{"id":122,"date":"2016-01-26T17:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/?p=122"},"modified":"2016-03-22T19:11:01","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T19:11:01","slug":"employee-handbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/employee-handbook\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Employer&#8217;s Best Friend: The Employee Handbook"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-255\" src=\"https:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/book-117596_1280-287x300.png\" alt=\"employee handbook, employee discipline, employer best practices\" width=\"270\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/book-117596_1280-287x300.png 287w, https:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/book-117596_1280-768x803.png 768w, https:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/book-117596_1280-979x1024.png 979w, https:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/book-117596_1280.png 1224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/>It\u2019s a new year, and there\u2019s no better time to create an employee handbook or update your existing one.\u00a0A well-drafted employee handbook effectively communicates workplace expectations, policies and procedures to employees.<\/p>\n<p>When management follows its written policies and procedures, they provide employers with a strong first line of defense against employee claims. \u00a0Check out our\u00a0list below to find out what\u00a0to include in your employee handbook.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Important Items to Insert in Your Employee Handbook Include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Company Information.<\/strong> Start with general information about your company, its policies and its goals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-Discrimination Policy.<\/strong> Include an equal opportunity employment statement and ADA compliance statement, as well as anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and compliant procedures.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Conduct Expectations &amp; Disciplinary Procedures. <\/strong>Explain your general expectations for employee performance and behavior and set forth in detail the disciplinary procedures your company follows, including which employee actions constitute grounds for suspension or termination.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Attendance Policy. <\/strong>Explain your policies for attendance and tardiness, including call-off procedures and consequences for tardiness and absenteeism.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Leave Policies.<\/strong> Document your policies for time off, family medical leave, military leave, jury duty, voting, holidays, vacation, sick days and bereavement.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay &amp; Promotions. <\/strong>Identify how and when employees are paid, along with policies and procedures regarding breaks, bonuses and promotions.\u00a0 Also explain your legal obligations regarding wage and hour laws, employment taxes and workers\u2019 compensation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Employee Benefits. <\/strong>Provide general information about employee benefits, including eligibility for full-time and part-time employees.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Safety &amp; Security Policies. <\/strong>Describe your policies for creating and maintaining a safe and secure work environment.\u00a0 Include an OSHA compliance statement along with information about your policies for safety hazards, accidents and emergencies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Arbitration Provision. <\/strong>Consider an arbitration provision, which would require an employee to initiate an arbitration proceeding to bring certain claims instead of filing a lawsuit.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Employee Acknowledgement. <\/strong>After an employee receives a copy of the handbook, the employee should sign an acknowledgement of receiving and reading the handbook.\u00a0 And as they say \u2013 keep the receipt.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Disclaimers.\u00a0 <\/strong>Clarify that your handbook does not constitute an employment contract nor does it in any way alter the at-will employment relationship.\u00a0 Also be sure to clearly state that the handbook supplants older policy documents, and that the policies in the handbook are subject to change at any time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To learn more about employee handbooks, create a handbook for your business or have your current handbook evaluated,\u00a0contact us at (312) 216-2720 or info@marcusboxerman.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a new year, and there\u2019s no better time to create an employee handbook or update your existing one.\u00a0A well-drafted employee handbook effectively communicates workplace expectations, policies and procedures to employees. When management follows its written policies and procedures, they &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/marcusboxerman.com\/blog\/employee-handbook\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,2],"tags":[48,49,65,50,94],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-employee-handbook","category-employment","tag-employee-handbook","tag-employer-best-practices","tag-employment-law","tag-litigation-prevention","tag-policies-and-procedures"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Every Employer&#039;s Best Friend: The Employee Handbook -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s a new year, and there\u2019s no better time 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