Employee Handbooks - How Important Are They?

As an HR Consultant, I've worked with a lot of businesses in the areas of employee relations, employment practices and legal compliance.  And I can tell you with great confidence, that even small businesses need to have an employee handbook. 

What A Handbook Does Is:

• It officially "communicates" to your employees your stance on certain policies and practices within your organization.

• It also serves to answer a lot of the basic questions that otherwise you'd have to take time out to explain over and over and over again to your employees.

• An employee handbook improves your legal defensibility when facing charges of discriminatory practices or when battling unemployment claims.  Its absence, in these cases, will be your demise.  You have no legs to stand on without a handbook.

A Roadmap To Success

A well-written handbook can be your greatest asset, and can serve as a cornerstone for your company.  This is because employees generally operate best when they know and understand what is expected, and they have a reasonable feel for what the boundaries are.  And a handbook lays out the roadmap for the company to handle situations consistently. 

Consistency Over Fairness

Believe it or not, employees would much rather have CONSISTENCY over FAIRNESS anyday of the week! 

What?????  It's true.  You see, "fairness" really depends on which side of the fence you're standing.  As an employee, I may not think your attendance policy is "fair," because it's restricting me and my choices!  However, it's hard to argue, even if I didn't like a policy, that I would feel better knowing that the policy applies to everyone. 

I would expect my employer to treat each and every "subject of the kingdom" exactly the same way every time.  As an employee, if I see a lack of consistency, my first defense is to point my finger, and say (in a snotty voice):  "What about this person?  What about that person?  Why didn't the policy apply to him?"  (Tell me, honestly, does this at all sound familiar????)  As an employer, you won't ever win your people's trust and hearts if you're not CONSISTENT. 

Oh, and by the way, if you ARE consistent, then you'll be perceived as FAIR.   

A Poorly Written Handbook Is A Liability

That all being said, a poorly written handbook is actually worse than not having one at all!  It can get you in a deeper hole if your policies are written in a way that lock you into a situation you had no idea would develop. 

My advice

Have an HR professional help you design a handbook if you don't one; or have the HR professional review what you DO have in place.  He/she will make sure that the handbook makes sense to your employees, and won't be written with excessive legal jargon. 

My Last Words On This

PLEASE refrain from getting pieces-parts of handbooks from the Internet! 

The most important thing you can do is make sure your handbook is rock-solid and legally-compliant.  Keep in mind that every state has its own state regulations that at times may supercede the federal compliance regulations.  The good news is you don't have to be the expert in employment law.  You just need to work with someone who is, and who is willing to help you.

Kathleen Lapekas - PHR

Action HR Consulting

For Personal Attention to Personnel Matters...

http://www.actionhrconsultant.com/