SAMPLE OF A EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
The handbook is broken down into the following sections:
Opening Statements: Company History, Purpose,
Image, and Facilities
Hiring and Advancement Practices: EEOC statement,
Promotion, Outside Employment, and Rehiring Statements.
Employment Status and Eligibility: Employee Status,
Probation/ Orientation Period
Employee Benefits: Benefit Waiting Period
Time and Wages:
Standards of Performance:
Rules of Conduct:
Management Structure:
Health and Safety:
Conclusion:
Acknowledgement of Receipt Section
As you begin to go through this chapter, you will find that some of
the areas may not apply to your business. If this is the case,
then do not include them in your handbook this is just a sample to
give you an idea of what to include we hope you find it useful.
In using the Hand Book, you can help prevent
needless lawsuits and establish the methods by which problems can
be resolved. Should you decide to design and implement a
handbook, remember, you as an employer, must abide by what you
have put in it. If you don't, be ready to experience some of the
biggest problems that you have ever had. On the other hand, you
need not feel that what you have put into your hand book is
etched in stone. Changes can be made through the use of an
addendum page for your present employees. Just be sure to
consult your attorney about appropriate laws for your state.
On the following pages are some samples of the categories
that should be contained in your hand book.
IMPORTANT
One of the hottest areas of topic now is Employment-At-Will
vs Just Cause Employment practices. Employment-At-Will means that
the employee's employment can be terminated at any time by the
employer with or without notice. Conversely, an employee can
terminate his/her employment with the company with or without
notice. A Just Cause Policy means that an employer must have
proper or sufficient reasons to discharge an employee.
You should consult your Attorney to determine what approach you
want to use.
OPENING STATEMENTS SECTION
The first section deals with statements about the company.
The majority of this section is self-explanatory, there are two
aspects of major importance that must be included.
They are:
1. A clear statement that this handbook is not a Contract of
Employment.
2. A statement that the Company reserves the right to amend,
supplement, or rescind any provisions as it deems
appropriate at its sole and absolute discretion.
These statements are the most important statements contained
in your handbook. The EXCLUSION OF THE FIRST STATEMENT places
you in the situation where your handbook is a Contract of Employment.
The EXCLUSION OF THE SECOND STATEMENT places you in the
situation where you CAN NOT CHANGE provisions of your policies or
procedures at your discretion.
We are including a set of sample statements here that gives you
the main ideas that should be included. Following are the sample
statements:
WELCOME TO Surplusmania.com
We have prepared this handbook to acquaint you with the
policies, procedures, and philosophy of our Company.
This handbook is intended to provide you with information
about the Company's employment policies, benefits, and other
general information about the Company's operations. Please
understand that this handbook only highlights the Company's
policies, practices, and benefits for your personal
education and therefore cannot be construed as a legal
document.
THIS HANDBOOK IS NOT A CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT.
In addition, circumstances will obviously require that
policies, practices, and benefits described in this handbook
change from time to time. Consequently, the Company must
reserve the right to amend, supplement, or rescind any
provisions of this handbook as it deems appropriate at its
sole and absolute discretion.
You should disregard any other handbook or written Company
policy that you have received before the date you have
received this handbook.
The Company provides many employee benefits to you as a
member of the Company team. We suggest you read this booklet
carefully and keep it for your future reference. It is your
responsibility to know and comply with the policies and
procedures described in this book or described in any future
addenda to our policies or procedures.
OUR HISTORY
Include the history of your company such as when and how it
was founded.
OUR PURPOSE
Surplusmania.com is committed to providing the best
quality merchandise at the least amount of expense to our
clients. Our reputation in the field of surplus merchandise is
such, that we are considered to best at what we do in the surplus
industry, our staff is the best trained and qualified in the
industry.
OUR FACILITIES
Surplusmania.com operates in a facility that contains ___?___
square feet of space, affording us the ability to house the latest
computer and design equipment available. The present
location was built in ___?___ to meet our expanding space needs
and to give us the ability to add additional space as it is
needed.
Our next area will be on Hiring and Advancement Practices.
HIRING AND ADVANCEMENT PRACTICES SECTION
The Hiring and Advancement section must contain your
statements on equal employment opportunities; sexual harassment,
race, country of origin, etc. You are required by law to not
discriminate or harass any employee applying to work for your
company or already employed by your company.
It is also recommended that you consult your state laws
governing these areas as the state laws may be more stringent
then the Federal laws involved. Your EEOC statement will be
a broad based statement stating that the company does not
discriminate against anyone on any basis that is prohibited by
law.
EEOC STATEMENT
Surplusmania.com is an equal opportunity employer; this means
that as employees, your religion, age, sex, national origin,
race, creed, handicap, or color will have no effect on your
hiring, promotion, pay, or benefits. Employment
opportunities are open to all qualified applicants solely on
the basis of their experience, aptitude, and ability. In
short, the Company does not discriminate against anyone on
any basis which is prohibited by Law.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT STATEMENT
The Company will not tolerate sexual harassment of any
employee by a supervisor or fellow employee. Any employee
who believes that he/she has been the victim of sexual
harassment should report such complaints to the Department
Manager (or the Department Manager's Supervisor if
necessary), for investigation and resolution.
All complaints should be in writing for prompt investigation
and follow up.
Also it is the policy of Surplusmania.com to prohibit dating
between supervisory personnel and their subordinates.
EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION
With the passage of the Immigration Reform Act of 1987, you
must verify that anyone that is hired by your company is a
resident of the United States, a legal alien with the right to
work in this country, or is a natural born citizen of the United
States. You must have the I-9 form on file for each employee working
for you. Following is a sample statement:
EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION
The Immigration Reform Control Act of 1987 requires all
employers to verify employment eligibility of all
individuals in a form approved by the Attorney General. You
will be asked to complete an I-9 (Employment Eligibility
Verification Form) which must be kept on file.
PROMOTION
The next statement should cover your promotion policy in the
company. Following is a sample statement:
As you meet people at Surplusmania.com, one thing will become
clear; most members of Management were promoted into their
current position. "Promote from Within" has been, and
always will be, the basis of our continued expansion and
growth.
Your Advancement will be based entirely on your achievement,
performance, ability, and potential. The aim of this policy
is to fill job vacancies by the promotion of qualified
employees who have demonstrated their ability in their
present positions. The more you excel in you job, based
upon the Company review program, the sooner you will find
yourself moving forward within the Company.
These sections simply restate the aspects of the Equal
Employment Opportunity Laws that have been set up by the Federal
and State Governments. There is no room for deviation from these
requirements. If your business is involved in interstate
commerce or does business with the Federal or State Governments
you may have to supply additional information showing that you do
not discriminate.
OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT
There is a need to specify for the employee, your position
on outside employment. Especially for the full time employee. The
problems that could come up if that person is employed elsewhere
are potentially immense. Following is a sample statement:
OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT
We understand that under certain circumstances, a full-time
or regular part-time employee may need to hold two jobs at
the same time. We must ask, however, that your
responsibility to Surplusmania.com as your principle
employer comes first. It is possible for us to schedule
around another job; however, any conflict of interest will
be decided on its individual merit, and management reserves
the right of final approval.
REHIRING OF FORMER EMPLOYEES
The prospect of former employees applying for work at your
company is quite good. Many of these people feel that they should
receive preferential treatment in the hiring process. This can be
viewed as discriminatory. Following is a sample statement:
The Surplusmania.com is open to the rehiring of former
employees; however at the time of rehiring you must make
known your former status, job location, and reason for
leaving. You will be considered on the same basis as other
applicants. Of course, your knowledge of and experience with
the Surplusmania.com will be taken into account.
EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND ELIGIBILITY SECTION
OPENING STATEMENT
An opening statement covering the aspect of "Contract of
Employment", should be repeated here. It is stated again to
reinforce the previous statement made in the opening section.
Following is our sample:
No employee of the ABC Company has the authority to enter
into a written or oral contract with you. Nothing contained
in this manuscript is intended to alter this fact. Only
written contracts of employment executed by The Chairman of
the Board, will be recognized by the ABC Company.
EMPLOYEE STATUS
Here it is important how you define each of the possible
levels of employment. It is often almost impossible for an
employee to get exactly 40 hours each week, so a range of what
full time means is useful. If your definition of a full time
employee is one who works 40 hours in one week, and you hire an
individual for a "Full-Time" position who suddenly only works 35
hours in one week, you could be required to pay them for the
additional 5 hours that they did not work. Remember to give
yourself some wiggle room.
Following is a sample statement:
FULL TIME EMPLOYEE
Employees who work an average of 37 1/2 hours per week or
more. Benefits are calculated on the average number of
hours worked each day.
REGULAR PART TIME EMPLOYEE
Employees who work an average of 20 to 37 1/2 hours per
week. Benefits will be calculated on the exact average day
or week worked.
PART TIME EMPLOYEE
Employees who work less than 20 hours each week.
TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE
Employees hired for specific periods; such as seasonal
periods, Holidays, etc. Less than 120 days of employment.
PROBATIONARY PERIOD
The need for a probationary period has become an accepted
practice in today's business environment. Even so, it is still
necessary to inform the individual of this requirement and the
duration of this period. The normal period is 90-Days. This
gives the employee the necessary time to adjust to the Company
and the Company time to see if the individual's performance
improves as time moves forward. Most of all it helps reduce the
potential "Halo Effect" that most new employees present to the
employer during their first 4-6 weeks of employment.
During this time it is important to perform 30, 60, and 90
day performance reviews. The same review form should be used
with every review given to the probationary employee. Since most
companies use their standard review form for the position a
precautionary note needs to be made. You cannot expect a person
to perform at the level of a one year veteran while they are in
their probationary period. With the use of the review form, it
gives the individual the opportunity to judge where they are in
relation to the standards of the position.
Following are some SAMPLE Statements that have been
used by other companies covering the probationary period
(orientation period is interchangeable).
SAMPLE ONE
Our confidence was placed in you at the time you were
selected for your position. During your first 90 days;
however, you are considered to be a trial employee. Every
possible assistance will be given to you during this period
to succeed. If, however, you feel during this probationary
period that you selected the wrong company, you may feel
free to tell us so without advance notice. The company will
reserve the same privilege during this time.
SAMPLE TWO
All new and rehired employees serve a 90-day orientation.
The orientation period gives an employee's immediate
supervisor the opportunity to assess the employee's ability
to perform the assigned duties of his/her position. The use
of an orientation period is not intended to state, imply, or
change the status of any employee as subject to "Employment
at Will".
Even with these types of statements, it is an excellent practice
to document all discussions with an employee about their
performance from the very beginning. If you go into any type of
hearing without proper documentation, you will most likely lose.
See the Chapter on The Personnel File for more information.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
In this section all of the benefits that the Company provides
should be discussed. The following list is a sample of items that may
be included:
VACATION TIME WITH PAY JURY DUTY PAY
HOLIDAY PAY BEREAVEMENT PAY
SICK-TIME PAY INCLEMENT WEATHER PAY
MEDICAL INSURANCE EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS
LIFE INSURANCE PAID REST BREAKS
DENTAL INSURANCE EYE CARE INSURANCE
PROFIT SHARING STOCK OPTION PROGRAM
BONUS PROGRAM CLOTHING ALLOWANCE
CAR ALLOWANCE PAID EXPENSES
All of these items are provided by the Company for the
employee. Your type of business will determine how many or which
ones apply to you. We will now enter into our section on
Benefits.
BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY WAITING PERIOD
Before listing all of the benefits available, it is
advantageous to determine what benefits each employee status
level will have. Most companies have different benefits
available to different levels of employees. It is essential that
if you do have different benefits for different employees, that
you define what they are.
For example:
If you were to make the statement that "All employees were
eligible for Holiday pay." It means exactly that! The person who
works full-time is entitled to the same Holiday pay as the person
who works 4 hours a week. Not much of a benefit for the person
who works full-time. It may seem rather senseless to have to go
to this length to define this, but the problems that you prevent
makes it well worth your time. After all, it is your company and
your money you are dealing with here. Following is a sample
statement:
After an initial 30-day waiting period all full-time and
regular part-time employees are eligible for the following
Company benefits: Holiday pay, self-paid group health
insurance, employee discount, (OTHER BENEFITS YOUR COMPANY
MAY PROVIDE). The waiting period for all other paid
benefits; such as, paid vacation, sick days, and profit
sharing is one year. Part-time and temporary employees are
only eligible for the following benefits: Paid 15-minute
breaks, employee discounts.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS OPENING STATEMENT
This statement is used to open the actual discussion on each
benefit that you are going to provide your employees. The sample
statement follows:
Your compensation at ABC Company includes more than a
Paycheck; it also includes an active and comprehensive
benefits program. One of the important ways that ABC
recognizes your effort and participation in our growth and
success is through our broad range of employee benefits.
When you add up ABC's cost for these benefits, and combine
that with our other forms of employee compensation, you can
readily see how ABC recognizes and strives to meet our
responsibility to you. Your benefits include the following:
VACATIONS
You will be surprised at all the qualifying that we are
going to do for vacations. All of this is necessary to explain
what, when, and how vacations are computed. It is possible that a
part-time employee could work any where from 25 to 40 hours in a
week. How, then, do you compute one weeks' vacation pay for that
individual?
You also need to specify when employees are eligible for a
vacation. Care must be taken in all definitions. Nothing can be left
to chance or to imagination as to how, when, and what a vacation is.
Our sample statement follows:
VACATION PAY
Vacation time with pay is granted by ABC to all full-time
and regular part-time employees, in recognition of your
services and is intended to provide you with an opportunity
to rest and relax away from the job, without loss of income.
The amount of vacation time is determined by your length of
service as follows:
After One (1) complete year of continuous service, one (1)
week vacation.
After Two (2) complete years of continuous service, two (2)
weeks vacation.
You must have worked and be actively employed on your
anniversary date in order to be eligible for vacation time
in accordance with the above schedule. (You may not take
the vacation prior to your anniversary date).
The year is computed beginning with your first day on the
job -- your anniversary date.
A week of vacation pay is based upon your average weeks'
pay, including all categories of benefit pay, during the 52
weeks previous to your vacation week(s), excluding any
overtime pay.
Vacations must be taken during the year of eligibility, the
cannot be carried over from one year to the next.
You will not be paid for unused vacation time.
Employees who resign, retire, or are discharged before their
vacation time is taken, forfeit this benefit.
HOLIDAY PAY
You will find that Holiday Pay has been defined in detail.
If your business operates on a seven-day schedule we have added
an extra stipulation that the individual must work their regular
schedule before and after the Holiday. This is to ensure that
you do not have an employee who calls in sick to gain an extra
long weekend or time-off. Our sample statement follows:
HOLIDAY PAY
[insert company name] recognizes the following seven (7) paid
holidays each year:
New Year's Day (Traditional) Independence Day (July 4th)
Easter (Traditional) Labor Day
Memorial Day Thanksgiving
Christmas (Traditional)
All full-time and regular part-time employees receive pay
for these Holidays.
Holiday pay will be paid based upon the average hours worked
per day, (including all categories of benefit pay) during
the 52 weeks previous to the week in which the Holiday
falls, excluding any overtime.
You must work on your last scheduled day before the Holiday,
and your first scheduled day after the Holiday.
Employees who work on the Holiday will receive Holiday pay
in addition to their regular wages for that day.
Holiday pay is not included in overtime calculations, but is
included in calculating all other benefits.
INSURANCE BENEFITS
This area is one with which you will need outside help.
Consideration must be given to many different items. Following
is a list of things that need to be considered:
Waiting Periods
Employee Contributions for Premiums
Enrollment Periods
Explanation of Benefits; such as, Maximum Coverage
Any Special Time Limitations for Benefits
This is an area that your insurance carrier should help you
write. Whatever is written in your handbook becomes something
that YOU have to live with, not the insurance company. Their
agreement with your company is well defined in the contract that
you sign with them.
SICK PAY
The examples that follow regarding sick pay are self
explanatory and need only to be shaped slightly to fit your
working environment.
SICK PAY
[insert company name] provides 5 sick day each year to all
full-time and regular part-time employees who have completed one
(1) year of service.
Sick days may be accumulated to a maximum of ten days. If
you do not need all five of your sick days in one year, the
unused sick days may be carried forward into the next year.
Sick days must be taken in full days not hours.
A sick day will be based upon the average hours worked per
day, during the 52 weeks previous to the week in which you
are ill, including all categories of benefit pay, excluding
overtime pay.
If you are ill, you must contact your supervisor as soon as
possible to allow for the scheduling of your replacement if
necessary. Also if you are ill for more than one day, you
must contact your supervisor each day.
If you are under a Doctor's care, you must bring a release
to return to work from your Doctor.
Sick days are not included in overtime calculations, but are
included in calculating all other benefits.
You will not be reimbursed for unused sick days.
JURY DUTY
In today's society it is expected that the employer must
give anyone called for jury duty the necessary time off. Whether
you pay the employee or not is your company's decision to make.
Following is our sample statement:
JURY DUTY
All full and regular part-time employees are eligible for
up to ten days of paid absence if called to jury duty.
Additional time of will be allowed to complete your
assignment if necessary, but will be unpaid time off.
Jury duty pay will be based upon the average hours worked,
including all categories of benefit pay, each day during the
52 weeks previous to the week in which you are called to
serve. Overtime pay will not be used to calculate your jury
pay.
If you are paid for jury duty, the Company will pay you the
difference between your regular compensation and what you
receive from the jury duty pay.
You are required to report for work whenever court is not in
session.
Jury duty is not included in overtime calculations, but is
included in calculating all other benefits.
EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT
This area is one that you may or may not have a need for.
It is included here for the sole purpose of example.
EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT
All [insert company name] are entitled to a 25% discount on
merchandise purchased in our facilities.
You may use this discount to purchase merchandise for
yourself or your immediate family. (The Employee must be
present to receive the discount).
Under no circumstances may you obtain an employee discount
for anyone else other than you immediate family.
All employee purchases are subject to being checked by
security or management prior to leaving the premises.
The test that each section must endure, is that if you
yourself were to read only one section by itself; does it answer,
how, what, when, and as appropriate where. To write your own
benefits sections use the form entitled benefit worksheet. You
will find that you may have differences from the samples we have
included here. The first is vacation pay; some companies have
two weeks paid vacation after one year, others may have a
provision for three weeks after five years. A vacation week may
be defined in hours instead of days, this is especially true when
all employees are full-time working a five-day week consisting of
40 hours. So your own individual needs have to be accounted for.
The areas that involve insurance, pension plans, profit
sharing, stock option plans, and other have many requirements
that are dictated by Federal and State Laws. When designing
these sections you should involve your Corporate Attorney from
the start. This will ensure that you are in compliance with these
statutes.
TIME AND WAGES
This section encompasses several different items. They
should follow in the sequence that we are about to explore. Our
first section is Work Schedules.
WORK SCHEDULE
This is your opportunity to outline a normal weekly schedule
for the person that you have just hired. This type of statement
will become your policy on your company's normal work week.
Following is an example:
WORK SCHEDULE
Employees are expected to arrive on Company premises within
a reasonable time before the start of their work schedule
and to leave Company premises shortly after completion of
their work schedule. Punctuality and regular attendance, as
scheduled, are requirements for continued employment with
the company.
A normal full-time work schedule does not exceed 40
hours or five days in any one week. There may be occasions
though, that you will be asked if you can work beyond the
normal schedule; this is voluntary on your part. Your
specific work schedule; i.e., days off, relief period, and
meal periods are scheduled by your immediate supervisor and
is based upon departmental needs.
Relief periods are to be taken on Company premises
using the Company provided area. This area may also be used
for your meal period.
This example starts the process of defining an individuals
work schedule, not only how many hours they work in a given
period of time, but also how their breaks and meal period will be
scheduled and who will schedule them. In addition, we have
defined where their rest period is to be taken. All of this is
here to prevent the individual from looking at you and saying "No
one ever told me about this".
You need to stop and look at what you expect from the staff
you have working for you. Let us use a direct sales staff for an
example. The above statements are not satisfactory because you
need them in the office on Monday and Tuesday from 9am to 9pm to
book appointments with a private client. These appointments
may cover the remaining five days of the week. So in this case
you do not have a five day work week. What about flex-time
scheduling? Does the above sample statement allow for that?
Your answer should be "Yes" to the last question. All that you
defined was how many days in a week and how may hours worked are
considered normal for a regular employee.
RECORDING YOUR TIME
Your next subsection should be on "Recording your Time".
Before you even start into this area, a word of caution is
needed. You as an employer have to comply with not only Federal
Laws governing this area, but also with your State's Laws. Each
requires that you have a hard (paper) copy of the individual's
time worked if they are being paid on an hourly basis. A hard or
paper copy can be a time card that is placed into a time clock,
computerized time clock system, sign in sheet that requires the
individual to sign their name and time arrived, or other system
that the employee must initiate to record their time. If you are
audited and you do not have these records available, the
investigating wage and hour agency will take the employee's
statements to be true. Following is our sample statement:
RECORDING YOUR TIME
All employees must record their attendance on the Company
approved system when they arrive for work, leave for and
return from mealtime and rest breaks, and leave for the day.
Your pay is computed on the basis of the entries you have
made on the time card, and approved or verified by the
Manager. For this reason, the process of "punching in" and
"punching out" must be strictly followed.
Any irregularity or falsification of time cards will be
regarded as a serious violation of Company rules. Also, you
should not allow anyone to punch your time card as this can
jeopardize your job and theirs. Any error should be brought
to the immediate attention of Management In many companies today, it
has even become common practice for salaried employees to punch a
time clock. Depending upon your circumstances, you may want to
change the first line to read: All hourly employees must record their
attendance....
Salaried individuals, mainly in jobs where their time is billed
to the client, do use time cards. Your single most controllable
expense is payroll. Your level of attention and control of this
area can either make or break your company.
MEAL PERIOD
How long is the lunch break or break periods? While we are
defining what the individual must do to record their time, let's
define lunch and break periods. First you must look at how your
State Government defines these periods. Then review, what is the
common practice in your specific industry. Following is a sample
statement covering the meal period and one for the rest break.
MEAL PERIOD
The meal period is one half-hour, and it is unpaid. You are
entitled to a meal period if your shift is six (6) hours or
longer.
REST BREAK
It is the intention of the Company, that all employees who
work a shift of (4) hours receive one paid 15 minute rest
break, and all employees who work a shift of eight (8) hours
receive two paid 15 minute rest breaks.
However, circumstances may prevent this from time to time,
and we ask you to accept management's decisions.
A total of 15 minutes can be taken in the morning, not to
accumulate to the afternoon or any other day. A total of 15
minutes can be taken in the afternoon, also not to
accumulate to the next day.
For the purposes of definition, the first four hours of a
shift is defined as morning, the last four as afternoon.
All breaks are to be taken on the premises only. The
employee must clock out and in each time a break is taken.
If the time taken is over the allowed 15 minutes, for either
break, the time over each 15 minute break will be subtracted
from the regular time accumulated for the day. Breaks will
be staggered according to department for each break period.
We have defined the above periods with a lot of terminology
and specifics. Not all of the items may apply to your business.
Care must be taken in defining these areas. Could you see what
might happen if all you said was that the employee was entitled
to two 15 minute rest periods? The possible abuses of that type
of statement are endless and you would have no grounds to
discipline an individual that decided to take their breaks before
or after their meal period or 30 minutes before they are
scheduled to go home.
PAYDAY
Payday should be defined based upon what day of the week you
pay your employees. Also, what is a pay period, when does it
start and when does it end. Following is our sample statement:
PAYDAY
All employees receive pay once a week.
Payday is Friday.
The pay week runs from Saturday to Friday.
The pay check you receive is for the work week prior to the
week in which you receive it.
Any questions regarding your paycheck should be discussed
immediately with management, so the problems or errors can
be corrected without delay.
We have defined how often a person is paid, when the pay
period starts and ends, what period each check covers and if
errors are encountered, where the employee is to go to have the
corrections made.
OVERTIME
Overtime also has to be dealt with. Depending upon the
State you are located in, overtime can be defined differently.
In some States it is calculated after working 40 hours in one
week. In others, it can be further defined to also include any
hours worked in one day beyond 8, 9, or 10 hours. So contact
your local wage and hour office to see what you are required to
do.
OVERTIME
Overtime pay is based upon work over forty (40) hours each
week.
PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS AND PERSONAL STATUS
Social Security and Income Tax Laws hold the Employer liable
for the taxes due if you do not withhold them from the employees
check each week. This applies only to direct employees of your
company, not outside contractors. There have been numerous cases
where companies have ended up paying the employee's taxes because
the Company did not withhold the monies each week. Especially
when the employee does not file a tax return or claims that every
other company they have worked for has always taken the taxes
out. Following is our sample statement:
PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS
Federal Income Tax, Social Security, State Income Tax, and
Local Taxes will be withheld from your paycheck when
applicable. In addition health and/or life insurance
payments may be withheld upon signing up for these benefits.
(SEE EXPLANATION OF INSURANCE BENEFITS IN THIS MANUAL).
The amount of your Federal Income Tax Withholding is
calculated from the filing status and number of exemptions
you claim on your W-4 Form. It is important that you keep
your W-4 up-to-date.
If any of your personal information changes (Marital status,
Address, Phone Number, Etc.), please inform management
immediately. This is important due to Social Security,
Federal Income Tax, and other Government requirements.
Benefit items such as, Health Insurance, should also be
included in this section if there is a contribution required of
the employee should they elect to sign up. One important note on
insurance contributions. If you do not have a charge for your
management staff, you will be in violation of the law. There must
be an equal contribution for all employees.
STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE
REFERENCE CHECKS/FALSE MISLEADING INFORMATION
The purpose of including a section covering reference
checks, is to establish an up front approach to the verification
of information contained on the application. Your section on
reference checks will usually be short.
SAMPLE ONE
Your references are checked immediately upon your hire. It
is expected that the investigation of former
employers/schools will provide satisfactory references.
This requirement is a condition for continued employment.
SAMPLE TWO
As a normal course of the hiring process, the Company will
conduct a check of your credentials. This will be done
through contacting former employers, schools, or the
personal references that you have listed. Should it be
found that you have obtained employment with us by supplying
false or misleading information, it may result in
disciplinary action up to and including discharge.
As you can see, the two statements are different in how they
explain what you are going to do. Depending upon the type of job
the person was hired to perform, determines the depth your
statement should contain.
Following are several additional statements on specific
areas that you may find useful.
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
Whatever department you may work in, you are responsible to
do your part in keeping our facilities clean, neat, and as
organized as possible.
You will see in a later section why we have included this
statement in the Employee Handbook.
SOLICITATION
No solicitation of any kind, including solicitations for
subscriptions, memberships, donations or contributions by
employees or non-employees is permitted at any time in any
area of the facilities.
VISITATION
While you are at work, you should be working, so it is
inappropriate for you to receive visitors.
RULES OF CONDUCT
Following is a partial list of the items that can be
contained in the Section titled "Rules of Conduct". One that
many companies have listed, in the past, is a statement regarding
not discussing salary among co-workers. Due to recent Federal
Labor Department rulings you can no longer fire an employee for
discussing their salary with another employee. If you were to do
this and they filed a suit against you; be ready to reinstate the
individual, pay back wages, plus pay punitive damages. Our sample
statement follows:
RULES OF CONDUCT
Most employees never violate any Company rules or give the a
company any reason to impose discipline. Unfortunately,
there are employees in any organization who require
discipline up to and including discharge for actions that
are detrimental to the company, our customers, or fellow
employees.
It would be impossible to list every single action
which might cause harm to the Company, our customers, or
fellow employees. Following is a list of some, but not all,
of the acts which will result in disciplinary action up to
and including discharge:
Any act of dishonesty, This includes the theft of any
Company, customer, or employee property.
Committing or attempting to commit deliberate damage to
Company property or facilities or the unauthorized use
of Company facilities, tools, or equipment.
Disorderly conduct; such as, striking another employee
or a customer, use of abusive language, cursing;
possessing, using, buying, or selling drugs or alcohol,
or being under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol
while at work.
Punching the time clock for another employee or allowing
someone else to punch the time clock for you. Tampering
with the time clock or making unauthorized changes on
your time card.
Repeated absences or tardiness.
Removing, sending, or furnishing to unauthorized
persons, Company records or information.
Breaches in security procedures and/or refusal to
cooperate in a Company investigation.
Abandonment of job or failure to report to work without
notifying your immediate supervisor.
Violating the Company's anti-discrimination policy.
Indulging in sexual harassment toward another employee.
Direct violation of Company polices and procedures.
The final sub-section within "Rules of Conduct", should cover
written warnings.
WRITTEN WARNING
This is your opportunity to explain how a performance
problem will be handled. What documentation will be used and what
the employee is expected to do.
Management may make us of a written warning during employee
counseling. This is to specify the exact reason for the
counseling.
You will be asked to read the warning and sign it. The
purpose for this, is to acknowledge your receipt of the
warning and make sure you understand the problem and agree
to make the appropriate changes in behavior.
RIGHT OF APPEAL
The purpose of this section is to provide the employee with
a method of appealing a disciplinary action to a higher level.
The principle involved here is that at the next level of
management an impartial review of the actions of the employee and
the objectivity of the supervisor match. Having an appeal process
can help you in a hearing situation.
RIGHT OF APPEAL
The following is a list of the corporate officers of the
[insert company name]. If you have any questions or problems, you
are encouraged to go to your immediate supervisor; and if
the question or problem is not resolved to your
satisfaction, you may contact the next level of management.
However, if you feel your problem needs to be brought to the
executive level or the Personnel Department, do not
hesitate to do so.
President
VP (list each separately)
Regional Manager
District Manager
Unit Manager
The purpose for listing your management structure and
encouraging your employees to seek other levels of management,
is a safe guard in the event of a hearing. They know who each
individual is and what they are suppose to do. This puts some of
the responsibility on the employee. Should they choose not to
appeal a particular disciplinary action, most agencies will take
this to mean that the employee agrees with the disciplinary
action.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
We have begun a basic section covering the necessary items
covered by the OSHA Acts. Please continue your list as it
pertains to your business. You as an employer must be concerned
with this area of legislation as it affects every employer.
Many things must be done to ensure a safe work environment.
Hazardous materials must be identified, guards must be used on
all machinery, and constant watch must be maintained for all
unsafe areas or acts that could result in an accident. The list
is quite long. In addition, each state has it's own requirements
that must be taken into account.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The [insert company name] is very concerned that our employees are
working in as safe and as healthy environment as we can
provide. We, as employees, must make a conscious effort to
be aware of safety and health hazards at all times. Our goal
is to avoid accidents altogether. Listed here are a few
basic precautions:
Observe all smoking restrictions.
Make sure that the aisles in your area are free of debris.
Close cabinet doors and drawers when not in use.
Observe good lifting practices.
Do not perform tasks for which you are not trained.
Remove or cover any sharp edges or objects that protrude
from any equipment.
(continue your list as it pertains to your business list
all chemicals, radiation hazards, etc.)
Report any and all safety hazards to management.
If an accident does occur, report it to management
immediately. They will provide you with the necessary
assistance. Report and record all details of the accident.
IN CONCLUSION
This area is designed to soften the blow of so many do's and
don'ts. It is just a simple welcoming of the individual
aboard.
We are happy that you have joined the [insert company name]
family. We hope that this manual has been informative and that
you have gained a better insight into our policies, procedures,
and philosophy. We realize that you may have questions yet
unanswered, and we encourage you to seek out your unit
manager and discuss these question with him/her.
This is the beginning of a long term relationship for both
you and the Company. We have every faith that you will be
able to complete the tasks for which you were hired, to the
satisfaction of our standards.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT OF EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
With all the work you have put into your handbook, it would
be a shame to leave out the Section "Acknowledgement of Receipt
of Employee Handbook". Without this simple page, that the
employee signs and dates, you would have no record that employee
ever received a copy of the handbook. In a hearing situation,
you would lose. So make sure that this page is the last page in
the handbook and that nothing else is contained on the page.
This is to acknowledge that I have received a copy of the
employee handbook and understand that it contains important
information on the Company's general personnel polices and on my
privileges and obligations as an employee. I acknowledge that I
have read the employee handbook and have been given the
opportunity to ask questions about anything contained in the
handbook. I further acknowledge that the employee handbook is
intended to give me information about the main features of the
employment polices, benefits, and certain other general
information about the Company. Also that the company has the sole
and absolute discretion to amend, supplement, or rescind any
provisions of this handbook as it deems appropriate.
I have read and understand the contents of the handbook. I
agree to abide by the conditions specified in this handbook and
by any other rules, practices, or procedures that the Company
adopts.
____________________________ ________________________
EMPLOYEE'S SIGNATURE WITNESSED BY:
DATE:______________________
All the areas covered, may or may not apply to your company.
Many were included to show you what a handbook might contain.
The examples were a culmination of several different handbooks
that were constructed by several companies. It appears
that the larger the company, the more defined the handbook. Use
what you want from the list of examples as they apply to your
Company. The general statements concerning "Equal Employment"
and I-9 Forms, are required by Law and must be included. Once
you have completed your first draft of your new handbook, be sure
to have it checked by your Corporate Attorney; if you don't have
one, have it checked by an Attorney that specializes in Labor
Laws.
Remember that our approach is one of "Just Cause." If you
plan to have or do have a policy of "Employment-At-Will," the
sample statements used in this section will have to be carefully
changed as wording becomes paramount to protecting yourself and
your company.
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