Few things are more mundane than an employee handbook.  Regardless of its “boring” nature, the employee handbook is a key ingredient in the employee/employer relationship.  A handbook can protect the employer from litigation, or conversely, generate litigation if not properly written and if not religiously updated.  Here is a very brief overview of some hot issues:

No Solicitation Policies seek to limit the solicitation of employees for commercial purposes while they are working, which would include solicitations by unions as well as charitable and religious organizations.  Any no-solicitation policy that is more than two years old likely needs to be updated given the recent developments in this area.

Electronic Communication Monitoring Policies in the last two years have brought a host of new laws and cases dealing with monitoring of employee’s personal email sent and received on the employer’s computer.  Poorly written handbooks have caused many problems for employers who have monitored personal activity on company computers.

Social Media Policies have been subject to many human resource related articles for the past few years.  The courts have finally caught up to the hype surrounding these policies and have begun to provide a framework upon which policies may be analyzed.   For example the National Labor Relations Board case American Media Resources received much attention after a complaint was issued regarding an employee who was terminated for simply criticizing her supervisor in Facebook Posts.  The NLRB asserted that the termination violated the employee’s right to engage in protected concerted activity.

Significant changes in Accommodation, Discrimination and Arbitration policies also need to be reviewed and updated in the employee handbook.  Total Team Solutions Human Resource Service is available to discuss these evolving policies and how best to update the employer handbook.