On March 20, 2014, my colleagues Meagan Christiansen, Chelcey Lieber and I will be presenting a seminar called “The Ins and Outs of Preparing the Right Employee Handbook for Your Business.”  In preparing for the seminar, we reviewed some examples of the increasingly popular prepackaged, one-size-fits-all employee handbooks that we have heard about or have been asked to review.  These templates are floating around the internet at attractive prices.  The quiz attached contains actual text taken from the more odious samples, highlighting some of the traps for the unwary: seemingly complete templates may not be up-to-date, might not be compliant with the law in your state, and, by definition, are never tailored to the employer’s business needs, industry, or size.   To see the quiz and review the results, please click here.

We are not suggesting that employers who have relied on these templates need to immediately have a handbook bonfire. However, be advised that your handbook may need some minor revisions or a total overhaul.

For employers who do rely on handbook templates, who have and outdated handbook, or who have no handbook at all, we encourage you to attend our low-cost handbook workshop on March 20. For a minimal cost, we’ll bring our model verbiage, list of must-have policies, experience, and the most current laws and practical tips and work with you to draft or update your handbook to fit your company’s needs. More importantly, you will gain the comfort of knowing your company has a current and compliant handbook and a powerful tool in combating today’s litigious environment.

For more information on this and other upcoming seminars, please click here.