What are some common mistakes to avoid when writing an employee handbook?

The most common mistakes I see are: 1/failure to address the confluence of FLSA/paid family leave/sick time/ADA and 2/paragraphs providing for FLSA coverage when the threshold number of employees has not been met.

Avoiding these pitfalls ensures a handbook that serves its purpose effectively - One-Size-Fits-All: Tailor the handbook to your company's culture and policies - Incomplete Information: Cover all important policies to prevent confusion - Lack of Updates: Regularly update the handbook to reflect changes - Accessibility Issues: Ensure easy access, considering digital options - Ignoring Employee Input: Gather feedback for a more inclusive handbook - Overemphasis on Discipline: Highlight positives like benefits and growth opportunities - Unclear Communication: Use simple language to prevent misunderstandings - Ignoring Local Laws: Ensure compliance with local employment laws - Neglecting Training: Provide sessions to ensure understanding

Often common “practices” are not documented in handbooks. This is particularly confusing and difficult for new management coming into the organization. Document that “Tribal Knowledge “

This is the biggest problem my clients are facing these days. As workforces become more remote, employers start to find themselves employing people in states they never imagined. I've found the easiest way to manage this is to have the main handbook based on federal and the state law of the "home state," then drafting concise supplements that highlight the difference for each state.

So true, Zina! It's easy to address a single state in which a company operates but, increasingly, we need to address multi-state employment and even ordinances applicable at the municipal level. The paid sick/safe leave acts are prime examples but, in addition, biometric scanning laws, salary thresholds/minimum wage laws warrant detailed explanations. When I wrote about employment laws in the EU countries the other week, they are greatly simplified but implementation across entire nations rather than on the provincial level.

Not only should your employee handbook refer to federal employment laws that are applicable to your workforce, but should also include a section within your handbook with state supplemental laws that are applicable to select populations based on where they live. For example, while you make have a Sick Time or Leave Policy, if there were employees in the state of Arizona within your workforce, it would be prudent to include the Arizona Paid Sick Leave Time Law & Policy in your handbook specifically for that subset of employees.

Make you Employee Handbook fun to read. If it is a simple PDF document and everything is written down as one text, no one will read that document. Add testimonials of employees with quotes about the culture. Also very important is that this document is always easy accessible. My best practice is to share it for every new joiner via email as a welcome pack as well as save it in your internal platforms (confluence, sharepoint or similar) to make it always accessible for your team when needed.

This is in particular important if you have new joiners or if changes were made to the handbook. It is always good to remind your employees about the handbook and the policies that are stated in it. Not only does that provide a lot of context and information for your team but you protect yourself as well to have exceptional cases for approvals or questions from the employees.

Inconsistent communication regarding Employee Handbook updates is also another mistake to avoid. Whenever there’s an addendum to your employee handbook (i.e., policies being removed, edited, or others being added), communication should go out to all employees impacted by the policy changes. Typically, this will be most if not all of the employee population but it should be concise in describing what has changed and what the potential implications of said changes are.

Don't write a handbook if you don't plan to adhere to what it says. Otherwise, a handbook is just a document. Having a handbook that isn't enforced can open you to all sorts of claims.

Tone and company culture aside, you want to make sure that your employee handbook not only includes all legally mandated policies and notices, but any and all policies that are specific to your company. Failing to include tailored policies in your employee handbook will get in the way of company-wide accountability and consistency from an enforcement perspective. Long story short, an employee handbook is not a "one size fits all" document, nor is drafting a handbook a one-and-done process - it's a living, breathing document that must accurately reflect your company's policies and expectations.