Employee Handbook with HR for Health

Questions Everyone Asks About Employee Handbooks

• An employee handbook should contain important information about relevant labor laws, company rules/procedures, and other policies related to the office. 
• It should open with an introduction describing the values and culture of the practice. It Communicates to all team members that they belong and play an essential role in the practice. 
• It should include vital details about new hire processes, company rules, workplace laws, paid time off, sick leave provisions for states that mandate sick leave benefits, employee classifications, methods for managing performance, and policies for termination and discipline. 
• To give life to the handbook, it's worth describing the history of the practice, primarily what drives the practice and what problems it's trying to solve. 
• Within sections on company rules, it should list all the relevant regulations related to the code of conduct, including hours of work, attendance, dress code, meal and rest break requirements, and policies regarding electronics, social media, and technology. 
• The sections related to regulatory requirements should detail any protected leaves that apply to your practice, worker's compensation, and laws/provisions pertaining to disabilities, harassment, and discrimination. 
• Finally, even if you decide to outsource your payroll duties, the handbook should include the details around your payroll processes that impact your employees, such as automatic deposit procedures and how often employees receive payment of their wages. 
  Recommended Reading: Best Practices for When You Revise Your Employee Handbook

• You want your employee handbook to be a custom employee handbook. That is, it needs to be a living document, open to changes that fit the law and your practice culture. 
• Employee handbooks should be updated and revised annually, and sometimes it's good to review and update them sooner if there happen to be multiple law updates in a given year.
• Employers need to regularly check for new case rulings and regulations related to the workplace to ensure the handbook is up to date with current laws. Laws change all the time, and those changes do not always occur at predictable times of the year. 
• In addition, if your practice is large, you'll likely need to update the handbook more often than smaller practices. This is because more laws apply to employers with higher employee counts.
  
  What is the best way to implement a new handbook?
• An employee handbook is best implemented through team collaboration, clear communication, confirmation of handbook receipt, and adapting to needed changes after the handbook has been distributed and implemented. 
• Second, after the new handbook has been distributed, it's essential to communicate with the team. Address where there have been changes in policies, rules, and how this will affect your team moving forward. Provide opportunities for feedback and encourage questions about anything that might need further explanation. The goal is for your team to precisely understand their roles and how they can contribute to office culture. 
• Third, if you're using an electronic copy of the handbook, be sure to have confirmation from each employee that the handbook was received digitally. If you're using a paper copy, request a signature from all employees, ensuring the handbook was received and reviewed by a specific deadline. 
• Finally, be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances to be ready to alter the handbook as needed.
  Recommended Reading: How to Implement Your Employee Handbook Effectively With Your Team