Designing Employee Handbooks Legal Limitations

Employment At Will Employees shall not be considered permanent employees. All employment is at-will. Employees may have their employment discontinued for any reason.

Not a Contract Nothing in this employee handbook shall be construed as an employment contract.

Changes in the Handbook Management may make changes in the employee handbook at any time.

May vs. Must “May” statements provide more flexibility than “must” statements. For example: management must complete performance appraisals by March 1 might cause legal problems if that “must” is not obeyed. “May” is much better.

Sexist Language Be politically correct in your language Refer to sales people rather than salesman Refer to Workers’ Compensation rather than Workmen’s Compensation

Posters--Federal OSHA—It’s the Law Employee Polygraph Protection Act Fair Labor Standards Act Equal Employment Opportunity Notice Department of Justice Notice—Anti- discrimination

Posters--Idaho Workers’ Compensation Notice Idaho Unemployment Insurance Discrimination Minimum Wage

Safety For companies with 11 or more employees, make a provision for safety administration

Separate Recordkeeping Files Medical records: workers’ compensation claims, exams, and drug and alcohol tests EEO-1 reports for companies with 100 or more employees Reference checks Immigration files The rest

Length of Time to Keep Records I9 Form: 3 years Pension-related files under ERISA: 6 years Wage rate tables under the FLSA: 2 years Records detailing exposure to toxic substances: Employee’s tenure plus 30 years

Fair Labor Standards Act Overtime Time-and-a-half Independent contractors

Independent Contractor Definition 20 IRS Rules Set the hours of work? Dictate the methods by which the task is to be completed? Pay an hourly wage? Supply materials, tools? Furnish space, telephone secretarial services? Set fixed geographic limits on the work?

Independent Contractors Benefits Don’t have to pay Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation. Contractor does this on his/her own. Don’t have to deal with city, state, and federal income taxes. Contractor does this on his/her own.

Independent Contractor Limitations Lose employer control of contractor IRS penalties for paying a contractor when you really have an employee

Top Twelve Handbook Updates—1. Workplace Violence Provide employees with reporting opportunities, counseling avenues, and general guidelines on how to act when there is a threat. Source: Nationalreview.com

2. Benefits Provisions Monitor changes in benefits plans— particularly health benefits Obama Health Care Plan--Employers who choose to offer employees health insurance can receive tax cuts of up to 35% of premiums this year, and up to 50% in More than 60% of small employers will be eligible for these tax cuts.

3. Employee Free Choice Act (still a bill) Make sure to update bulletin board solicitation in the handbook. Ban all outside solicitation to be consistent.

4. Text Messaging Texting and Driving Harassment Retaliation

5. Social Networking I—General Policies General Provisions Employer Monitoring Reporting Violations Discipline for Violations Written Acknowledgement Authorized Social Networking Limits on Social Networking

5. Social Networking II--Advantages Networking Goodwill Idea generation Customer complaints and praise Recruiting

5. Social Networking III- Disadvantages Sexual Harassment Time Management and Productivity Security Privacy—Confidential Information Accuracy Defamation Discrimination

6. Location Monitoring Restrict used of GPS, RFID due to privacy and discrimination concerns Check proceedings/h#4 for problems and policy statements proceedings/h#4

7. Adverse Weather/Other Closings How affect employee compensation for both exempt and nonexempt employees H1N1

8. Family Medical Leave Act Military Families—Up to 26 weeks of leave to handle injured or ill military member of the family fmla-update

9. Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 Eased definitions of handicapped— creates nonexhaustive list Sitting, bending, caring for oneself Functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, bladder functions Common sense standard—not scientific fmla-update

10. Respectful Workplace Policy Jerksatwork.com Mybossismichaelscott.com Defining respectful workplace behavior separate from harassment policies because harassment is illegal and disrespect is not

11. Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Genetic information should be added to the list of protected classes Update wellness programs to protect genetic information

12. Charities and Tax-Exempts Revised IRS Form 990 asks whether employer has whistleblower, conflicts of interest, and document retention and destruction policies. Same form asks about executive compensation procedures

Sample Handbook Statements Society for HR Management (have to be a member) Bureau of National Affairs’ HR Library ( Have to be on Boise State campushttp://library.boisestate.edu/indexes/ Federal government page with examples law/employment/hiring/employee-handbook.html law/employment/hiring/employee-handbook.html Several state examples Nevada Handbook Generic sample Many university examples