Turnkey Employee Handbook
A turnkey employee handbook that covers employee-related policies and benefits. Make it your own merely by inserting key words, selecting alternative phrases, deleting segments that are not required or adding topics unique to your operation. Included is a power-point presentation that you can use to introduce your employees to your company products, customers, and community!
Are you unsure about how to handle problem employees? Have you written more than one internal policy memo this past year? Do your employees constantly ask about sick leave, dress codes or promotions? If you answer yes to any of these questions, it may be time to create an employee handbook.
When businesses hire their first employees, they often start without having thought through fully all of the implications of what they are doing and don't have an employee manual in place.
This new person is going to be representing you and your company to your customers and clients, will be in your premises and will gain access to all of your knowledge and resources. Many people find that what starts out with great promise ends up in disaster when they haven't considered all of the implications.
As soon as you hire your first employee you seriously need to consider having an employee manual. The contents only need to be basic to start off with, but the benefits of having one will add value to your business.
So let's have a look at some of the reasons you need a manual.
To start with there are the legal reasons. If you have an employee you have instantly inherited a raft of legal obligations that you must fulfill. With most of these legal obligations if something goes wrong the first thing the courts will ask you is "what was your written policy on this issue".
Stay out of court
Because some states regard an employee handbook as an employment contract, handbooks can sometimes be a detriment to employers who find themselves in court. You can minimize these in-court dangers, however, with precise language and effective disclaimers. The main legal advantage of having an employee handbook is avoiding court altogether.
A readily available written policy offers managers and employees a better opportunity to avoid misunderstandings that can lead to contentious and possibly litigious situations. When everybody knows exactly what the rules are and sees them followed every day, disputes are much less likely to occur.
The sort of legal areas you need to have coverage include workplace health and safety, anti-discrimination, workplace harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, racial vilification, privacy as well as the financial side of things such as pays and personnel records.
Then there are the time management reasons - if you have to tell more than one person the same information you will save time by having the information written down and then just sharing the information.
Next there are the making life simpler reasons - if an employee has a question about an issue (such as how many days before they go on leave do they notify you), it is easier for them to quickly look at the manual rather than try and catch you to ask you the question. It makes life simpler and easier for all of you.
Finally there is the no surprises reason. By that I mean both you and the employee are totally clear on what will happen and when on an issue, and what process will be followed. This is particularly important for issues such as probation, performance and grievance processes.
Topics to cover
· Company overview: Provide a short statement on the history, goals and culture of your business.
· Workplace commitments: Emphasize your company's commitment to equal opportunity employment, non-harassment/non-discrimination and a drug-free workplace.
· Benefits: Explain rules for vacation, sick leave and health insurance.
· Pay: Let employees know when, and how you will pay them as well as how they are classified (full-time, part-time, on call).
· Work performance: Include information on how your company reviews worker performance.
· Discipline and termination: Outline the grounds for disciplinary action, the procedures for pursuing such action and termination procedures.
· Acknowledgment of receipt: This section is an absolute must and should contain important disclaimers including: a section acknowledging that the handbook doesn't represent an employment contract, and that employees recognizes that they are in an at-will relationship; a section acknowledging the company's right to revise or terminate any of the policies in the handbook at any time, for any reason.
Our New Supervisor Training Program, an effective Leadership Development Course, and our Employee Handbook were designed especially for small businesses that do not have the time, resources or expertise to develop their own.
Our TurnKey New Supervisor Training Program product can be made specific to your company’s needs and helps new managers develop successful skills to effectively communicate, delegate and manage priorities to increase employee productivity, morale, work quality and accelerate their ability to focus their time and efforts on tasks that achieves results that are most important to the organization’s success.
Why write your own New Supervisor Training Program or an Employee Handbook when it's done for you? Pre-written course ware saves you time and money and helps you better prepare for classroom training with well-researched and proven course materials. (ModernManagers.com HR in a Box)