8 tips for avoiding employee handbook crises

Many healthcare businesses have an employee handbook, or employee policy handout, but fail to update them on a regular basis. There have been a large number of changes to employment law over the past couple of years that have forced me to review these documents more closely.

The handbook should be a general overview of your expectations while working in your business. Sometimes you can get too specific in your guidelines for disciplinary action, which can tie your hands in situations when an immediate action would have been better for your business. Your handbook is an evolving document and should be reviewed every year after the Supreme Court has ruled on all pending cases and released all their rulings at the end of June. It is not intended to be a comprehensive list of rules, but rather guidelines about how you expect employees to conduct themselves in your business.

Here are some items you should be sure to include: