When I was wrongfully fired, I was told by that the employee handbooks are not legally binding on the employer, but, rather, a tool whereby the employer can beat the employee about the head and face (not his exact words~) in case of a rule infraction or dispute.
Who told me that? A lawyer that handles employment disputes for multi-national corporations. He only spoke with me as a favor to an influential family friend.
To your concerns:
I worked for a multinational and my group was to be a pilot project within a plant with 1,000 employees. We were given strict parameters regarding how many people could be on vacation at one time, how vacation would be allotted, etc. etc. We were then split into groups to come up with guidelines, and then the groups had to reconcile to form a handbook. We had a management ‘facilitator’ that nudged us away from the loopholes we found, and recorded all changes in our policy as they took place. We did an excellent job that was as equitable as the “choose the rope you want to be hung with” guidelines allowed.
Fast forward. Our group was not the cash cow expected and the electronic version of our policy ‘disappeared’. We were constantly asked to revise a policy that didn’t exist, on record.
I don’t know the size of your company, but I would push for employees requesting a hard copy of the handbook getting one. Barring that a hard copy should be available in the break-room. And if that copy disappears, it would, obviously, be replaced. As needed.