Employee crisis can turn from bad to a crisis and even get catastrophic with just a snap of the fingers. That is why handbooks or employee handbooks are very important so that there is a guideline on how one should act while being employed in the company. Sometimes though the handbooks exist, some employers forget to update them on a regular basis. Today, there are a lot of employment laws published which should be abided by the employers forcing them to review their stance on work-related matters.
Taking a Boilerplate Approach
Boilerplate means a standardized document, procedure or method. It is also called as boiler plating and most, if not all cases it is deemed to lack sincere effort. Though it does not have originality, the boilerplate method is still used for the standardization of the structure of legal documents like contracts and it is widely used in most companies because it seems efficient. Moreover, it is often used because it can be recycled or reused to make a next context without totally changing the whole text.
Not Including All Policies in the Handbook
Everything should be written in the handbook but in the event that the employee knows that there are missing policies not written in the handbook, there are legal advisers that can help. It is understandable that there are new policies written in draft and that at some point law changes occur. However, not including this in the handbook is not an excuse.
Omitting Disclaimers
Disclaimers should be included in every handbook to avoid any meltdown. This is a tricky part but it should have a disclaimer where it says that nothing is included in the handbook that changes at-will of every employee in the employment that they are having with the company. Things like including a 90-day probationary period are mostly included in the handbook disclaimers as well as a section where the handbook alone cannot address all situations that may possible happen.
Not Having an Effective Anti-harassment Policy
Harassments often happen in workplace. This can be either from employer-employee harassment or employee-employee harassments. Law firms like having the Rochester workers compensation attorneys say that every policy guideline should have no room for harassment and that when it occurs, it should be reported right away.
Having an Overly Restrictive Disciplinary Policy
Disciplinary procedures should be thoroughly explained in the workbook but putting too many sanctions to the employees can also be a cause for trouble. For example, using a foul language can be a ground for termination. But putting too mush restrictions on it is also too much.
Disciplinary Procedures
Disciplinary actions can be intriguing and should require to be reviewed most often. Experts suggest that instead of putting a lot of sanctions for any infractions, statements about respect, ethics, and honesty can help. Rochester workers compensation attorney says that there are cases where the legal case is won because an employee was terminated but the infraction was not included in the handbook list.
At-Will Employment
“At-will” law means that the handbook cannot be considered as the employee-employer contract and that the employer can just make changes right away of the employee’s status whenever the former likes it. There have been concerns brought about by this making the employees wanting to renegotiate the contract so that there are better benefits and higher wages for them. This may seem confusing so it is best to ask help from attorneys to answer more about this matter.
Keeping legal out of the Loop
There are cases where the employers keep the legal department out of the loop but it can spell trouble for the company. This is because when time comes that the industry faces legal cases, the attorneys will have a hard time defending their client because they are not made aware of the changes that had happen.
Benefits
Benefits should also include complying with the federal and state laws and it should be awarded to the employees. That is why; each company should have a checklist of these benefits in order to avoid problems when one files for medical leave, maternity leave and other types of benefits.
For companies to work smoothly, it is important to take always review the handbook for policies to avoid conflict and employee crisis.
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- How to Avoid Employee Handbook Crisis - August 7, 2016
