Employee handbooks are a necessary part of running a company. As an employer, the handbook that you present to your employees must be a valuable manual that provides coherent information. There are countless reasons why having a compliant employee handbook is essential to the success of your company. A good handbook serves several purposes. This includes ensuring that employees know what to expect from their employer. It also outlines what the company expects from its employees. The main goal behind an employee handbook for most employers, however, is to protect the company.
Employee Handbook Definition
It is important to define what the term “employee handbook” means before you attempt to create or maintain one. Some companies can confuse the term and create documents that fail to serve their intended purpose. This can mean that employees are unsure of what the company expects of them and what they should expect from the company. Your goal as an employer should be to create a high-quality document, given to all employees when they start their employment with you and update this regularly. You may need to update the handbook to cover new areas of interest that may be important or relevant to your employees, taking into account legislation changes or changes in company policy.
An employee handbook should contain information that legally protects the company but also focuses on giving employees a clear understanding of company policies and procedures. A good employee handbook reassures staff members by positively presenting what the company expects from them.
The Importance of Updating Employee Handbooks
Updating your employee handbook regularly is crucial to keeping it relevant. An outdated handbook can cause many issues for an employer, including running the risk of it containing incorrect information. An employee handbook should be largely based around legislation, protecting against legal proceedings, and adhering to legal requirements that the company must abide by. Some policies must be in the handbook by law, whereas others serve to protect the employer. However, if these aren’t up-to-date and relevant in the ever-changing times in which we live, there can be consequences. You need to assure that your handbook assists in making your company as “bulletproof” as possible. The only way to do this is to periodically add information or retract non-legislative policies that no longer apply.
Your employees will likely be aware if your handbook becomes outdated. This not only gives off a bad impression to them but also means that if inclined, they may be able to find loopholes or ways to exploit the company. Although most employees are unlikely to do this, it is a worthwhile consideration. However, most employees simply want to feel appreciated and acknowledged by the company that they work for. By providing your workforce with outdated information, you give off a negative message. It is important to provide information that provides reassurance to your workers and guidance about expectations from both parties.
The Legal Requirements for Employee Handbooks
The legal requirements that surround employee handbooks are the most important factor to consider. It is the employer’s responsibility to familiarize themselves with the legislation that applies to them. This can vary depending on the type of business or where business activities are conducted. Understanding the legal requirements that relate to your business can be fairly difficult, and it’s often a good idea to consult a legal expert to outline what your business is obliged to include in the handbook. In the U.S, the requirements can be complicated, with businesses having to follow federal law and also state laws. A further complication can arise when a business operates over one or more states and has to meet additional legal requirements.
For companies that contain differing business units, there are other legal factors to consider. For example, although the units may be under the same company, some policies may not be relevant to both units or legally required for both. One unit may pay employees on an hourly basis while the other may not. One of the units may have a union, while the other may not. In these instances, it is important that the employer is aware of the challenges that may arise due to policies being included in the handbook that aren’t relevant to all units. The legal side of producing an employee handbook is incredibly complex, which is why utilizing the knowledge and skills of a legal professional is often the best option.
Policies that may be legally required to include in your employee handbook may relate to compensation, medical leave or equal employment opportunities or various other areas of employment law.
Common Challenges Associated with Keeping Your Employee Handbooks Compliant
Keeping an employee handbook compliant can be incredibly difficult. With so many factors to consider, it is easy for a company to make mistakes in the information that they include. There are several challenges that companies can come up against that can affect the compliance of their handbook. For example, if business operations change, then it is likely that handbook will also need to. If the business starts operating over different states or changes the nature of the services that they provide, they may need to comply with additional legislation and regulations.
A change in operating location or business operations isn’t the only challenges that employers face when trying to maintain a compliant handbook. With federal and state law changing regularly, it can be tough to keep up-to-date with the legal requirements for your business.
Some businesses may need to create several versions of their handbooks that apply to all areas of their operation. This can be challenging as although all of these handbooks must abide by federal law, they could contain substantially different information when it comes to state laws. Compiling this information can be overwhelming for those without the appropriate legal knowledge required to make the handbooks compliant.
Information That You Should Include in Your Employee Handbook
Although you may need to create several versions of your handbook to meet legislative requirements over various states, there are ways to structure the document to make this simpler. However, handbooks aren’t all about legal requirements. It is important to remember that your handbook should convey your company message and also act as a medium to display company policies and reassure your employees. Getting all of this right can be a hurdle, but overcoming it can have a positive impact on your company culture and protection as a whole.
Clauses
Some companies create an employee handbook that also serves as a contract of employment. However, this blurs the purpose of an employee handbook and isn’t recommended. Instead, creating separate documents allows employers and employees to better understand their responsibilities. It is therefore important that a disclaimer is included that points out that the handbook isn’t a contract and instead is a document that defines the policies that both the employer and employee must follow. Additionally, the handbook should state that the information included is subject to change.
Mission Statement
Starting your handbook with a mission statement can act as an introduction that helps employees to understand the policies and procedures that the company follows.
Leave Policies
Leave is an important part of employment law. Although businesses are legally required to give employees a set amount of paid leave each year in the form of vacations, sick leave, family medical leave, some companies reward their employees with greater leave opportunities. As such, details relating to any leave policies should be included in the handbook.
Expectations
Expectations are key, several types of expectation should be included. This includes detailing information regarding dress codes, behavior and standard code of conduct that employees are expected to follow. The “expectation” category is fairly broad but it is a highly important part of the handbook that allows the employer to set out ground rules. Most employee handbooks start with more general information about the company that introduces the employee to the history, mission and values of the company that they are joining. After this general information is covered, the document can then focus on what is expected of the employee by the company.
Pension, Pay and Perks
A good employee handbook contains all information that an employee needs in regards to what is expected from them as an employee and what they should expect from their employer. The document should cover all topics and possible questions regarding pension schemes, wages and how these are paid and any perks that the company provides to its employees. Some companies may offer free leisure memberships to their employees, certain medical or dental cover or access to mental health services. Keeping this information up-to-date can be difficult, particularly when it comes to perks that involve third parties.
Legally Required Policies
As well as information that is specific to your company, the handbook must legally contain content relating to policies that are required by federal or state law. This includes around policies that cover areas such as jury duty, discrimination, health and safety and personal privacy.
Benefits of Having a High-Quality Compliant Handbook for Your Company
Keeping your handbook compliant can be challenging, but it is legally required. This isn’t the only reason that your handbook should contain high-quality compliant information, however. Having a high-quality relevant handbook gives your company a better image as a whole, the reputation of a company can quickly spread from negative or positive experiences that employees have with them. For this reason, employers shouldn’t underestimate the importance of ingraining support, appreciation and access to relevant information for employees in all aspects of their company culture.
Although an employee handbook is a fairly large and comprehensive document that can cost a substantial sub to produce, its benefits are endless. Although it may seem a burden to keep your employee handbook compliant and updated, doing so can save the company from entering costly legal battles with employees or the state. The document acts as a way of protecting the company against many things that may cause serious damage to its reputation or result in bankruptcy.
It can often be simpler to outsource the work that is required to keep an employee handbook compliant and up-to-date, particularly if the company’s policies, partners, or third-party information frequently changes.
To learn more about how to craft an employee handbook for your organization and more, contact us today.
