The title of this upcoming seminar in Melville says it all: “Employee Handbooks: Everything you need to know to keep you out of trouble in New York.”
Those of you who have read my "Help Wanted" column over the years know how important it is for companies of any size to have a handbook. Having a policy in writing can be the first line of defense against a lawsuit.
A one-day seminar, aimed at human-resource professionals, business owners, managers, attorneys and others, will focus on how to help employers put together a handbook or tune up the one they have. The event will take place on Feb. 28 at the Marriott Hotel.
Richard Kass, a partner at Bond, Schoeneck & King who works in the law firm’s Manhattan and Garden City offices, says that an employee handbook should serve a wide range of purposes. “It should give the employer legal protections, educate employees about company policies, and also boost morale,” he says.
But he adds, “Too many handbooks focus only on protecting the employer. They read as if they were written by a mean-spirited lawyer who hates to use words of less than seventeen syllables.”
An employment lawyer should review a handbook. Even still, it should always be written in plain English, “in a positive tone consistent with the company's culture. It should give employees a positive feeling about the company, even as it explains policies that could someday help the employer avoid--or win--litigation.”
Among the topics a handbook should cover, Kass says, are policies that deal with employment-at-will, equal employment, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, and leave entitlements under the law, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, if applicable.
For more on the seminar, call Lorman Education Services at 866-352-9539 or go to www.lorman.com.
--Carrie Mason-Draffen