In the age of remote work, companies frequently hire employees who live and work in other states. That’s a great way to secure top talent, but it also makes drafting employee handbooks more complicated. When you hire Georgia employees, their employee handbook must comply with Georgia employment laws—and while employers aren’t required to create a handbook, you could expose your company to legal liability if you fail to do so. So how can you make sure your Georgia employee handbook is compliant, without racking up billable hours or doing all the research and drafting from scratch?

SixFifty’s Employment Docs platform makes it easy and cost-effective to generate your own state-specific, customized employee handbooks for all 50 states. Here’s what to know about making your own Georgia employee handbook.

Required Georgia employee handbook policies

Georgia requires employers to implement and comply with six state-specific policies:

  • Day of Rest Law Policy
  • Immigration Law Compliance (for companies with 10 or more employees)
  • Jury Duty Leave
  • Military Service Leave
  • Voting Leave
  • Witness Duty Leave

If your company has fewer than 10 total employees, you may exclude the immigration policy.

Optional Georgia employee handbook policies

In addition to Georgia’s required policies, employers are welcome to include any of the following optional policies:

  • Affinity Group Policy
  • Arbitration Policy
  • At-Will Employment Policy
  • Background Check Policy
  • Business Expense Policy
  • Cell Phone Policy
  • COBRA Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • Company Property Policy
  • Confidentiality and Trade Secrets Policy
  • Desk Hoteling Policy
  • Direct Deposit Policy
  • Dress Code Policy
  • Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy
  • Electronic Devices While Driving Policy
  • Employee Benefits Policy
  • Employee Classification Policy
  • Employee Dating Policy
  • Employee References Policy
  • Employee Referral Policy
  • Employment of Relatives Policy
  • Exit Interview Policy
  • Gifts Policy
  • Health and Safety Policy
  • Holidays
  • Job Duties Policy
  • Leave Policies, including: Paid Sick Leave; Parental Leave; Bereavement Leave; Organ, Bone Marrow, and Blood Donor Leave; Domestic Violence Leave; Crime Victim Leave; Civil Service Leave; School Activity Leave           
  • Marijuana Policy
  • Off-Duty Use of Facilities
  • Outside Employment Policy
  • Overtime Policy
  • Payment of Wages Policy
  • Payroll Deductions Policy
  • Performance Review Policy
  • Personnel Files Policy
  • Pets in the Workplace Policy
  • Progressive Discipline Policy
  • Public Relations Policy
  • Punctuality and Attendance Policy
  • Record Retention Policy
  • Remote Working Policy
  • Salary Pay Policy
  • Smoking Policy
  • Social Media Policy
  • Social Security Policy
  • Solicitation and Distribution of Literature Policy
  • Technology Systems Policy
  • Temporary Relocation Policy
  • Termination of Employment Policy
  • Timekeeping Policy
  • Vacation/Paid Time Off
  • Video Conferencing Policy
  • Weapons in the Workplace Policy
  • Workers’ Compensation Policy
  • Workplace Violence Policy
  • Workplace Visitor Policy
  • Workweek and Work Schedules Policy

Employers don’t need to include all of them: the policies you choose to include should factor in the company and employment type and industry. For instance, if your only Georgia workers are working from home, you probably don’t need to include a pets in the workplace or dress code policy—but you will likely include policies regarding telecommuting.

Required federal employee handbook policies

If you create your own Georgia employee handbook, you must also include the following required federal employee handbook policies:

  • Americans with Disabilities Act and Accommodations Policy
  • Equal Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
  • Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (for companies with more than 50 employees)
  • Jury Duty Leave
  • Military Service Leave
  • Sexual Harassment Policy
  • Lactation Accommodation Policy
  • Religious Accommodations Policy

Federal law supersedes state law: these policies remain the same in all 50 states. All of your employee handbooks, regardless of state, should contain these policies (assuming the organization meets the 50-employee requirement for FMLA).

How to create a Georgia employee handbook

Creating your own Georgia employee handbook can be a challenge. Researching Georgia employment laws and drafting a compliant Georgia employee handbook can be time-consuming and difficult, even if you only include the required federal and state policies. Plus, it can be risky: if you accidentally violate federal or state employment laws, your company could be exposed to legal liability.

There are a few different options to create your own state-specific, compliant employee handbook. First, you can hire an attorney to draft the handbook. This is a safe option, but if you plan to hire employees in multiple states, it can quickly become very expensive.

Some companies turn to online templates, or try copying and pasting from existing employee handbooks. The latter could be a copyright violation, and online templates are not guaranteed to include all the required policies and language to protect your organization.

Fortunately, SixFifty has a better way. We know the challenges involved in drafting your own Georgia employee handbooks. Instead of hiring an attorney, researching and drafting your own handbook or using a one-size-fits-all template, we’ve done the hard work for you. Our Employment Docs platform is specifically designed to guide employers through every stage of the employment lifecycle, from research and offer letters to separation and offboarding. It’s easier and more cost-effective than ever to create top-tier employment documents. Plus, our legal team monitors changes to employment laws nationwide. If there are any changes, we’ll notify you so that you can regenerate and redistribute your handbooks as necessary.

Ready to learn more? Schedule a demo today!