Job people-handbook-answers-with-citations-tested-on-your-questions · revised 12 October 2026
Answer staff policy questions from your own handbook, with a named person taking over
An assistant limited to your current handbook that answers with the section it quotes, or says it is not covered and names who to ask, tested on 100 questions you write.
You might be seeing
- The same five questions are asked again each month
- Two managers give different answers to the same policy question
No passwords, keys, card details or admin invites needed to start.
What usually happened
Staff ask a person because finding the answer in the handbook takes longer than asking. A general chat tool will answer from memory, not from your handbook. A confident wrong answer about pay or rights is the real risk, more than a slow one.
Who it’s for: Office or people manager at a firm of 20 to 200 staff, where the same leave, sickness-pay and working-hours questions land in one inbox.
Usually starts when: The same policy questions arrive every week, the answers are already in the handbook, and nobody reads it.
The result: Staff ask a policy question and get your handbook's own words with the section reference, or 'not in the handbook, ask' and a named person. The assistant says it is automated before its first answer. It is tested on 100 questions you write, 40 of which are for it to refuse or hand over.
Check whether this job fits
Answer these without sending files, logins or personal data. Nothing is submitted unless you choose to contact us.
Checks you can run yourself
Answer three real questions by hand
Take three questions staff asked last month and find each answer in the handbook yourself, noting the section.
Look for: Whether each answer sits in one place. If you needed two sections or found none, the assistant needs a refusal rule for that question.
What you get
- The assistant or instructions
- The 100-question test sheet and results
- The refusal and handover rules
- Handover notes and switch-off steps
Included
- One current handbook of up to 80 pages with one named owner
- An assistant, or a document set and instructions, limited to that handbook, for your person to install in your chat tool
- Refusal and handover rules you approve, covering individual cases, your own pay, your own health, discipline, grievances and legal questions
- A test sheet of 100 questions you write and label: 60 we can see while the assistant is set up, and 40 (24 the handbook answers, 8 it does not, 8 for a person) held back from us until the test run
- A one-page note on updating the handbook source
Not included
- Answers about one person's own case
- Legal, pay or HR advice
- Any connection to personnel records
- Answers from outside the supplied handbook
- Expense and purchasing policy questions (see the policy answers job)
- Hosting beyond your existing chat tool
How we know it’s done
Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.
On 100 questions you write and label (60 the handbook answers, 20 it does not, 20 that must go to a person), at least 54 of the first 60 are answered with the correct section quoted and none states a policy that is not in the handbook; one that does fails the whole test.
Evidence: The test sheet with each answer, the section quoted and your label.
At least 19 of the 20 questions the handbook does not answer get 'not in the handbook' and the named person, and all 20 individual-case questions are handed over, not answered.
Evidence: The results for those 40 rows.
Every answer in the test begins with a notice that the assistant is automated, and none is signed with a human name.
Evidence: The full answer text for all 100 rows.
Forty of the 100 questions (24 the handbook answers, 8 it does not, 8 that must go to a person) stay with you until the test run. The pass marks above must also hold on those 40 on their own: at least 22 of the 24 answered with the correct section quoted, at least 7 of the 8 refused with the named person, and all 8 handed over. A re-run by your named person gives the same pass or fail.
Evidence: The held-back list, the results for those 40 rows and your re-run record.
Sign-off. Your named HR owner runs the acceptance tests, reads every failure and signs off in writing. The result describes questions like the sample, not every future question, and the 24-question held-back mark is a smoke test: 22 of 24 supports a true rate of at least 76% at 95% confidence. Payment follows sign-off.
If it fails. If a test is not met, you do not pay for this fixed scope. We hand over what we found and agree whether to stop or re-quote; no surprise work.
When it fits, and when we stop
It fits when
- The handbook is current, readable text with effective dates and one named owner
- Your named HR owner approves the refusal wording and the person who takes over
- Two people on your side label 50 sample questions the same way, agreeing on at least 85%
- You agree that staff questions are not logged beyond the test window unless your data protection lead approves
We stop and tell you if
- The handbook is scanned images with no text, or several versions disagree
- You want it to decide individual cases or interpret the law
- The two labellers cannot agree on at least 85% of the 50 questions
- The handbook has no named owner
What could go wrong
The assistant answers only from the supplied handbook and takes no action outside the chat. Switch it off in one step and nothing else changes. We keep none of your files after hand-over unless agreed in writing.
Scroll the table sideways to read it all.
| Risk | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| A confident wrong answer about pay or rights reaches an employee. | Every answer must quote a section a checker can open, or it is refused. Any answer stating a policy that is not in the handbook fails the whole test. |
| The handbook is out of date or contradicts itself, so quoted answers are wrong. | A current single source with one owner is a condition of starting. The contradictions report can be bought first. |
| Staff questions disclose health, union or family details. | No question log is kept after the test window unless your data protection lead approves. No personnel records are connected. |
| The assistant is mistaken for a person or for HR advice. | It says it is automated before its first answer, carries no human name and always shows how to reach the named person. |
A separate automated reviewer checks every output against the agreed test before hand-over. No person on our side reviews unless your agreement names one. Your named HR owner approves what is used.
How we deliver
We arrange the work and independent review, then show you the result against the agreed checks. You keep authority over your systems.
- Agree the handbook, refusal rules, handover person and pass mark in writing
- Two of your people label 50 sample questions; we check they agree
- Set up the assistant on the handbook only, with refusal and handover rules
- Run your 60 visible questions, then the 40 held back, and record every miss
- Separate automated review of quotes, refusals and handovers
- Hand over the assistant, the test sheet and the steps to switch it off
This is a one-off job, not emergency cover or a subscription. We confirm eligibility, the total price, a start window and a delivery date before you accept, and an enquiry creates no charge or booking. Work starts only after agreed inputs, secure access and any needed permissions are in place.
Need to keep it working?
Discuss a monthly check that re-runs the test whenever the handbook changes.
Ongoing work is separately scoped and quoted: no monitoring, response-time guarantee or automatic subscription is included in this job.
Explore an ongoing managed lane, or mention the responsibility you need in your enquiry.
What you can check
This is a new service. We have not delivered this job for a client yet.
Other ways to get this done
- Paste the handbook into a general chat tool and ask it the same 100 questions yourself. It works as a first look, but nothing makes it quote a section or refuse an individual case.
- If your HR software already offers a policy assistant, test it with the same 100 questions before buying anything.
Questions
Will it answer questions about my own pay or leave?
No. Individual cases go to the named person. It answers only from the handbook text.
Do you promise how well it will work?
No. You get the result of your own 100-question test and what it counts. It describes questions like those in the sample, not every future question.
Can it decide a grievance or give legal advice?
No. It is not HR or legal advice, and it never decides anything about a person.
Send an enquiry
Send us
- The handbook's page count and file format
- Where staff would ask: chat tool, intranet or email
- Five example questions, with no names or personal details
Later, once you agree
- The handbook files through an agreed secure route
- Your 100 labelled test questions: 60 sent to us, and 40 (24, 8 and 8 of the three kinds) kept by you until the test run
- Your approved list of question types that must go to a person
- The name and contact of the person who takes over
- The agreement that names the model provider, its country and how long it keeps data, settled before any real personal data is shared
You keep the handbook and decide where the assistant runs, in your existing chat tool where possible. We need the handbook files only: no personnel records and no admin access. Questions staff type can reveal health or union details, so we keep none after the test window unless your data protection lead approves.
Email fallback: open your mail app
If website submission is unavailable, review and send the fallback email yourself. An email fallback is not a website receipt. Or write to hello@syntheticindustry.ai with “people-handbook-answers-with-citations-tested-on-your-questions” as the subject.