An employee manual is a document that provides your employees with specific information about your human resources policies. It would cover such things as vacation policy, statutory holidays, health insurance, pay day and so on. The manuals are often written in parts and then compiled in a binder or handbook.
The manual would be a key element in indoctrinating new employees about the organization's policies and procedures.
An employee manual should answer questions like: "Is this a drug free company?" "What happens if I get injured on the job?" and "How do I report inappropriate behavior such as sexual harassment?"
The purposes of the manual are:
- To set company policy regarding all aspects of company standards for employee relations and benefits provided
- To keep employees informed and motivated by having clear workplace rules
- To legally protect the company with regard to Federal and State compliance
Having an informative and easily understood manual or handbook will help avoid costly lawsuits. It also will help with compliance to the seemingly endless government regulations.
Your most valuable asset is your employees. A well-written manual is a management tool to generate harmony between the employer and the employees. Positive employee relations can create an environment of open communication, trust-all resulting in increased productivity.
Employees don't like surprises - they want to know the "rules of the workplace". The handbook will tell them everything that they need to know about the workplace rules as well as benefits provided such as health insurance that will also affect their families. Sound policies that are easily understood will engender loyalty and longevity on the job.
Unnecessary headaches and legal disputes can be avoided if organizations realized the value of having an up-do-date employee manual. One size certainly does not fit all. You need to customize the manual to your unique circumstances.
A good employee manual will address issues before they become a situation. Protection of company's assets, trade secrets, inventions and other proprietary information should be clearly spelled out. How an employee is to handle delicate issues such as: personal use of company assets (cars, equipment, and computers); sexual harassment or whistleblower protection all needs to be clearly stated. It would also set out the consequences for violating company policy.
As an added benefit it also helps the supervisors and managers as they don't have to "dream up" policy for punishment for infractions or on the other hand, awards for excellent performance. A good manager will treat employees fairly on a consistent and uniform basis.
Although there is no "one shoe fits all" for avoiding employee disputes, an organization can minimize costly problems by maintaining sound personnel practices all documented in the employee manual.
If an employee is disgruntled, he or she has the ability to report the organization to labor boards or other government agencies - all in addition to turning to the courts for claims of discrimination, wrongful dismissal or harassment. There is a large onus on the employer to prove its innocence. This is both time consuming of executive time and costly for the legal fees. This can be especially difficult for a small organization.
Bottom line is that an organization can comply with its legal requirements by creating and following a well crafted employee manual. Done well and enforced by management, it should meet or exceed legal requirements and provide the framework for timely resolution of disputes or misunderstandings.
By establishing and following a good handbook, an organization can ensure that it meets State and Federal law and provide a basis for resolving issues. If forced into litigation an organization should be in a much stronger position to defend itself.
The manual should clearly state what is expected from the employees in regard to employee behavior. Preparing the manual is a great exercise is forcing an organization to delineate its policies. Happy employees make for happy customers - which equals greater viability for the organization.
The manual should be a professionally written document that is 100% legally correct. The labor laws vary by state, so be sure to get your manual checked by an attorney. Even better, get a template of a manual from an attorney. I recommend the Law Offices of Timothy Bowles, Pasadena, CA Telephone: (626)583-6600 www.lawyers.com/tbowles
No organization (profit or non-profit) should be without a well-crafted employee manual.
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