Employee Handbooks: Should You Or Shouldn't You?

One size no longer fits all when it comes to employee handbooks. Gone are the days of simply "implementing a new employee handbook." This raises an important question, who really needs an employee handbook? Contrary to popular belief, there is no state or federal law that requires employers to have a handbook. Should an employer decide to have a handbook, they are then legally required to provide certain policies in the handbook and keep it updated regularly. Also, multi-state employers should have handbooks that are compliant with each state's specific laws.

Alden Parker, Regional Managing Partner of employment law firm Fisher Phillips, shared his opinion on why all employers should have a handbook. "A good handbook is worth its weight in gold. It acts as a guide for managers and employees to set and understand expectations. Rather than having a confusing patchwork of policies, a handbook helps guide the employment relationship in a cohesive, efficient manner. Ultimately, as a litigator who meets many employers during their darkest hours, facing a lawsuit by a former employee, those employers without a handbook are at a far greater risk than those with a set of policies laid out in a handbook that are consistently and fairly applied."

While being compliant is something every employer strives to be, a handbook might not be immediately feasible for employers with 15 or fewer employees. If this is the case, having a set of key policies that is distributed and consistently applied company-wide is crucial. Eli Makus, Senior Partner at Van Dermyden Makus, said the following about why small employers might decide not to implement a handbook: "While it's common practice to adopt an employee handbook, it's not a legal requirement. Small employers may be able to achieve their legal obligations with key policies and thoughtful, consistent practices. Handbooks can be expensive and time consuming, which may not be worth the investment for a small employer."

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