Are employees at your company familiar with your Employee Handbook? Do they even know you have one? Employee handbooks are the foundation of a business’s relationship with its workforce. They should empower employees and set expectations about how they can succeed in their role at the company. SixFifty has outlined 5 key Policies that you should be in your Employee Handbook.
PTO
Paid time off can be a huge selling point when acquiring new talent, and retaining top performers. Specifically highlighting your PTO policies in detail is key. A 2017 survey by Glassdoor found that Americans don’t use half of their earned vacation time, primarily due to fear, guilt, and workplace pressure. Forfeiting their time off not only hurts employees, but also employers. Studies have shown that taking time off can increase productivity, lower stress and improve mental health. Your Employee Handbook should tell employees that PTO is encouraged and should be used.
Telecommuting Policy
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, having a telecommuting policy is more important than ever. While many telecommuters will begin returning to worksites as the pandemic subsides, Harvard Business Review found that as much as 16% of the US workforce will continue working from home long term. Make sure your telecommuting policy covers workplace safety at home, confidentiality measures, time-keeping, reimbursements, performance expectations, and more.
Dress Code
Dress codes vary substantially, even within the same industry. Some businesses opt for formal business attire, while others may not have a dress code at all. With so many employees working from home, some businesses may need to clarify how dress codes apply for video calls, etc. Many businesses are updating their dress codes to be more inclusive as workforces become more diverse. Whatever you choose to do, include it in the employee handbook. That way, new employees know what to expect and don’t need to worry about accidentally overdressing or underdressing. The first day at a new job is already stressful enough, make it a little easier for everyone and put your dress code in your Employee Handbook.
Parental Leave Policy
Welcoming a new child is both exciting and stressful. Employers can help by outlining exactly how much time employees will have off work to care for their little ones, and putting those details in an Employee Handbook. Not only is it the right thing to do, but in many states parental leave is the law. Different states have different laws about parental leave, so make sure that your parental leave policy meets the standards for all states in which you have employees.
Holidays
A diverse and inclusive workplace comes with so many benefits. One way to help make your workplace diverse and inclusive is to recognize holidays for everyone. Consider including Juneteenth, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as paid holidays, for example. Outlining this in your Employee Handbook will make everyone feel included.
We hope that these 5 key Policies will help you build the best Employee Handbook for your business. If you need any assistance, SixFifty can help you automate your handbook very easily and keep everything up to date for you. Click here to schedule a demo and see how SixFifty makes the law easier for HR leaders.
Written by Ryan Parker
Ryan is the Chief Legal Product Officer at Sixfifty and works with teams of attorneys and technologists to help make the law more accessible for businesses and individuals. Education and Experience Ryan started college at Brigham Young University – Hawaii on the road to becoming a doctor. Between going to the beach and playing college soccer and tennis for the...
Full Bio and other articles by Ryan Parker
About The Author: Ryan Parker
Ryan is the Chief Legal Product Officer at Sixfifty and works with teams of attorneys and technologists to help make the law more accessible for businesses and individuals.
Education and Experience
Ryan started college at Brigham Young University – Hawaii on the road to becoming a doctor. Between going to the beach and playing college soccer and tennis for the Seasiders, Ryan realized that, although he enjoyed his pre-med classes, his real passion was reading, writing and analyzing. After serving a two-year volunteer eclesiastical mission in France, Ryan transferred to the University of Utah, where he wrote for the newspaper, participated in student government, spent a summer at a language institute in Switzerland, and earned a double major in English and French. Ryan also spent a summer semester interning in Washington, D.C., where he witnessed how lawyers could help people to navigate the legal system. It was there that he decided to go to law school.
Ryan attended the University of Michigan Law School, where he worked as a Graduate Student Instructor in the English Department, helping to teach courses on Shakespeare and the writings of Primo Levi. He also participated in moot court competitions and worked on the Michigan Journal of International law. After law school, Ryan clerked for Judge John Feikens, a federal district court judge in the Eastern District of Michigan, and Judge Kent Jordan, a federal circuit court judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
While serving as a clerk, Ryan noticed that attorneys representing the federal government spent the most time in court and handled the most interesting cases, so he applied for the honors program at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and was hired into the Civil Division to work in the Federal Programs Branch. Ryan served in the Justice Department for more than ten years, first as a trial attorney and later as Senior Trial Counsel. During that time, he represented various government agencies in federal courts across the country.
Ryan handled a number of national security cases while at DOJ, and, after representing the Office of the Director of National Security (ODNI) in a particularly challenging case, was invited to serve as ODNI’s Director of Litigation. Following his time as Director of Litigation, Ryan had the opportunity to serve as Chief Counsel at ODNI’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center.
Achievements with Sixfifty
In January of 2020, Ryan left the federal government to become the first member of the Legal Product Team at Sixfifty. Excited about the prospect of combining legal expertise and thoughtful technology to help businesses and individuals, Ryan has helped to build an incredible team of attorneys and create many of Sixfifty’s business products and free tools.
Ryan regularly meets with Sixfifty customers and participates in webinars.
Get to Know Ryan
When not working to make the law more accessible, Ryan enjoys coaching his children’s soccer teams and spending time in nature. A soccer fanatic, Ryan regularly plays in pick-up soccer games near his home in Maryland, and recently attended his first English Premier League matches. Ryan recently began segment hiking the Appalachian Trail and has backpacked over 80 miles of the trail. (Only 2,100 miles to go!)
TL;DR – “As the man once said, the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
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