Do You Need an Employee Handbook for Your Small Business?
SevenStar HR CEO Jackie Gernaey recently joined Alan Schoenberger on his podcast, Chasing Nickels, to discuss the importance of job descriptions, employee handbooks, and hiring the right employees. In this blog post we’ll cover some of the discussion on employee handbooks.
Having written policies and procedures for the employees of a company is important for a variety of reasons. It helps employees understand what their role is (and isn't) and what their responsibilities are, enables the organization to run smoother, and helps employees operate more effectively.
An employee handbook is a great way to document many essential things about a business, and while they're not necessarily required by law, there are many things that are required of business owners in the realm of HR and an employee handbook can help document whether that employer is meeting those requirements.
Alan: We know an employee handbook is essential, and there are a lot of templates out there so let’s discuss the pros and cons of using a template versus one that is customized for an employer, and what an employee handbook can and can't do.
Jackie: When you get your first employee you should start thinking about two things to protect yourself. The first is a job description for that employee, and the second is an employee handbook that outlines all of the policies within the organization. These two things will protect you in the event of employee litigation. If that happens, a DOL judge will ask for the job description and the employee handbook, and if you don't have those two things they're going to side with whatever the employee says is the rule and what their job is.
Alan: Should you use a handbook template?
Jackie: You can - something is always better than nothing - but if you're going to use a template you need to make sure that you get your handbook approved by a labor employment attorney, that way you will know that you are doing things within the law.
Alan: If you're looking to kind of improve or get your HR house in order I would say to our audience start with that employee handbook. if you don't have one, get one, and if you do have one maybe it's time to revisit it and make sure that it reflects the reality of your organization.
Jackie: If you're concerned about laws and regulations changing, do the HR MRI assessment. Then you'll totally know where you are and it'll give you some peace of mind.