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8 Musts For Your Employee Handbook

Jessica Miller-Merrell — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 01:38:16 +0000

As 2010 begins to come to a close, companies and their human resource teams are talking, forecasting, and planning for the upcoming year. While numbers are being crunched and turnover data evaluated, it is equally important in your 2011 planning and budgeting to take inventory of hot topics, recent law changes, and policies that affect your organization that need updating. I’ve created a list of must have laws, trends, and important topics to consider when updating your companys employee handbook.

This is not a comprehensive list or employee handbook 101. It is a list of my opinions for the 8 must haves that companies should be adding, editing, or considering for their company’s 2011 employee handbook. Got something to share? Leave a comment below and let’s start the conversation.

FLSA and Nursing Mothers. As of March of 2010, employers will be held accountable for providing a private place for nursing mothers to pump their milk at work under a provision within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The provision was signed into law and amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers, with some exceptions, to furnish “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child” for one year after the child’s birth. Employers will be required to provide nursing mothers with a private place, other than a restroom, to use a breast pump. The provision exempts companies with fewer than 50 workers if the requirement would impose “an undue hardship,” a determination left to the employer to make.

Text Messaging. Text messaging has become a new challenge for employers in terms of harassment and retaliation. In 2011 even the U.S. Supreme Court had to weigh in on a case involving employees and text messaging in City of Ontario vs. Quon. Employers should include a provision on text messaging in their harassment, communication and retaliation policies, or create a separate policy to deal with these issues. In 2010, Disney announced a new “No Texting” policy for employees while driving. Employers should be concerned about the potential liabilities as an employer and insurance if employees are involved in wrecks or collisions while on the clock and are texting and driving.

Focus on OSHA and Safety. In 2010, OSHA added 100 additional field investigators focusing on enforcement and their sites set on lofty revenue goals of $559 million. In 2011, it is estimated the government agency will add an additional 25-50 compliance officers. While adding a “safety focus” to your employee handbook won’t save you from OSHA fines and investigations, it will provide you a jumping off point to begin conversations with managers and their employees. It is important to clearly outline how you enforce your safety programs and your general safety policies overall.

Social Media. As the number of Facebook users soared past 500 million this year, the average social media user is now age 37. In the United States alone, citizens are spending on average 6 hours a month on Facebook alone. This doesn’t include the more than 200 million mobile phone downloads of the Facebook app for use on an employees mobile phone and computer. Companies need to address social media to protect themselves, their brand, and create guidelines for their employees to follow. Otherwise, most employees operate under the belief that, “Silence is acceptance.” Basically, if you don’t address it, it’s not a problem.

Genetic information. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) went into effect on Jan. 1, 2010 . GINA prohibits discrimination based on employees’ and applicants’ genetic information, and that of their family members as well.  Genetic information includes the results of genetic tests, along with information about family medical histories. Companies with as little as 15 employees must comply. As a result of this new law, you should add genetic information to the list of protected characteristics in your nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies.

Benefit Plan Changes. Many companies have made changes to their benefits plans in 2010 especially as companies look to Healthcare Reform changes. Companies should be sure their handbook accurately reflects those changes. Furthermore, the handbook should state that if the handbook summary and plan language differ. Don’t forget, it’s important that handbook language be easy to understand especially when concerning employee health benefit information.

Union Awareneness Focus. It’s important to make sure that your employee handbook makes mention of your policy regarding solicitation. Look for an increased focus by unions in 2011 involving social media, employee rights, and union campaign communications. Many union shops are leveraging social media to engage and target disgruntled workers within an organization without accessing work rosters and employee lists. This is especially important if your organization is not and wishes to stay a non-union organization. In 2011, the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) will be making a decision as to if conversations among co-workers on Facebook should be viewed as a “concerted protected activity.” Look for an increased focus by unions in 2011 involving social media, employee rights, and union campaign communications.

FMLA and the military. As a reminder in 2009,the FMLA expanded to include greater definition surrounding the care of military families whose active family member has been activated or to care for a member of the Armed Forces who is undergoing treatment. Your employee leave policies and absence information should be changed to reflect this change.

And there you have it. Eight of my “musts” for your 2011 employee handbook. Is there something I missed? Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at blogging4jobs.@gmail.com so that I can make additions. And here’s to 2011. I hope it’s a year of positivity, change, and learning. Here’s to offices filled with happy employees, corporate executives, and their HR teams.

Top 10 HR Developments of 2009

Jessica Miller-Merrell — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:41:54 +0000

For the most of us, the end of the year signifies an opportunity to think, reflect, and remember the life lessons, events, and topics that demanded our attention over the last 12 months. And professionals within the Human Resource and Recruiting industry are no exception. I think that I can speak for everyone that 2009 was a year many businesses, job seekers, and people in general would like to forget. In short, 2009 pretty much sucked. I’d like to think we are better for it. I’m certainly a believer in that saying that good things don’t come easy and 2009 was more than a pain in my ass.

Economy. Times have been tough. The banking crisis, AIG, rising unemployment, and declining consumer spending and confidence come to mind for 2009. Unemployment stands at 10.2% as of October for the general population according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. RealtyTrac reports that in 2009, 1 out of every 385 homeowners nationwide received notice of foreclosure.

Social Media. Social Media has been the one bright spot in 2009 for most businesses as a way to network and grow your business with little to no overhead. The rise in its popularity has also brought increased attention to companies who are fearful of these tools because of the potential legal and lost productivity ramifications. For myself, social media has been a great community in which to grow, learn, and network both personally and professionally.

Empowerment. This one is a biggie. Stories abound in the media of businesses who have made the best of bad situations and overcome obstacles. Consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have found creative ways to adapt in 2009. Small businesses and entrepreneurs have used the slowing economy as a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors while providing a high level of service in a new and creative way. Companies who leverage and build partnerships with these creative small businesses and entrepreneurs in 2010 will bounce back more quickly as these business influencers have a handle on the current and creative pulse of what works and what doesn’t.

Employment Branding. As we begin to see the signs of an economic recovery in the future, companies have begun to start planning for the upcoming talent churn. Engaging your current employees through multiple communication channels while also listening are extremely important in building your internal brand. Your external image and brand and how you engage the external audience (i.e. potential candidates) are emerging topics that surfaced in mid 2009 and will continue into 2010. Companies must market to current and future employees through multiple channels outside of traditional recruiting channels including job boards and newspapers.

Healthcare. Average annual healthcare costs have rose according to SHRM 5.4% from 2007 to 2008. How will the proposed healthcare reform changes would, can, and will impact your company€™s health insurance offerings? Most HR professionals can certainly relate to cost concerns surrounding their 2010 healthcare plans from company and employee POVs as most companies recently completed annual re-enrollment for 2010 and many opted for high deductibles, new co-pay options, or eliminating certain paid benefits altogether.

Swine Flu Strategy Preparedness. While this was a huge concern in the latter part of 2009, the methods that HR teams put in place allowed for better communication and education plans within organizations in addition to disaster preparedness and H1N1 awareness. Discussions surround H1N1 led to executives being more open to flexible scheduling options including ROWE and virtual office work environment.

Compliance & Government. 2009 brought us new I-9 requirements for government contractors who scrambled to comply while government bills including the Employee Free Choice Act kept us more than busy lending to union avoidance planning and training. I spent more than my share of conference calls during the last year educating companies on the potential ramification if the bill would have passed. Having working in both union and non-union environments, I cam thankful that it did not.

Legal Roundup including ADA, FMLA. I attended one too many legal summits, conference calls, and seminars regarding the changes to the definition of “disability” by the EEOC. Things like bending, reading, communicating, and bodily functions were added to the definition of major added as major work life activities. Yes, IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome could now be considered covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While in January of this year, the Family Medical Leave Act to include greater definition surrounding the care of military families whose active family member has been activated or to care for a member of the Armed Forces who is undergoing treatment.

Management/Leadership–multiple reorganizations within organizations have exposed fatal flaws within the management ranks. With little or no budget HR professionals have been tasked with training and developing their teams. Employees and their managers are being forced to do more with less–more work, more responsibilities, more pressure, and less resources to achieve company goals and directives.

HR & ROI. In 2009, most organizations and companies experienced some sort of downsizing or reorganization. Executive teams slashed budgets and outsourced, reorganized, and restructured teams, departments and companies on multiple occasions. Because Human Resource and Recruiting teams are not considered income generating departments, HR leaders worked hard to prove their value to the bottom line. By forcing us to prove our worth, we gained much needed credibility and earned a certain level of respect among our income generating peers leading to what I believe will propel our industry forward in the coming months and years.

Thoughts? Additions to the list. I would appreciate your comments by leaving them below. A special thanks to Mark Stelzner and Inflexion Advisors for the unemployment and foreclosure figures.

Photo Credit to Bigger Pockets.