Top 5 reasons a business needs an Employee Handbook:
5. Employees appreciate knowing the rules, and how their employer will handle a given situation. I like to think of a handbook to being similar to the white-lines along the side of the road (they’re called guidelines for a good reason). They are there to help drivers know what the boundaries are. They keep everyone out of the “trouble zone.”
4. Employees don’t need to come to you with every question they have. Many of their questions can be answered just by checking in the handbook. This is particularly effective when managers encourage using the Employee Handbook like a tool.
3. Handbooks give employers protection when hiring, firing, and making any number of other employment decisions. Employers have a greater chance of winning unemployment claims and discrimination/wrongful discharge claims if they have a quality employee handbook. Quality, in this instance, requires policies that are written to reflect legal compliance.
2. Managers make better, more consistent decisions when clearly written, easily understood policies are readily available to reference.
1. An Employee Handbook gives your employees the sense their work environment is professional. They understand they work for a business that knows it is a BUSINESS; and isn’t being run as if it were a “hobby.”
A word of advice to business owners — NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use someone else’s handbook or download one from the internet. You are legally-binding your company to those policies. Even if you think you’ll revise the handbook later, you may not be familiar with all the potential legal issues that can arise from having policies in place that don’t pertain to your company. You need an employee handbook written to be legally compliant for your business.
For personal attention to personnel matters, call Kathleen Lapekas – SHRM-CP, PHR @ 812.457.1068.
Need help putting together a handbook that’s meaningful for your employees?
