Personnel Manual – Who Need’s It?Is an personnel manual a requirement to operate a business with several employees? The short answer is that they are not; however, if you are smart you will have one anyway! When I tell you that one legal claim from an employee that thinks they were wronged by your company will be enough to put you out of business. Doesn’t really matter if you were really wrong or not, it matters if you are able to establish that fact. Unemployment hearings can be intimidating experiences if you are not prepared. They can also cost you money if you lose. Why not be prepared before you ever go by having a personnel manual. At every hearing I have ever been to I have never lost once. The simple fact was that I had an employment handbook that outlined our policy and I had a signature of the employee signing acknowledging they had received a copy. It was that straight forward! One would not think at a church you would need a policy manual but in fact I created one for our church while I was on the personnel committee. When a question about how vacation was earned the policy cleared it up instantly. One employee who left in their first year thought they were entitled to the vacation they had earned, but our policy stated they had to work the entire year otherwise all leave was lost. The problem was solved without any further questions after we showed them the policy that they had signed for. One governmental agency that can make most companies worry about whether they will survive a charge of wrongdoing is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). When I was a young Human Resources Director I received a claim from them charging us with terminating a person in a protected class. The charge was that we had terminated this person because of their race and sex. It only took one written response from me showing that the person had clearly violated our written policy within our personnel manual that she had signed for. You can make your life much easier having an policy manual for your staff so that they know what the policies on smoking, attendance, leave, benefits, sexual harassment, and many other topics are. This works even more effectively for your new employees. Everyone will know what their expectations are in all areas. It’s amazing the trouble you will avoid by having one. Finding software to create an personnel manual has never gotten easier. The great news is that most of them have been written under the supervision of attorney’s so you can feel confident that the policies will pass the test if challenged in court. This software can be found for around $35 or more which when you think about the headaches you will save is a bargain. One visit with an attorney just to discuss the idea of them creating an employee policy manual would cost more. This software makes it simple and allows you to create a professional document. May God Bless You!
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