YOUR EMPLOYEE MANUAL

An employee manual is a must for any business that has employees. The sooner you start on yours therefore, the better it will be for the business.

The day you hire your first employee is the day you start putting together your employee manual.

Your manual is specific to your business and lays down the rules under which your business operates in regard to its staff.

The benefits of having a well planned and easy to read manual far outweigh any possible detrimental use by disgruntled employees. Provided of course, that all your employees are treated in the same way, according to the laid down rules in your manual.

There is more on why you need a manual later.

Labor Law Suits

Employees filing lawsuits against you can be one of the major down sides of small business if you don’t prevent the causes of such lawsuits in the first place.

The single most common cause of labor law suits is by not treating all your employees equally. If you have no rules or policies regarding labor in your business, then you will be inconsistent when dealing with individual employees. And as such this leads to confusion, dissatisfaction and law suits.

That should have made the point that you need an employee manual.

If you don’t treat Jack the same as Jill, you will have trouble!

What to put in your manual and how to plan your manual is not difficult if you go about it logically.

Your Manual and what to put in it.

Different businesses need different and specific content to meet the needs of that business. All businesses however need an employee manual that gets across two main messages:-

1. What do you, the employer, expect of your employees in any given situation and
2. Ensuring that your employees understand what’s expected from them in the same situation.

A good employee manual will ensure that both messages are put across and understood clearly.

Okay, now lets take a look at what needs to be done:-

1. Before starting on your manual, write up an outline, listing all those things that should be included in your manual. Get these into some sort of logical order.
2. At the front of the manual, include a disclaimer along these lines “the employee policies included in this manual are subject to change and such change, can be with or without notice.

   Such a disclaimer might help reduce the potential for any law suits.

3. Check with your trade association regarding a sample manual. Many such associations will be happy to supply you with a sample employee manual that will cover your business needs. Manual templates can also be sourced online.
4. Cover all those elements of your business that will affect your employees such as:
   • Working hours and overtime policy.
   • Performance evaluation policy, covering times and effects.
   • Pay increases.
   • Salary scales if applicable.
   • Sick days policy.
   • Vacation time, including any restrictions on times that vacations cannot be taken.
   • Any other employee benefits. Be careful here, if you give Steve special treatment, not given to others, the potential for a lawsuit is increased.
   • Grievance procedures: If an employee feels aggrieved, what should they do?
   • Employee misconduct: Make sure that your employee manual clearly states behavior that will not be accepted at work. This includes all types of discrimination, and especially sexual misconduct.
   • Work Rules: Mention any off-limit areas. Wearing of protective clothing. Cover any housekeeping rules.
   • Dismissal Policy: Clearly lay out your policy on the offences that will lead to a dismissal. These could cover such offences as employee theft, drug taking, drunkenness, persistent lateness, fighting, etc.

     Do not beat around the bush here, no “further action will be taken” statements, simply, “if you do this or that you will be fired.”

5. If you have a procedures manual or a health and safety manual as separate documents, mention them in your employee manual, stating that it is the duty of the employee to read and understand them

   If you don’t, then cover these subjects in your manual.

6. If any of your employees have access to a company computer, you need an employee internet policy for your business included in your manual.

   Lay out what is acceptable computer usage and what is not.

That’s it – you have put together your manual, the first draft anyway.

Make sure it is easy to read. Remember to write it for your lowest grade employee.

Now take it to your friendly lawyer and get him to check it for possible errors. You don’t want to find that you have stated, in writing, that you are going to be breaking the law so get it checked.

Now what?

No manual is fixed in stone and all manuals need revision and updating as your business grows and matures. Make it look professional, but remember the costs.

Keep the printing costs down but ensure that you have enough copies for each and every employee in your business.

Now you have to decide how you are going to present your manual to your employees.

Hold a meeting of all employees; go through the manual and explain its contents.

Make sure that all your employees receive a copy and from then on ensure that all new employees also receive a copy.

Tell all your employees that you will expect them to read the manual and then get them to sign a note to that effect and confirming that they will abide by the manuals rules and policies.

Of course a manual is only as good as you make it and can only be meaningful if you yourself insist that its policies are applied to each and every employee as well as to yourself.

Why you need an Employee Manual

I have left this to last, but it had better be covered. If you have doubts about the need for an employee manual, you are not the only one!

In today’s world of litigation, anything in writing can be used against one, so why have a manual that could be loaded with possible liabilities?

Here’s why.

• Without written policies and procedures you have a business that is based on all the past actions of the company, both good and bad. A minefield of danger here for lawsuits.
• Without an employee manual, each and every employee will have a different idea of right and wrong. Nothing will be done in the same way. No one will know what is expected of them or what they can expect in return.
• There are no laid down procedures to deal with events that will happen in the work place. Every time something happens, a new procedure will be introduced, possibly very different from the last one.

  Supervisor “A” will discipline Jack in this way while Supervisor “B” will discipline Steve in that way. You will suffer the lawsuits!

If you want to effectively manage your business, you need the policies and procedures that are laid down in your employee manual.

Return from Your Employee Manual to Recruiting Employees for Success

or Return from Your Employee Manual to Business Management Basics Home Page

Subscribe to Business Buzz, the monthly newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on new, site business content, business news, tips and other items of interest.

Be assured that your email address will be safe and that is why you will be asked to confirm your subscription by double opt-in. This will keep you safe from spammers and other malicious persons.

Hope you enjoy Business Buzz.

Subscribe here.