing is a Gloucestershire manufacturer of shearing equipment and clippers, holding the royal warrant. Lister’s MD approached me to carry out the task of copy editing their new Employee Handbook. This will be an important document for internal communications and also form part of the company’s formal contract of employment with its staff. The copy editing brief was to ensure that the document is written in accessible, welcoming language for both new and existing employees. It is important not to compromise any of the essential legal sense, however. The Handbook is destined to be printed but the copy needed to be suitable for publication on the company intranet, if required. I tried to add value by suggesting ways of developing the document, including sections that could usefully be added.
