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Employee Handbooks |
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One company owner viewed an employee handbook as handcuffs that kept him from dealing with employees just the way he wanted to. Instead, his “policy” of not having any company policies and procedures tied the company in knots and opened it up to substantial legal liability. The reason: managers spent way too much time scrambling to see how situations were handled in the past, or they were forced to make up the rules as they went along.
As any employment attorney will tell you, inconsistency in applying rules can spark a lawsuit. After paying a lawyer a fat fee to resolve a dispute over how discipline had been given out, this owner saw the light. His employees soon had a company policies and procedures manual to guide their actions. |
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Purposes of an Employee Handbook
An employee handbook or company policies and procedures manual doesn’t just protect you legally. It helps you set the tone for your organization. Educating your employees on the standards and behaviors you expect to see in the workplace makes the workplace more productive and harmonious.
And creating an employee manual is easier than ever, thanks to G.Neil’s software, MyBiz Employee Handbook™. This program enables you to create, update and reprint your own customized employee handbook. It even suggests federal and state specific policies based on your input, giving you complete flexibility.
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Brainpower Still Required
Having software create an employee manual for you doesn’t mean you don’t need to think. It just does the heavy lifting. MyBiz Employee Handbook software allows you to customize the company policies and procedures it provides. You can change sections to fit your needs; add your company’s mission statement, and much more.
Most employee handbooks cover the following:
- Bedrock policies. Some policies, such as vacation or profit sharing, will be unique to your company. Some will not. These policies include the anti-discrimination provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and others. Make sure your employees are educated on federal and state labor laws that apply to them. With customized employee handbooks, that’s easy to do.
- Standard policies. Just about every employee manual will include company policies on attendance, emergency procedures, pay periods, work hours and overtime, performance evaluations, discipline, and electronic communications, to name just a few. The terms of each policy will, however, depend on the nature of your business.
- Discretionary policies. Discretionary policies vary substantially from workplace to workplace and may not be pertinent to some workplaces at all. Such company policies include rules regarding bulletin boards, flextime, breaks, hiring from within, dress, soliciting, time cards/clocks, and telecommuting.
- Benefits. This will probably be the best-read section. Things to cover include your policies on educational reimbursement, vacation, health and life insurance, holidays, pension, personal days, vacation, and sick time.
- Contract disclaimer. No employee manual should be without a prominently placed statement that says the manual is not a contract between the employer and employees. This allows you “wiggle room” if a situation demands that you take an action not covered in the manual.
- “At will” statement. Another protection for employers, put a statement at the front of your employee handbooks that says all employment is “at will.” In other words, the employee or employer can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason.
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An Employee Handbook Helps Create A Culture
If your employee handbook is nothing but rules, it can sound more like the penal code than a document designed to educate employees, improve productivity, and raise morale. To that end, open your employee manual with a statement that welcomes employees and touts the benefits of working for your company. You might add a company history or other information that provides a context for your operations, something especially important for new employees.
Another way to improve an employee manual is to personalize with employee on-the-job photos from company functions, or add fun, cartoon-like drawings. You can also place “testimonials” from employees throughout the manual. For example: “I’ve never had better bosses than I have had at XYZ Corporation. They really care about me and my development.” John D. Smith, Production Department.”
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Company Policies and Procedures Potholes to Avoid
Some aspects of employee manuals prove more legally bothersome than others.
Case in point: a progressive discipline policy. A typical policy says the first violation of a rule or standard results in an oral warning, the second in a written warning, the third in suspension, and so forth. But what if the first offense is truly horrific — as when a drunk employee drives a forklift and injures another? In a situation like that, you want to retain the right to terminate immediately.
Some lawyers and HR consultants advise employers to eliminate a progressive discipline policy altogether and substitute a more generic statement outlining possible disciplinary procedures. Employees like clarity, however, something a progressive policy offers. If you like clarity, too, keep the policy, but state that any step can be bypassed at the company’s discretion.
Banish the words “probation” or “probationary.” Why? If an employee can be fired any time during the probationary period, does that mean the job is his for good once he’s off probation? The same problem occurs when you call an employee “permanent.” It sounds too much like “forever.”
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Is It Clear — and Legal?
Have a few trusted employees test your employee handbook by reading through it and marking spots that aren’t clear. You want people to read a company policy and think, “I understand that completely.” If a company policy is open to interpretation, you introduce the dreaded prospect of inconsistency in applying rules and standards.
It’s wise to have a local employment attorney review the employee handbook to make sure it is clear, consistent, and legal in all regards. Finally, distribute the employee handbooks and have employees sign a statement that says they have read and understood it.
MyBiz Employee Handbook™ automates many of the tasks outlined here. It includes 74 legally compliant policies that have been reviewed by G.Neil’s team of employment attorneys. Employee handbooks are something no small business should be without. Proper documentation is the ultimate protection in a court of law. A large settlement in favor of an employee could put you out of business.
Because there are so many tasks that must be performed to keep your business running smoothly, additional MyBiz software has been developed with your unique business needs in mind. You can track employee attendance and paid time off balances at a glance with MyBiz Attendance™, eliminate paper piles and route all forms via email with MyBiz Forms™. MyBiz Records™ makes organizing and storing employee records more efficient than ever before.
Additional products to help you manage employee recordkeeping efficiently:
I-9 Compliance Kit – Our easy-to-use kit ensures that you fill out your I-9 forms correctly by providing a guide and an error-proof template that highlights possible mistakes.
W-4 Compliance Kit – Our kit makes it easy for you and your employees to properly fill out a W-4 form, so the correct amount of taxes can be withheld and IRS penalties avoided.
Employee Records Resource Kit – This comprehensive kit provides all of the records you need to capture each hiring stage and the documentation that is necessary to keep on file until an employee leaves.
Online Pre-employment Testing – From our Applicant Risk Profiler to Workplace Personality Profile, we provide a wide variety of online tests to help you hire right every time.
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| Tools To Document Company Policies |
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