Employee Handbooks

Employee handbooks are an essential tool that bring uniformity of workplace policies, procedures and expectations to your business. Often employers have few, if any, written policies in place while others may have adopted individual written policies in the past with little, if any, consideration given to how the policies can or should fit together. Lindabury’s Employment Group works with clients to create employee handbooks that communicate the expectations and obligations of both the company and its employees.

Although there is no federal law requiring private employers to provide handbooks to their employees, there are numerous reasons for employers to do so. Handbooks provide an opportunity to explain expectations, ensure that each employee receives copies of all relevant policies and provide answers to common employee questions. Providing employees with a handbook and requiring a signed acknowledgment that the handbooks was provided can be invaluable to an employer’s legal defense should an employment dispute arise.

Laws and regulations regarding employment are constantly changing. It is recommended that employers conduct an annual review of their employee handbook to ensure that all policies are current and lawful. At a minimum, a handbook must be reviewed and revised, if necessary, when there is a change in the law, a change to the employer's policies or procedures or when an employer expands into new states.

Lindabury can assist employers in drafting employee handbooks which address:

• General workplace policies and procedures
• Employee benefits
• Employee classifications
• Payroll, deductions and compensation practices
• Attendance
• Travel and business expense reimbursement
• Timekeeping
• Meal and rest periods
• Standards of conduct
• Performance reviews
• Federal, state and local leave rights
• Holidays, vacation and sick days
• Family and medical leave
• Pregnancy and parental leave
• Military service leave
• Anti-harassment policies and reporting procedures
• Anti-retaliation protections
• Disability and religious accommodations
• Substance abuse in the workplace
• Drug testing
• Workplace violence
• Code of ethics/conflicts of interest
• Nepotism and romantic relationships in the workplace
• Outside employment
• Telecommuting
• Use of IT resources and communications systems
• Use of personal devices in the workplace
• Social media use
• Dress code and grooming requirements