Updating Your Employee Handbook Should Move to the Top of Your Year End To Do List!

1.To prevent legal liabilities

An out-of-date handbook that is not in compliance with new federal and state laws and regulations presents a risk of legal exposure. One of the first items requested by most government agencies when they are conducting employment audits, and one of the first pieces of evidence sought in most employment lawsuits is the employee handbook. Simply put, if your employee handbook is not up-to-date and in compliance with applicable federal and state laws, you are risking penalties, damages and exposure to claims and lawsuits. 

And federal and state laws have rapidly changed over the past few years, so if your employee handbook has not been recently updated, it is likely out of compliance.

2.To reflect a new post-pandemic reality

Along with operating under new laws, businesses are also operating in a new post-pandemic reality. Long gone are the days when all employees are reporting to the same physical work location. Even employers who have returned employees to the office have some employees working remotely or in a hybrid setting.

If your handbook does not contain updated remote or hybrid work policies or reflect the remote or hybrid reality you find yourself operating in, it is time for an update.

Remote and hybrid work has caused employees to spread throughout the country, greatly expanding the universe of state laws employers need to abide by and the state law policies that need to be addressed in your company’s employee handbook. While prior to the pandemic many companies

had employees working in just one or a small handful of states, more employers are now operating in multiple states. If your company’s handbook does not contain policies complying with all of the states in which you have employees, it is time for an update.

3.To communicate the rules of the game to employees

Along with avoiding legal risks and communicating new policies that are dictated by a new reality, your company’s handbook should be updated because it is one of the first and most effective tools for messaging the rules of your employment relationship with your employees. Like any good instruction booklet, an effective employee handbook will tell employees how the game is played. An effective employee handbook is your opportunity to tell your employees what your company is all about, what it provides to them and what it expects from them. 

But, if your employee handbook is out-of-date or out-of-touch with the reality in which you operate, then that effectiveness is blunted. If the handbook says one thing, but your employees know another thing to be true, your messaging tool turns into a garbled mess. In other words, if the handbook doesn’t reflect that rules of the game that you expect your employees to play, then employees won’t be able to properly play the game. 

Information provided by: White & Williams, LLP