A well-written employee handbook provides a cornerstone for positive employer-employee communication, and can be a great tool to ensure that each employee receives the same information, in clear language, about your company’s policies and expectations, writes Suzan Sturholm of All Things HR in Lynnwood. A handbook may also offer valuable legal protection if an employee or former employee challenges you in court.
It is important to avoid creating an employment contract with employees, which is a common mistake employers can make when writing their handbook. Whether you write your handbook yourself, or hire someone else to write it for you, you should always have the final draft reviewed by an employment attorney before distributing it to employees. It is better to know before a problem arises than after if your policies, procedures or practices are not in compliance or will not hold up in a court of law.
Finally, consider your handbook to be an evolving document and revisit it once a year to keep up with legal changes as well as changes within your company.
Contact Suzan Sturholm at All Things HR, LLC, at 425-248-4978 or go to www.allthings-hr.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
