Taking a Bath in the Sink is NOT ok and 5 Other Reasons to Have an Employee Handbook
Yes, we’ve all heard of the employee that was video taped taking a bath in the sink at the Burger King restaurant he was working. While that’s not likely to happen in your workplace, it’s still a critical that you clearly communicate your company policy to your employees.
Your employees need to know what your policies are so they can confidently work at their optimum level knowing that you have a solid strategy regarding their employment. Additionally, in today’s litigious environment, labor board claims, discrimination lawsuits, sexual harassment claims and employees doing really stupid things are all too real and can drain your time and focus or worse, devastate your business.
Here are 5 top reasons you need to have and Employee Handbook:
Save Time and Money
Comprehensive Employee Handbooks, clearly written and carefully compiled will save time and avoid confusion about your policies and simply keep the redundant questions about vacation, sick-time, benefits and other policies to a minimum. Employees can focus on their work instead of worrying about the little things and trust me…..they worry about the little things.
It Creates Uniformity and Consistency
One of the worst things you can do as an employer is treat employee disparately or handle employment situations inconsistently. The Employee Handbook is a guide not only for you and your managers to consistently respond to workplace situations, but it will help the employees to know that they are being treated equally and fairly.
Employee Handbooks are a Great Motivational Tool – For You and your Employees
When you clearly define your mission in language that employees will understand and buy into, it can inspire your own leadership and that of your managers to help keep your employees and your business in line with your mission and values. When your employees understand where you’ve been (company history) and buy-in to where you’re going (mission statement), they can help you not just survive, but thrive in a difficult business environment.
Written Policies Can Avoid Legal Disputes
Written policies, consistently enforced, can help diffuse threatening situations before they get out of control. A well drafted and enforced handbook can ward off accusations of misapplied benefits, pay or overtime. It can provide clear guidance on the company’s position(s) against discrimination/retaliation/harassment as well as how to manage situations like substance abuse, inappropriate behavior, dress code, etc.
The Government Says You Have to Communicate Certain Employee Rights
That should be good enough but we’ll provide some further clarification. You as an employer are obligated to inform your employees of such programs as Family Medical Leave (FMLA) Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) Paid Family Leave (PFL) Sexual Harassment, Workers Compensation, Unemployment, Voting rights, and many more. In addition to required postings, the Employee Handbook is the place where the required notification needs to be.
Okay, 6 Reasons
In addition to covering policies designed to help you manage your workforce and protect your business, an effective employee handbook should tell the story of your company, your business philosophy and where you want to go in the future. Information like this is invaluable to employees as it helps them to understand how their lives can be enhanced by a partnership with your business.
I hope we’ve made the case. An Employee Handbook should be part of your strategy to provide a solid foundation your employees can stand upon so they can work efficiently, effectively and profitably. It should also be updated at least annually to ensure all new laws and changes to existing law have been incorporated.
Don’t have time to make it happen? Contact Champion today and we’ll get you started for less than you can do it yourself.
