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In fact, this may be true for some employers. An employer who doesn't want to act consistently, or who intends to act fairly but has ill-trained staff, may be better off without an employee handbook.

Experts agree

On the other hand, just about all employment law experts agree that every employer who wants a productive workplace should have an employee handbook. HR professionals suggest that there is no better way for employers to communicate with employees about what the organization expects from them, and what they may expect from the organization: its rules and policies, the way it assesses perform-ance, the procedures it will follow, and the benefits it will provide.

No federal laws

Many federal laws require employers to communicate with employees about rights and obligations (e.g., family leave, equal employment opportunities), and most states have similar requirements (workers' compensation, for example). However, no law requires employers to publish an employee handbook.

The points outlined below will assist in evaluating an existing handbook or developing one.

Expectations and consequences

Employees need to know what employers expect of them in terms of performance, attitude, and behavior:

• What they may and may not do
• What an employer will accept
• What will lead to disciplinary action, and
• What will lead to immediate termination.

A handbook can provide employees with the confidence that if they abide by the policies and obey the rules they will be afforded the fairness of the procedures. And so to a great degree, the employee handbook defines the relationship between employees and employers.

An excellent benefit

The employee handbook communicates to present employees and advertises to potential employees benefits that are employer-provided, such as vacation, holiday pay, health insurance, educational benefits, retirement benefits, sick leave, and disability.

Important to supervisors

A handbook is a critical work tool for supervisors as well. If supervisors are clear about what the policies and rules are, they will be more likely to manage with consistency. This is especially true in a medium or large company where a number of supervisors interact with many employees.

In the small workplace, clarity about policies and procedures is especially vital to curtail the problems that occur when employees trade on their familiarity with supervisors or employers and claim that they didn't know or understand a regulation.

Important in court

From another perspective, courts are not likely to be sympathetic with employee claims of ignorance about company policies if they have signed a form acknowledging that they received the handbook.

Is a handbook a contract?

In recent years some courts and juries have considered employee handbooks to be contractual. This has not been a uniform opinion, but the notion of a handbook as a binding contract is spreading. Thus employers should assume that whatever they promise to do in their handbooks, courts may expect them to do.

Does the company set forth policies in the handbook? Does it describe what will occur if an employee violates the policy? If these things are covered and there is no bias or apparent favoritism or inconsistency, the employer is generally looked on favorably by courts. In effect, policies and procedures help protect employers who abide by them.
>p> If the employer lacks a policy, courts definitely will question the seriousness of the employer’s intentions. Employers with a policy that has not been followed, or one that has not been disseminated properly or consistently and fairly applied, also will be in trouble.

General principles

Follow these general guidelines in developing or revising a handbook.

Simple to understand

Write the handbook in simple, non-legal language. Courts will look at this: if the language is too legal or difficult for the employee, courts may rule in the employee’s favor. Keep the writing clear, simple, understandable, direct.

Disclaimer

The best way to defend against a wrongful discharge termination suit is to have the handbook state that it is not a contract, that it is not binding but informative only, and that it may be changed unilaterally by the company.

In addition, a disclaimer may state that employment is at will, that it may be terminated without warning for any reason or for no reason, by the employer. By the same token, the employee may quit the company without notice at any time.

The entire disclaimer must be in a very conspicuous place in the handbook, probably on the front page or cover and in type large and bold enough to be easily seen.

In addition, the handbook should, wherever possible, avoid provisions that contradict the disclaimer. Courts have questioned the legality of such disclaimers in these situations.

Review and evaluate

Whether the HR department, an outside company, or the employer’s attorney, prepares your employee handbook, it should be reviewed and evaluated carefully by a team of people, including a labor and employment attorney. And don't forget to review at least annually, to be sure that it reflects changes in your policy and in applicable laws.

Changes can generally be made without granting employees anything in return (consideration). However, in a recent case in Connecticut, an employer’s attempt to change employees from "just cause" status to "at-will" status without consideration was denied. In any event, employees should be notified that the book is changing, and the notification should be made in advance of the actual changes.

Courts in a number of states have said that employees must know exactly what provisions the employer altered. For example, in a South Carolina case, Fleming v. Borden (1994), the state Supreme Court said that employers may not amend their handbooks without taking very specific action to ensure that employees have notice of every change. To assure this:

• Post notices in the workplace of the impending revision. Issue the changed handbook well before its effective date.
• State on the front page of the handbook that it is effective on such and such a date, and at that time is the only effective version of the handbook.
• Revoke previous versions of the book. It is important to state that this revision supersedes all previous versions of the handbook.
• Place in every handbook a tear-out acknowledgment of handbook amendment, revoking the old handbooks, stating that this is the only effective handbook, and including the extent of the revision.
• Ensure that all employees sign the acknowledgment (meaning that they have read it and understood it) and place the form in each employee's personnel file.

Top topics

What is important to your organization? If you know the answers to that question, you probably know what should be included in the company’s employee handbook.

If not, the first thing to understand is that employee handbooks need to fit an organization’s needs and culture.

For example, some cultures have an authoritarian edge; others are "New Age" and want their handbooks to come across with that image. Some want every detail spelled out; others want broad outlines; some will accept a generic manual prepared by an outside company.

Some are very strict about beginning and ending hours, disciplining for minutes late; some don’t care when an employee begins and ends as long as the required number of hours are worked; others don’t care about starting and ending times but insist that workers be at the workplace during some core period.

Some want employees to wear ties, jackets, skirts, etc., while others aren’t particular about clothing but simply insist upon neatness and their own version of appropriateness.

The most important factor is to prepare the handbook carefully, based on the thorough knowledge of the organization.

The following topics, however, should be considered for coverage in almost any handbook:

• Sexual harassment policies
• Discrimination policies
• At-will statement
• Contract disclaimer
• Conflict of interest
• Definition of full and part-time employment
• Hours and shifts
• Hours of work, tardiness issues
• Lunch periods and break times
• Vacation scheduling
• Sick leave policies
• FMLA and other (state) leave policies (jury duty, military duty)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Compensation policies
• Benefits
• Retirement and pension statements
• Work rules
• Drug policies and testing
• Dress, grooming codes
• E-mail, telephone, and Internet use
• Privacy issues
• Travel policies, advances
• Proper use of company equipment and materials
• Smoking
• Performance evaluations
• Inside posting for jobs
• Promotions
• Disciplinary procedures
• Termination
• Workers' compensation
• Emergency, fire procedures
• Safety
• Facilities 1079rc

Reprinted from the "HR Manager's Legal Reporter" with permission of the publisher, Ransom & Benjamin, LLC. Copyright 2000.

This article was furnished by HRnext.com , Your Source for FREE Job Descriptions, Checklists and Daily HR News.

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