Top 10 Items in Employee Handbooks

Most employers aren't required to have employee handbooks. A handbook can be a highly effective tool, however, both for communicating company policies to employees and for helping management consistently enforce those policies.

   If you're concerned about the time or expense of creating a handbook, you should know that many standard forms are available to help you get started in the process.

   But be careful - there's no such thing as a "one-size-fits-all" handbook. Whether you're drafting your own handbook from scratch or using a form, you need to make
   sure the finished product accurately reflects your policies and procedures, addresses specific issues important to your company, and, most important, complies
   with current state and federal law.

   In an effort to help you create or revise your handbooks, we have compiled a list (in no particular order) of the top 10 items every employment handbook should address.

   1. A statement that employment is at-will

   Your state is probably an at-will employment state (unless you're in Montana); however, courts have held that under certain circumstances, an employment handbook
   can create contractual terms that alter the at-will relationship. Therefore, every handbook should spell out that employment is at-will, that the handbook is not a
   contract, and that you reserve the right to change any policies in the handbook at your discretion.

   2. Pay policies

   Let your employees know how and when they will be paid.  You should explain your timekeeping practices, overtime issues, exempt versus nonexempt classification, full-time
   versus part-time employment status, and whether direct deposit is offered or required.

   3. Equal opportunity/harassment policies

   By now every employer should know the importance of having discrimination and harassment policies.  Putting those policies in your handbook is the ideal way
   to document that you have notified your employees about them.

   4. Explanation of paid leave policies

   Unless you have a collective bargaining agreement, you aren't required to offer paid leave (vacation, sick leave, bereavement leave) to your employees. But if you
   offer those benefits, you need to explain how your policies will be administered. For example, if your state law requires you to provide employees with paid leave for jury duty, be sure to include a provision explaining how that process works.

   5. Explanation of unpaid leave policies

   If you're covered by the FMLA (you have 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius), you must put your FMLA policy in your employee handbook. Even if you aren't covered by the FMLA, you may offer unpaid personal or medical leave, and those policies should be explained in your handbook as well.  

   6. Workplace privacy issues

   Explain to your employees how much privacy to expect (or not to expect) in the workplace. That includes issues like company monitoring of e-mail, Internet use, and
   phone calls as well as workplace searches.

   7. Employee conduct

   Explain what conduct is expected or prohibited in the workplace as well as the consequences for failing to abide by the rules. That could cover anything from
   grooming and dress codes to moonlighting.

   Not all of you will want to (or should) enact detailed progressive discipline policies. But every employer should at least address the basics - for example, attendance policies - and make clear that engaging in unlawful conduct like harassment or workplace violence
   could lead to termination.

   8. Confidentiality

   Inform your employees about any confidentiality rules or security procedures (like password protections), and let them know they aren't to talk about business matters
   outside the workplace.

   That's particularly important for employers whose business success relies on keeping trade secrets and other proprietary information confidential. You may also
   want to have separate confidentiality agreements, particularly for key employees.

   9. Identification of contacts

   Let your employees know whom to contact if they have questions about any of the policies in your handbook. The contact information may be different for different
   policies. Be as specific as po ssible, including the names of certain departments or even people to be contacted along with phone numbers or e-mail addresses.

   10. Acknowledgment form

   Last but not least, after you have drafted the perfect handbook, make sure you have airtight documentation that your employees have received it. The best way to do that
   is with a tear-out acknowledgment form signed by each employee after he receives the handbook and kept in his personnel file.