What To (And Not To) Cover in Your Employee Handbook

An up-to-date, legal employee handbook is essential for all businesses – large or small. Not only does it keep all policies, benefits, and work standards in a single document, but it also helps you hire higher quality talent and better manage your employees.

Every business is unique, so just plugging policies into a handbook template is rarely the best option. Instead, you’re best served by investing time and resources to developing a well-written, purposeful, and detailed employee handbook tailored specifically to your business

Regardless of the size and scope of your company, there are a few policies every employer should consider having in their handbook:

• Employment Policies and Procedures
• Compensation and Benefits
• Working Hours and Schedules
• Vacation, Holiday, Sick, and Personal Time
• Leave Policies (FMLA)
• Safety and Security
• Confidentiality
• Ethics
• Conflict Management
• Travel and Expense Reimbursement
• Discipline and Behavior
• Social Media and Technology Use

Just as important to having the appropriate policies and procedures outlined is leaving out policies that may negatively impact your company, culture and employee morale. Some examples of policies to consider leaving out are:

• Bell Curve Performance Reviews – Performance reviews requiring managers to designate a certain percentage of employees ‘excellent,’ another percentage ‘above average,’ and so on are unfair to both your managers and employees.
• Salaried Employee Overtime, Without Comp Time – If salaried employees work overtime, they need to be able to take time off to compensate, without having to dip into their allotted vacation or personal time.
• Proof of Death – Requiring a death certificate from an employee as proof a loved one has actually passed on is a terrible position to put an employee in.
• Doctor’s Note –Treating your employees as trustworthy adults will greatly increase your overall morale and company culture. You can always build in doctor’s note requirement for extended absences or leave.
• Overly Complicated Bonus Eligibility – A bonus program employees don’t understand is poor motivation to achieve bonus-worthy goals.

Every business is different, meaning every employee handbook should be different. There are many handbook templates out there, but investing time and resources in developing a well-written, purposeful, and detailed handbook will be more beneficial, especially in the long run.