By Caitlyn Rest
Employee handbooks function as a tool to help employees and managers alike in making decisions in the workplace that correspond with the values of the company. In simpler terms, the policies in your handbook work as a guideline for decision making, therefore these policies should be updated every year or two to make sure they are in alignment with company values and state or federal law changes.
Reviewing the entire employee handbook may seem like a daunting task at first glance, but here are some tips to help get through it:
- Check for outdated wording or policies - A good way to ease into a review of an entire employee handbook is to read it through and look for outdated wording or information. Often policies that haven’t had any legal changes are overlooked during reviews and can start to sound outdated or use terms that are no longer applicable [e.g. referring to the internet as the Worldwide Web]. In looking for this outdated wording or information you will also be familiarizing yourself with the current policies and procedures, which will make the next steps easier.
- Use the review to make sure your policies align with the company’s mission, vision, and values - The policies set forth in the employee handbook are meant to help employees make decisions that align with company values, policies should answer employee questions about why things are the way they are. These policies should represent company values in a way that helps guide decisions and defines desired outcomes. When reviewing policies compare them to the mission and vision statements of the company and consider if they are in line with each other.
- Use resources such as Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM], the United States Department of Labor [DOL] or your state’s department of labor websites to check for legal or regulatory changes that could affect policies you have in place - When reviewing an employee handbook, one of the biggest steps is making sure that your policies are up to date legally. Many policies won’t have legal changes that often but when they do it is extremely important to make sure that your policies fall within legal guidelines. A great way to do this is to use online resources such as the SHRM website, your specific states’ website [usually STATE.gov], or the U.S. DOL [Department of Labor] website. These sites are great sources for looking for updates in federal and state employment laws while reviewing your employee handbook.
- Employees must re-sign the handbook after any changes are made - Once that handbook has been reviewed, updated, and approved by administration or the board of trustees it is important to have all employees sign and acknowledge the newest version of the handbook. Any updates to an employee handbook should be reviewed and signed by every employee to ensure that everyone acknowledges and understands the changes made.
Do you need assistance with your workforce strategy or other Human Resources consulting needs? Contact us and check out our updates for more helpful resources.
Caitlyn Rest is an intern with Organizational Architecture working as a Project Support Specialist. Caitlyn is a student at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio and is working towards her Associate's degree in Human Resources Management.