Guide Your Employees by the Book

Employee manuals help staff navigate the workplace.

by Elise Oberliesen

Employee handbooks filled with policies, procedures and guidelines certainly don’t read like the latest Dan Brown suspense novel, but when sticky topics like sexual harassment explode or questions surface about slip and fall procedures, knowing what to do can save headaches, time and money. The goal of a well-written handbook, says attorney Mike O’Brien, is to resolve issues long before hitting the panic button with legal counsel — or worse yet, being hit by a full-blown lawsuit. That’s right, handbooks can prevent litigation. “A pound of prevention is cheaper than an ounce of litigation,” O’Brien says.

Why do companies use employee handbooks? Not all do. Etching words into stone, according to some consultants, removes flexibility and requires overly stringent adherence. But some who go by the book do so for legal reasons. Others use it as a communication channel. What goes in it? That depends on several considerations, including company size and type of business, says O’Brien, who works for Jones Waldo, a law firm in Salt Lake City.

Having practiced employment law for 23 years, O’Brien knows that employment practices are under constant scrutiny and change. Considering Internet use, privacy policies and rising discrimination complaints, both HR and legal professionals have no shortage of work. Racial issues land in the No. 1 slot under anti-discrimination, with over 30,000 cases reported by EEOC, in 2007, according to the HR Café Blog, comprised of HR executives.

Employee handbooks are a collection of current laws and various company policies, procedures and practices. Company size determines some content in the handbook. The handbook explains not only what is expected of employees — like no surfing on pornographic Web sites — but also how certain laws affect employees and employers.

With more than 50 employees, employers must be federally compliant regarding certain laws. Laws under Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) must be communicated to employees, O’Brien says. When these laws change, employers are responsible for keeping workers in the loop — and the handbook or updates to it are one such way.

With federal laws, 50 employees aren’t always the magic number. “FMLA comes into play when you have 50 or more employees, and anti-discrimination laws come into play with 15 or more employees,” O’Brien says. But, state laws have anti-discrimination provisions too and those can apply with just five employees or even one.

“If you’re a business in Utah, and you have 16 employees then you are covered by all of the anti-discrimination laws, both state and federal,” O’Brien says. “You would want a policy in your handbook that says, ‘We prohibit sexual harassment.’’ Followed by more details about how a victim would report it and how management would assist the employee.

“I don’t care how small you are, you need a harassment policy and training,” says Cinda Daggett, who operates the The HR Department, a Colorado-based consulting company. Daggett’s job description reads much like an employee handbook. That’s because part of what she does for clients includes writing the handbook and staying abreast of the constantly changing laws contained within those pages. Consider working with an attorney or HR consultant to craft policies that pertain to federal or state laws, Daggett says. Ask an attorney to review the entire document for a final proof, she says.

Language crafts the message, tone drives it home

Because the audience needs to understand the take-home message, clear language is key, says Lynn Richardson, vice president of human resources at SOS Staffing in Salt Lake City. “Avoid company- or industry-specific terminology.” That means no acronyms.

Although the book contains policies and procedures that require strict adherence and strong language, tone can fluctuate with a laid-back style. “Avoid too much legalese in the handbook,” Richardson says. It may sound like simple advice, but using clear, easy to understand language increases the overall understanding. Write it to an eighth grade level, he says.


Central to a handbook are the legal considerations, but Richardson says it serves a much deeper role. Consider that employees will take away messages about the company and its culture from a well-developed book. Inject a more direct tone in areas like drug use and violence policies, he suggests, while keeping tone light where possible.

Work-related issues can veer into unfamiliar territory, no different than an off-road Jeep about to flip out. Think of the handbook more like a road map. But write it well because a sloppy book won’t cut it, says Daggett. Although it sounds like simplistic advice, she sees her share of poorly written or incomplete books. The goal: Employee handbooks can help employees and supervisors take proactive steps before the path bottoms out. Consistency is the signage that keeps everyone on track, says Daggett.

Interpretation of the rules gets hairy when employees don’t see eye-to-eye. The handbook is more like a rule book providing consistent answers for all employees. And that’s important because it helps everyone play more fairly. Consistency becomes more problematic when employees are spread out, says Richardson. The book is handy when more layers of management develop and a company grows. “So that everybody gets the same message in the same way,” he says.

Web vs. Paper

Employee handbooks are evolving into something that no longer resembles a book with pages. That’s because more organizations are going paperless. Web-based documents grant immortality to the information formerly contained in those dusty three-ring binders. Policies are more easily refreshed with online documents.

But an even bigger benefit is cost savings. “We estimate that going to an Intranet solution for handbooks will save us approximately $2,500 annually,” Richardson says. Over 10 years, that’s $25,000, not including inflation.

Changes in federal laws like FMLA, for example, may require swift attention and rapid communication to employees, something the Web does best. But distributing updates to employees also means keeping track that they read the updates. Ask employees to send back a confirmation with an electronic signature that states they have read the document, says O’Brien.

Remember, keep records of those e-mails. Paper trails help employers prove their case, if ever a complaint is filed. “I think it is important because you want to show you gave the employee notice of any changes,” O’Brien says. Without proof, the judge may not side with the employer, he added. The IT department is a great place to get some help in creating such tracking methods, says O’Brien.

But if paper still rules the office, just a few things to remember. “Sometimes a mistake is made when you don’t review it or update it,” Richardson says. With new hires, collect the signature page or tear sheet from the handbook. It demonstrates employer communication of policies and prevents someone from saying, ‘I didn’t know,’ Richardson says.

Finding the right balance of content for the company handbook may take little bits of time — or large bits. That depends on the demands of the business, types of goods and services brought to the market and the company’s size. Working with the professionals helps drill down to the matters that matter most.