It’s sitting on the shelf collecting dust. It stares at you each time you enter your office and screams “update me.” While you have the best of intentions, you can’t quite seem to get the employee handbook project to the top of your to do list.
We’ve all been told that a business with employees must have an Employee Handbook. But why?
To outline expectations. Everyone likes to know what is expected of them, especially when they are newly hired. The employee handbook answers many questions about workplace expectations.
A management timesaver. The handbook addresses those frequently asked employee questions, such as “How much time off am I eligible for?” “What holidays does my employer recognize?” “When is pay day?”
By having this resource in place, supervisors will spend less time fielding such questions and more time focused on more impactful work.
For consistency. When an employee comes to a manager with a question, the employee handbook helps managers apply workplace rules consistently, which can prevent any perception of favoritism. Further, this resource aids managers when addressing performance issues. Without it, delivering news about poor performance is trickier.
To minimize misunderstandings. By putting the “rules of the road” in print, it helps prevent practices being open to interpretation. As long as the company follows its own policies, disputes about how things should be done are minimized.
For legal liability. There is no legal requirement to have an employee handbook. But any employment attorney will tell you that having a clearly written and legally compliant handbook is essential for protection against employment claims. If an employee files a claim, one of the first things the Department of Labor (DOL) will ask is “What does your policy say?” and equally important, “Do you follow your policy?” They want to know whether the employee was notified in writing of the performance expectations. If the answer is “We don’t have a written policy,” your case will be weaker with the DOL.
Customize, Don’t Copy
An employee handbook should be customized. Using one from the Internet or another employer can be problematic. Why?
Your workplace is unique. Developing a handbook that is customized to your workplace culture and core values ensures the “tone” represents how the company communicates and interacts with its staff. For example, if one of your company’s core values is respect, your handbook should not sound punitive. It would not read “we expect you (the employee) are going to do bad things,” rather it should read “we respect that you are an adult and a professional and want to do your best work.”
Employment laws don't apply to every business. Size, location and even industry affect whether an employment law applies to your workplace. For example, if your business is in NH and you borrow a handbook from a friend's company in Maine, you will both be complying with laws that don't apply to your business and be out of compliance on laws that do. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees commonly include a policy on the Family Medical Leave Act in their handbooks, even though the onerous and sometimes complicated law only applies to businesses with over 50 employees.
Multi-state presence. Companies with offices or employees working in multiple states must comply with each state’s employment regulations even if the business has just one employee. Using a cookie-cutter template that does not account for every state where you have employees will put your business at risk for potentially costly fines.
What to Include?
The answer to this question would require a whole other article, but here is an overview of a few policies you may not have considered:
• Business ethics
• Inclement weather (although after this winter, you’ve probably written this one)
• Breaks for nursing mothers
• Performance reviews
• Professional development
• Social media
• Workplace violence
• Employment of relatives
• Access to personnel files
• News media/investor contacts
We all like to understand what is expected of us, so move creating or updating your employee handbook to the top of your to do list.
Delise West is president and founder of Human Resource Partners, an HR outsourcing firm with offices in Concord and Dover and clients in NH, northern Massachusetts and southern Maine. She can be reached at 603-749-8989 or through www.h-rpartners.com.
Current Issue - May 2024