Employment Manuals: Communicating the Company's Policies to Employees

Employment manual, also called as employee handbook, is a written guideline that will communicate the company’s policies to workers. It tells them what is the expected behavior from them as well as their responsibilities and duties at work.

When creating an employment manual, it is ideal to seek a legal advice from a corporate lawyer to make sure that all entries are in line with the federal and state laws.

A clear and comprehensive manual will provide solution in case that problems or disputes arise especially on the issues of termination. This can also be used to prove the terms of employment if there is no separate employment agreement.

Planning an Employment Manual

Because the management and staff from the human resources department know the specific needs of the company, and the lawyers know the regulations which are compliant with the law, they should work together in crafting an employment manual.

When writing an employment handbook, it is important to make sure that each entry has its legal basis and will not violate the rights of workers. For example, employers have the right to install cameras from their office however, this will become unlawful if such surveillance equipment is installed in private areas like restroom and locker room.

Some companies commit a mistake by copying the employment manual of another business or buying a prepackaged software in creating employment manual. Remember, each company has its own needs and each state has its employment laws.

Basic Entries Found in Employment Manual

All provisions and policies should be related to employment to a certain company. While each firm has its own specific needs, there are basic entries which must be present in the written contract.

• Leaves (including family-leave policies, sick leave, vacation leave)
• Standards of conduct
• Disciplinary action for misconduct
• Discrimination policy (discrimination can be based on gender, race, national origin, color of the skin, age, disability, and sexual orientation)
• Worker’s compensation and other benefits and insurance such as COBRA
• Payment of salary
• Hours of work
• Immigration law compliance
• Dress code
• Non-compete policies (Some states, including California, do not allow such policies that prevent workers from applying for their employer’s rival companies or from making their own business that will directly compete with their employer.)
• Use of facilities
• Separation policies such as severance pays for laid off workers and other non-monetary assistance

Distribution of Employment Manual

This handbook should be distributed to all workers as soon as they are hired, ideally in printed copies. Employees should also sign the manual to acknowledge the terms and conditions stated from this.

Because the business climate is constantly changing, it is also important to keep the manual up-to-date. Companies should make sure that workers are aware of the changes by giving a new copy of manuals.

Some employers may opt to just update the company’s website which included the employment manual instead of giving new copies.