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Employee Handbooks Make Sense For Small Employers
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Article 6: Handbooks Help Protect You From Lawsuits
Your employee handbook can be essential legal protection if an employee sues you for discrimination.
If someone claims to have been unfairly disciplined or fired, you can defend yourself by showing three things:
- The individual acted in violation of workplace rules
- Such rules were known to the employee by virtue of the handbook
- You applied the rules to everyone equally, regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, or other characteristic protected by law
The workplace polices in your handbook must comply with all relevant laws. Employees enjoy federal and state protection against discrimination. They are also entitled to minimum standards in areas such as maternity leave and family leave.
Most federal laws in the areas of equal employment opportunity and discrimination apply to employers with 15 or 20 employees, notes Katherine E. Bierma Pregel, an associate with the Washington, D.C., office of Littler Mendelson, the nation’s largest labor and employment law firm.
Other federal laws only apply to significantly larger employers. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) only applies to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.
Be cautious, though, of believing your business exempt from such laws because you have only a few employees.
“State statutes, which can be more restrictive than federal laws, often cover the very smallest of employers,” cautions Pregel. “Many state discrimination and maternity leave laws, for example, cover businesses with a single employee.”
Some states address the rollover of unused vacation time to future years. You must make sure your employee manual and your practices comply with these and other similar laws.
Finally, you must also comply with any municipal laws that address these or other employer-related issues.
Because the matrix of laws can be confusing, the wise employer has the employee handbook reviewed by counsel.
“A review of your handbook by an attorney is strongly recommended,” says Pregel. “It is particularly recommended for the smaller employer which likely does not have the staff on hand to stay on top of federal and state law.”
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