New year, updated handbook

A new year is right around the corner, and it's a good time to review, revise, and update your employee handbooks to ensure legal compliance. Why? Handbooks that are out of date, have inaccurate information about current laws, or are poorly written will do more harm than good. If you don’t have an employee handbook, it’s time to put one in place for 2023. If you have an employee handbook and haven’t reviewed or updated it in the last year, it’s also the time to do so.

Welcome to the company

Employee handbooks are often distributed to new employees within a few days of starting their job. As a result, it’s often their first introduction to the business’ culture and history, and it will set the tone for how they view their new employer.

This is a valuable opportunity to employers. Employee handbooks provide important information about your business, including a history of the business and its mission. Additionally, they provide rules for the workplace, so employees will know what’s expected of them and what the consequences will be for failing to meet the expectations.

Finally, an up-to-date handbook will help employees keep up with changes to state and federal laws, including how and where to bring complaints, how to request time off, and what leave benefits they may be entitled to.

Handbooks are an important piece of evidence

Handbooks are more than an introduction, however. At the outset of almost every employment-related lawsuit, the employee handbook is going to be requested by an attorney representing the employee.