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Employee Handbooks and Policies A Business Counselor Institute Program
Alan S. Gutterman
Founding Director, Sustainable Entrepreneurship Project
Author, Business Transactions Solutions
2
Employee Handbooks and Policies Agenda
• As a result of this program, you will understand:
– Legal considerations
– Formatting and contents
– Practical considerations in drafting employee handbooks
– Equal opportunity policies
– Pay and benefits policies
– Standards of conduct
– Time off and leave policies
– “On the job” policies
– Safety and health policies
– Internet use and social networking policies
•
Business Counselor
Institute
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Legal Considerations
• Equal employment opportunity laws
• Laws and cases pertaining to sexual harassment
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Occupational Safety and Health Act
• Workplace violence
• “At Will” employment
• Workplace privacy and confidentiality
• Recordkeeping requirements
• Wage and hour laws
• National Labor Relations Act
• State laws and regulations
Business Counselor
Institute
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Formatting
• Formal personnel handbook
• New employee memorandum or guidelines
• Policy statements and procedures
• Short-form document posted on company’s internal
intranet
Business Counselor
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Contents (Part I)
• Disclaimer of guarantee of employment and statement of “at will”
employment status;
• Equal employment opportunity statement and specific policies for each of
the key federal laws creating protected classes of employees;
• Policies and procedures regarding “time off” (i.e., lunch hour and other
breaks, holidays, personal days, vacation policy and pay, leaves (e.g.,
personal, family, bereavement, educational, military service and
reemployment rights), jury duty and election time off)
• Policies and procedures regarding “job-related issues” (i.e., performance
evaluations, discipline and termination and other general employment
practices);
• Rules and standards of workplace conduct (e.g., attendance and
punctuality, protection of confidential information, visitor rules and access
to premises, personal appearance and dress, smoking, gifts and gratuities,
insubordination, harassment and substance abuse);
Business Counselor
Institute
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Contents (Part II)
• Policies and procedures regarding compensation (i.e., pay computation,
payday dates, pay deductions, bonuses, overtime pay, meal allowances,
direct deposit and check cashing) and benefits (e.g., insurance, pension
and tuition reimbursement benefits, including eligibility requirements);
• Policies and procedures regarding safety and health (i.e., reporting
accidents, rules concerning accidents and physical examinations);
• Policies regarding use of technology (i.e., Internet use and e-
communications);
• Special requirements may apply to certain types of companies, such as
“whistleblower” and business ethics policies for public companies;
• “Welcome message”, “first-day checklist”, communications tools and
procedures; and
• Disclaimers and acknowledgements.
Business Counselor
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Standard Employment Policies
• Probationary period
• Hours of work and
overtime
• Wage and performance
reviews
• Family and medical
leave
• Leaves of absence
• Absence reporting
requirements
• Personnel records
• Workplace safety
• Workplace conduct
• Progressive discipline
• At-will employment and
termination events
• Benefits policies and
procedures
Business Counselor
Institute
8
Practical Handbook Drafting Considerations
• Have a clear understanding of the recipients of the employee.
• The language of the handbook should be clear, concise, easy to understand and
devoid of unnecessary legalese.
• Use positive lead-in language, even when talking about difficult topics such as
dismissal; however, be careful not to imply permanent employment.
• Language in the handbook should be personalized, which means writing in the first
personal and/or using possessive pronouns whenever possible.
• The employer should not include promises to employees that it cannot keep or
policies that the employer does not intend to enforce and apply uniformly and
consistently with all employees.
• Eliminate language that might create an inference of “permanent” or “lifetime”
employment.
• Make sure handbook will serve as a practical working document that meets the
specific needs of the company, answers all the questions that employees generally
ask and lays out in straightforward fashion all of the fundamental information that
employees need to know about their relationship with the company.
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Handbook Preparation Process (Part I)
• Appoint a project coordinator and a relatively small drafting committee that
includes the top HR executive, one executive from each of the key
operational functional groups within the company, the controller for tax
and legal questions, and a representative company’s PR department.
• The committee meets to discuss and reach agreement on the contents of
the handbook including the specific policies that will be included.
• The project coordinator (or the coordinator’s designees) drafts the policy
statements agreed to by the committee.
• The policy drafts are distributed to each committee member for review
and comment.
• Committee members return the policy drafts to the project coordinator,
who reviews the members’ comments and modifies the drafts.
• The second drafts of the policy statements, accompanied by a summary
of previous comments, are distributed for further review.
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Handbook Preparation Process (Part II)
• After second drafts are returned to the project coordinator, the coordinator
proceeds in the same way to prepare and review third drafts.
• The committee submits the revised draft to in-house or outside counsel to
ensure that the policies comport with applicable law and, if necessary, to
the company’s public relations department or an outside professional
writer to ensure that the policies are easily understood.
• The revised draft should also be circulated to a select group of first-line
supervisors for input on how it is likely to be received by employees and
how comfortable the supervisors feel about their role in administering the
policies in the handbook on a day-to-day basis.
• The project coordinator prepares a final draft of the policies to submit to
the committee members and senior executives with approval authority.
• Upon receiving approval, the project coordinator prepares the policy
statements in final form for inclusion in the employee handbook.
Business Counselor
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Equal Opportunity Policies
• Equal employment opportunity
• Employees with disabilities
• Harassment
• Reporting harassment or discrimination
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Pay and Benefits Policies
• Timekeeping and overtime
• Changes in pay
• Employee benefit plans
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Standards of Conduct
• Attendance and punctuality
• Personal appearance
• Drug- and smoke-free workplace
• Substance abuse
• Gifts, conflicts of interest and other ethical matters
• Protection of confidential information
• Solicitations and distribution of literature
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Time Off and Leave Policies
• Holidays
• Vacations
• Paid sick leave
• Medical leave
• Maternity leave
• Other leaves
• Procedures relating to
leaves
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“On the Job” Policies
• Performance evaluations
• Corrective actions
• Severance pay
• Personnel records
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Safety and Health Policies
• Medical examinations
• Accidents
• Weapons
• Workplace violence
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Internet Use and Social Networking Policies
• Internet use and social networking policies should address:
– Compliance with intellectual property laws
– Scope of authorized use of company Internet, e-mail and social
networking tools
– Prohibition of specific types of Internet use and content
– Compliance with procedures established for privileged
communications and litigation
– Installation of unauthorized software, including encryption
software
– Employee privacy and protections against unauthorized access
– Format and content of e-communications
– Retention of e-communications
– Behavior as social networking participant
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Additional Resources and Practice Tools
• Sources for Additional Information
– Business Transactions Solutions Chs 172 & 174
– Legal Compliance Checkups: Business Clients Ch 10
• Practice Tools
– Employment Law Handbooks (BTS §§ 174:1 et seq.)
– Social Media Policies and Related Materials (BTS §§
174:1 et seq.)
– Employment-Related Policies (LCC:BC App 10-1 et seq.)
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