Update your employee handbook or else it may do more harm than good

I often tell clients one of the most important documents they need to have is an employee handbook, and it needs to be up to date and legally compliant. Why? An out-of-date, inaccurate, or poorly written handbook really can do more harm than good. If you don't have a handbook, put one in place. If you have one and haven't reviewed it in the past year, now is the time to do so. Here are my top five reasons to update your employee handbook now.

Top 5 reasons to update your handbook

1. Key piece of evidence. In almost every employee-related lawsuit, the employee handbook—or at least certain policies from it—is an important piece of evidence. For example, if an employee is terminated for poor performance, policies on disciplinary action and employee conduct would be important for a jury or other decision maker to see.

2. Changes to state and federal laws. There have been many changes to state and federal laws, new laws, and court interpretations of laws that may affect your existing employment policies. The laws are always evolving at both the state and federal level, and courts' and agencies' interpretations of older laws evolve as well. Over the past several years, there have been a flurry of employment laws enacted affecting employer policies, and you need to be sure you have addressed them in your handbooks.