Employee Handbook Updates

Are you reviewing your handbook for the new year? Learn why this is important and what "unusual" policies you might want to add.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:20

Well, we're going to continue with the fourth quarter activities. Um, we got some good feedback on individuals wanting to know what is what you know, what what can we be doing right now in fourth quarter when other things are starting to slow down, the budgets have been approved from an HR perspective. You know, we'd really like to start the first the first of the year out, you know, correctly. And last week we talked about a fourth quarter audit. And that was just the the things that slip between the cracks when we're not paying attention. Um, but it does involve a lot of other departments, finance, if you're you know, reporting gift cards and and that kind of stuff. But today I wanted to talk and and continue on with the conversation of updating your handbook. I mean, using or making sure that you've got policies in that handbook that you're actually using, that they're policies that the company actually needs. Remember, if your management team is not living those policies, they don't have to memorize them. I don't want them to memorize them, but if they don't know that they exist or they aren't able to retrieve them and work through with the employee what those policies stand for and why deviating from the policies has an impact on the company, then you have a serious problem. And there are many times when I sit down with a group and I'll say, look, is that feasible? Is that realistic? I mean, that the it sounds good. That that particular policy you're talking about sounds great. But is it truly relevant to what the needs of the business are and what your team is actually doing? Well, I've got some suggestions today. And again, we're talking about fourth quarter. We're talking about a time when we get to reflect back and say, okay, did we identify that there need to be some changes? And I came across some policies that I just continually find that companies either kind of overlook or they put them in there and they just kind of let them slide. And the drug policy is one of them. I want you to just take a moment, if you're gonna review your handbag, uh go back and look at that drug policy. Are you following it as you have it written? And one of the biggest mistakes I find is the use of the random drug test or the exercise of reasonable suspicion. Now, there's state law that oversees reasonable suspicion. And that requires that employers train the management team on how to utilize that. But if your policy says you're training those managers, are you really doing it? And I've seen policies that literally require annual training, which in many cases is not being done. Individuals will look at me and go, well, I'm the only, you know, I'm it. We're a small company, and you know, I'm I'm pretty much the only person monitoring this stuff. Well, but if you're it, that doesn't excuse why you're not doing annual training. So please go back over the drug policy. And even if you have to highlight those very specific things that the policy says the company will be responsible for, or the about the points of the policy that says the company will do, or we have a safety officer, or we have um this or that in place, highlight it and talk to your senior team and challenge them. Why do we have a policy if we're not going to follow it? Why do we have a policy? Yeah, it looked good on the internet. So you pulled it off the internet, you stuck it in your handbook. But let me tell you something. A plaintiff's attorney will jump all over that. That will not hold up just because you have it in your handbook. If you're not following it, that will go wrong for you. So drug policy is my number one. I I just I really have a tough time with that. You do need a drug policy. So many states have medical marijuana or recreational marijuana, and all that has to be taken into consideration. And if you're doing drug pol uh drug testing, anyways, you you absolutely have to have a policy. My number two suggestion happens to it it wraps around company property. And I was just with a gentleman this morning who was terminating somebody and I said, Well, you know, does he have any company property? And he goes, Oh, yeah. Yeah, uh, he's got an iPad and a cell phone. And I said, Oh, okay. What about keys? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's got keys, dude. Right. And then it it dawned on me because, oh, you know what? He's got a credit a company credit card as well. Now, this was all because he had it in in his head, but how many of you are doing the same thing? How many of you are trying to mentally keep track of all this? When in fact, if you had a company property receipt, you could have this all documented and there would be no dispute. You would know, even if you're not there, that if somebody leaves the company, those items belong to the company and need to be returned. This is the perfect item to use with your remote workers. How many of you are packing up a computer, a printer, uh, a docking station, uh, maybe a case of paper? How many of you are are sending off all this company property and not keeping track of it? And you expect a director somewhere to keep track of it, but the director may change. The director may leave, the director may get promoted to another area. He's he or she, there, this isn't staying on their head. So you need to have it documented. And I the one that I use, which I'll be more than happy to provide for you, but the one I recommend literally even has in there that the company reserves the right to recover the expense or cost of. And some states don't permit you to use that. But in the states where you can, that's language where if you don't get something returned, or they return it and it's completely they ran the car over the cell phone or something because they're mad they're getting terminated, um, you can recoup some of those costs. So a company property receipt is just, to me, it's just common sense. And HR doesn't have to control it. That's what's so clever about it. Maybe your IT guy keeps track of all the inventory uh of property equipment. Um what about um the the uh executive secretary, the the office manager? There are other people who can be responsible for company property. So uh don't feel like this is adding more responsibility on HR, but it is a good thing to have. Let's move over to a driving policy. I'm still running into companies who have individuals, and and it's so funny because I'll say, Well, you know, can I see your driving policy? I'd love to take a look at your driving policy policy. And they go, Oh, we don't we don't have trucks, Pandy. We don't we don't have a need for a driving policy. And I said, Well, that's funny because didn't you just send that gentleman over to go get some parts? And does somebody run uh your bank checks or or run to uh Home Depot or Staples or someplace for supplies and such? And they go, Oh, yeah, but that's just so-and-so, and that's just it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter anytime you have anyone, now granted, if it's the spouse of the owner, that might be a little different, but anyone outside of ownership that's driving a personal vehicle, or even if they're driving a company vehicle, if they're on the road on company time doing company business, a driving policy needs to be in place. And there are so many reasons. Um, I'd have to go back through the podcast on on uh driving policies, but that is definitely one that if you are not using it or you've you have not updated it, maybe you've got it in place and you should be updating or getting verification that everybody still has insurance, that they're all still legally able to drive. They have active driver's license. Great thing to be doing in fourth quarter. Just verifying that the people who are at highest risk for you are also protecting themselves. How about a policy uh for remote or hybrid work? And this came up the other day with a group who said, you know, when we were hired, we were all told that we could come and go as we please, and there would be flexible work schedules and unlimited PTO. And, you know, we we didn't have a problem working from home, and now the company wants to pull us all back in. You need to get that cleared up. And remember, I those those conversations involve the terms of employment. How was someone offered the position, the job? Did they hire on knowing that their location would be at a specific address, or were they hired on to spend half of their time remote? If you don't have anything written or established so that there's an even understanding across all uh both management and the staff and employees, you need to get it because I'm seeing more and more turmoil, more and more confusion, a lack of trust. It's it's just it's chaos you don't need. Eliminate it, address it, hit it head on. No, you're not gonna make everybody happy. But if you're focusing on the needs of the business and you understand how that individual was hired, then be very careful what you're asking of them. That's all I'm gonna say on that one. That one got a little heated the other day when uh I was talking to that particular individual. Um employees are not not happy over there. Um, here's one. Have you updated your handbook to reflect the definition of insubordination? And I say that because so many of us, you know, were so I I was so cautious about letting anyone put insubordination in their work rules. The uh National Labor Relations Board did not feel that individuals were insubordinate if they, you know, expressed themselves emotionally or um expressed themselves in a less than professional manner around the topics of compensation, work conditions, or terms of employment. But the new administration has permitted the definition of insubordination to be defined. And you need to have this in your handbook. Your management team needs to know when they can send somebody home, when they can suspend somebody, when the employees need to know when they have crossed the line, where they can be held accountable for insubordination. And the definition is insubordination, which is defined as refusing to follow a company official or superior's legal directive, or engaging in any contact either on duty or off duty, that would be considered defamatory, vulgar, obscene, threatening, maliciously dishonest. I love that one. Unlawful or illegally discriminatory or harassing towards the company, its employees, customers, or competitors. That is great language. I know I went through, I tried to go through that slowly. If you want a copy of that, let me know. But I am really encouraging all my clients and people that I'm talking to about handbook reviews right now. Make sure that that's in there and that your management team now knows, yes, it is okay if somebody completely blatantly refuses to do what you've asked them to do, and it has nothing to do with compensation, terms of employment, or the work conditions. If they deviate from your instructions, they are insubordinate. And then lastly, you should not be surprised by this one. But I am highly recommending that you get a policy on the use of AI into your handbook. And if not into your handbook, make it an addendum where the employees have a very clear understanding of the dangers of using these publicly uh accessed chat GTP probe platforms. And I am not an AI expert. I I make mistakes with this kind of stuff in terms of understanding or trying to define how you can use it with an HR. But I do know that companies are getting blindsided by this. Employees tend to know more than we do about all of this. And you have the right as an employer to say, no, I don't want AI used. I hired you for your skill sets, your knowledge. I want this to be your work. Or you have the right to say, uh, no, here's the platform of AI that we accept or that we have approved. My IT company are is quite uh in favor of this particular platform, and this is it. An AI policy. I know it's going to be a new one, but if you need help, definitely talk to your IT company. Have your labor law attorney review it. They know, you know, I've said it a million times. That's what your labor law attorney is for. You know, consultants are great. We we're we're we're great people, but sometimes you just need a good set of eyes that's gonna defend these policies for you. And isn't that really what we're trying to do is avoid getting into those situations. We don't want to we don't want to go to court to begin with. So make sure what you're using isn't going to be challenged or questioned. There you go. Some things to think about. 2026 is coming all too fast. Hey, I want to thank the new listeners and the comments that I'm getting are absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much. If you're watching this on LinkedIn, please let me know and give me those recommendations. Um we listen to all of it and take it all into consideration because we're here for you. Right here at the Yemen Resource.