Gundars Kaupins, The Daily Record Newswire
Betsy, the human resource manager, had a policy that all job postings must be on the company Intranet for five days. Bill was upset that he missed the opportunity to seek the finance job because it was posted for three working days. The nonworking days of Saturday and Sunday counted among the days in which jobs were posted. Bill filed a complaint that lingered in the company files for months because there was no formal complaint process.
Betsy needed an employee handbook to create a complaint process, provide company management flexibility and clarity, and keep the company out of legal trouble. A complaint process would allow Bill to know who to contact and Betsy to listen to and handle employee complaints reported and heard.
Management flexibility can increase by formally stating that jobs "may be posted" rather than jobs "must be posted" on the Intranet. Clarity may increase by stating that five working rather than actual days may be used. Legal trouble might be reduced by developing policies that are legal in the first place.
Employee handbooks cannot solve all problems, but human resources and other managers should cover some basics to help communicate with employees. For example, employees should know the company strategic plan to ensure all employees are on the same page. Employees also should know what the company makes. Obvious? No. One company I knew in the Midwest found out that about half the employees did not know that it made chemicals along with its agricultural products.
How are employees recruited and selected? If a manager needs to hire, who should he or she call--the HR manager or any supervisor?
What happens if Henry sexually harasses another employee? Who should receive complaints? How are complaints resolved? How can Henry appeal any decisions?
Training, compensation, benefits, security, health, performance appraisals, and safety also should be covered. Who is in charge of these personnel issues? For example, clearly identifying who is in charge of safety is one consideration in eliminating or reducing OSHA penalties. What are the procedures? What happens when exceptions occur? What is the easiest way to communicate these policies to employees?
Communicating with employees is a major objective behind employee handbooks. Companies need to decide whether to provide hard or Internet copies. Employee meetings or seminars may be needed to highlight key topics. HR can collect data on how often employees ask about certain handbook topics when they come to HR offices, do a search on the Intranet, or click onto handbook links. The most commonly asked questions can be highlighted in a single page.
The length of the handbook reflects management philosophy. The U. S. Constitution and British Common Law provide few words and allow courts and Legislatures to fight over the details. A employee handbook can be short (less than ten pages) just like the U. S. Constitution. Management flexibility can result but the application of the general rules might create nightmares. The French Constitutional style creates an encyclopedia of rules. Thick handbooks, often seen in larger companies, unionized companies, and governments can be 50 to 150 pages long. However, management flexibility may be reduced.
When writing an employee handbook, think not only about basic human resource issues such as discipline, but also new issues such as vaping, Affordable Care Act, the legal use of recreational cannabis in Colorado and Washington, Internet privacy associated with cell phones and GPS, the increase in older workers, and the increase in foreign workers.
A simple concept such as vacations can lead to a host of complications. Who has first priority to schedule a vacation? When can new employees receive a vacation? How much vacation may senior employees receive? Is unused vacation lost or accrued? Who approves vacations? Are there times when vacations are not allowed?
In summary, employee handbooks can reduce headaches by giving managers and employees guidance on human resource issues, providing managers flexibility to operate, and helping the company to operate legally.
-----
Gundars (Gundy) Kaupins is department chair and professor of management at Boise State University. He has a Ph.D. in Human Resource Management from the University of Iowa and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). He has published more than 250 articles in job evaluation, training and development, Baltic studies, and human resource ethics in journals such as the Academy of Management Perspectives and International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction. He teaches human resource management, labor relations, and compensation. With his students, he also has completed human resource consulting for over 350 organizations.
Published: Fri, Sep 12, 2014
