Myth or Fact: The Employee Handbook Will Ruin Your Company Culture

I would lie if I say that I ever ran across a start-up entrepreneur that was enthusiastic about rolling out an employee handbook. It’s just not their thing. I’ve heard all kinds of excuses. We are too small, it will ruin our culture, we don’t really have any policies, our employees are like family and there will never be a legal issue, my friend runs a big company and they still don’t have a handbook, the list is endless.

If you are reading this, something tells me that deep down you know you need one, but maybe like many others, you want to find a reason not to. And I will give you those reasons – it’s a hassle, it’s costly, and if written poorly, can do you more bad than good.

So why do you need it? You need it to increase productivity by having answers to commonly asked questions readily available for employees, but most importantly, you need it to protect yourself from potential lawsuits. And yes, even if your team consists of good buddies and childhood friends, lawsuits in start-ups happen. More often than you think. But we will discuss that in another post.

So how can a handbook protect you? Well, first of all, if you have over 50 employees within a 75-mile radius, you need it by law. At that size, you must distribute and have employees sign off on FMLA and USERRA regulations. And if you are already doing that, it would be stupid not to distribute information about other important company policies and government regulations, so the handbook will do it.

If you are under 50 employees, the government does not mandate that you have a handbook or distribute any policies (except a Labor Law Poster that all employers should have hanging on a wall), but you should have one anyway. If you are under 10 employees, I will let you slide, but 10 employees or more should certainly have a resource to refer to.

Information pertaining to core values, confidentiality, equal employment compliance, anti-harassment, classification of employment, wage and hour laws, pay procedures, overtime pay, employee referral program, benefit plans, paid time off, holidays, parental leave, company equipment return policy, attendance and punctuality, guidelines for appropriate conduct, phone and email use, performance management and safety, are all great topics that start-ups should include at least a paragraph about. Excluding any of the above, increases your risk of not being able to defend your company when faced with a lawsuit. How will you prove that sexual harassment was against your company policy when one of your line managers makes an inappropriate comment to their subordinate? What will you do if a minority who was always late and who you had a legitimate reason to fire sues you for discrimination?

Handbooks don’t have to be super lengthy or boring.   In fact, many start-ups chose to make them fun. They add amusing language, funny photos of management, list of nearby bars employees can grab a drink at after work, awesome formats. Often times, their creative team will be asked to give it a final touch, making the handbook a true piece of art. All these tactics will give the handbook a lighter feel, making it a perfect fit for a start-up culture.

Your handbook must absolutely be reviewed by an employment attorney or a very-very experienced HR expert, at least. Once you are ready to roll out a handbook, do so in person, maybe announce it during a staff meeting. The delivery will play a big role in how it is received by the staff. Don’t forget to have employees sign off on a carefully drafted acknowledgement page and file that in the employees’ personnel files.

That should do it for the most part, although, of course, there are a million other nuances to consider here. Well, that’s HR for you. Talk to an attorney, when in doubt.

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