As experienced Westchester County Employment Lawyers, we often get questions from employers as to whether they are required to have any kind of set protocols in the work place. “Does it have to be in writing?” “Does there have to be any type of employee manual or hand book, or what needs to be included in that manual?” There is no real law that dictates what has to go in an employee manual, and depending on the size of your work force and the type of activity that you carry out you may find that there is no need for an employee handbook or manual. However, things that would go in an employee handbook or manual would apply to all sizes of employers. That includes things on vacation time, sick time and how to utilize that time when that time accrues. It could also include things on how to make complaints of bullying in the work place or harassment in the workplace.
Employment handbooks and manuals often times can be as little as two or three pages, and as much as fifty pages. This will depend on the benefits an employer offers, and will depend on how much an employer wants to put out there in terms of written information for the employees. It will also depend on the area of work or the type of business the employer carries out. There are often times social media policies included in these handbooks especially now with the ever increasing use of all types of social media websites, employees are continually posting using Facebook and other resources. These are the type of things that typically will be found in a current employee handbook or manual. If you have a handbook or manual in place it certainly is always a good idea on an annual basis to reissue that to your staff and get confirmation that it’s being disseminated and received by people in your company and it’s also important to update that from time to time as your business changes and grows.
If you have any questions regarding implementing or updating your employee manual or handbook, contact our skilled Westchester County Employment Lawyers today for a free consultation.
This informational blog post was provided by Kim Berg, an experienced Westchester County Employment Attorney.
