Should we have an employee handbook?

QUESTION:

I think having a handbook is more of a liability to my company. I want to keep things casual and informal so that I can make decisions when a situation arises. Not to mention, we only have 20 employees and we’re like a family, everyone knows the rules and we’ve never had any type of issues. Why should I have one in place for my organization?

ANSWER:

There is as much danger in saying too much as too little. In the absence of policies, past and present activities become policy through precedent. Because of a lack of consistency in application, many of these practices are, or can be, considered discriminatory. This might place the employer in greater danger of law suits and claims with government agencies than if they had carefully spelled out the organization’s expectations employees.

Here are some specific reasons to have an employee handbook in place:

§  INFORMS EMPLOYEES. An employee handbook represents a key component to any sound employee relations program. Handbooks communicate essential information about benefits, policies, and performances standards to all employees. Openly communicating with your employees results in enhanced morale, productivity, and loyalty.

§  REDUCES DISCRIMINATION AND LEGAL PROBLEMS. Handbooks promote fairness and consistency in the manner in which employees are treated, and thereby reduce the possibility of discrimination. Although written employment policies cannot completely shield an employer from legal problems, a properly drafted and implemented employee handbook gives an employer more favorable legal positioning. We recommend that all employees sign an Acknowledgement of Receipt form for the handbook which indicates the employee agrees not only to familiarize themselves with the contents, but to abide by the contents and ask for clarification as needed.

§  ASSISTS OWNERS AND MANAGERS. An employee handbook guides managers in making employment decisions, such as implementing corrective action, hiring, firing, and promoting.

§  SAVES TIME. Having your policies and standards set out in writing can be a real time-saver by eliminating the time taken by managers researching what the policies are and employees going to managers to ask questions that could be answered by a handbook.

Employee Handbooks represent a key component to any sound employee relations program. Call your TPO consultant to discuss the state of your employee handbook.

TPO is an award-winning firm established in 1991 made up of a group of highly experienced, nationally certified HR experts and trainers. TPO is licensed by the State of California (PI-25638) to provide investigative services. For more information, please contact us at 800-277-8448 or visit our web site www.tpohr.com.

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2011 TPO Human Resource Management. No part of this article may be reproduced, excerpted or redistributed in any form without express written permission from TPO Human Resource Management.