When it comes to helping your Oregon business avoid wasting precious time and money on litigation, a little bit of prevention often goes a long way. An employee handbook is an important tool for any size company to have. Having a carefully drafted handbook in place helps your business accomplish a number of important objectives. It may, too, help keep it out of court.
The Society for Human Resource Management notes that your employee handbook serves double-duty as a guideline for your employees to follow and a means of protecting your business against possible claims of discrimination or unfair treatment.
What to include in your employee handbook
Most employee handbooks include general information about your company, including an overview of its values and mission statement. Most handbooks also outline the policies your business has in place, the federal and state laws your company adheres to and the benefits packages it offers, among other possible elements. You may need to revisit your employee handbook periodically and update it as needed.
What to do with your employee handbook
Once you have your employee handbook drafted, have all current and future hires read it carefully. Then, have them sign an affidavit stating that they did so and store them somewhere safe in case you need to reference them sometime in your future.
It is important that you make your employee handbook different and distinctive from an employment contract. You may want to work with an attorney when drafting yours to make sure that you not only do this but that you also cover all necessary bases.