When you hire employees who work in Louisiana, your employee handbook needs to comply with federal and Louisiana state employee handbook requirements. While employers aren’t required to create and distribute employee handbooks, they are required to implement and comply with a variety of policies in the workplace.
Employee handbooks offer several advantages: they can serve as an introduction to the company, provide important information on expectations, describe your policies and procedures, and mitigate your legal liability.
However, if your Louisiana employee handbook policies run afoul of state or federal law, you could expose your company to significant legal risk. Drafting state-specific employee handbooks can be time-consuming and expensive, especially when you’re hiring in more than one state.
SixFifty’s employment documents platform supports employers and makes state and federal compliance easier, faster, and more cost-effective than ever. Here’s what to know about creating your own Louisiana employee handbooks.
Required Louisiana employee handbook policies
Louisiana has nine state-specific employment policies which must be included in employee handbooks:
- Bone Marrow Donor Leave (20 Employees)
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Jury Duty Leave
- Meal and Rest Breaks (minors only)
- Medical Screening Leave (See SixFifty’s Family and Medical Leave Policy)
- Military Service
- Pregnancy Leave (26 Employees) (see SixFifty’s Parental Leave)
- Volunteer First Responder Leave
- Whistleblower
Note that there are three policies which have age or employee number thresholds. If your company doesn’t hire minors, or doesn’t meet the size threshold, you don’t need to include those policies in your handbook. However, you may want to include them if you’re close to the threshold or plan to hire minors in the future.
Optional Louisiana employee handbook policies
In addition to the nine required policies, Louisiana employers can also include the following optional policies:
- Affinity Group Policy
- Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
- Arbitration Policy
- At-Will Employment Policy
- Background Check Policy
- COBRA Policy
- Cell Phone Policy
- Code of Conduct Policy
- Business Expense Policy
- 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
- Employment of Relatives Policy
- Exit Interview Policy
- Gifts Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Home Office Reimbursement Policy
- Job Duties Policy
- Key or Access Card Policy
- Holidays
- Immigration Law Compliance
- Leave Policies, including: Paid Sick Leave; Bereavement Leave; Domestic Violence Leave; Crime Victim Leave; Voting Leave; Witness Duty Leave; School Activity Leave
- Cannabis 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
- Solicitation and Distribution of Literature Policy
- Technology Systems Policy
- Temporary Relocation Policy
- Timekeeping Policy
- Vacation/Paid Time Off
- Video Conferencing Policy
- Weapons in the Workplace
- Workers’ Compensation Policy
- Workplace Violence Policy
- Workplace Visitor Policy
- Workweek and Work Schedules Policy
Depending on your company and employment type, industry, and other factors, you may not need or want to include all of these policies in your handbook.
Required federal employee handbook policies
All employee handbooks, regardless of state, should include the following federal employment law policies:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (15+ Employees)
- Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Lactation Accommodation Policy
- Religious Accommodations Policy
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (50 Employees)
- Military Service Leave
- Jury Duty Leave
Employers in all 50 states are required to implement these policies, in addition to any that are required by the specific state(s) in which they do business. Therefore, all of your employee handbooks should contain these federal policies (if your organization meets the 50-employee requirement for the FMLA Policy).
How to create a Louisiana employee handbook
Creating your own Louisiana employee handbook can be a challenge. Researching and drafting each state-specific employee handbook requires careful attention to state and federal employment laws—and failing to draft your handbook in accordance with the law could leave your organization open to legal risk.
Some employers hire an attorney to draft their employee handbooks, which is one of the safest options available. However, if you’re hiring in more than one state, those billable hours will add up fast.
Other employers might be tempted to turn to online templates, but that can be risky. There’s no guarantee that one-size-fits-all employee handbook templates will include all the required state policies or that the language will be appropriate.
That’s why SixFifty has created our employee handbook creator platform for employers. Instead of doing the research and drafting yourself, hiring a lawyer, or relying on a template, you can generate your own customized, state-specific employee handbook that meets all Louisiana employee handbook requirements. Employment Docs empowers employers to generate top-tier employment documents for every stage of the employment life cycle, from offer letters and employee handbooks to separation agreements and offboarding documents. Plus, our legal team keeps watch over changes to employment legislation across the country. If there are any new developments, we’ll notify you so you can regenerate your handbooks.
Ready to learn more? Schedule a demo today!
Looking to create an employee handbook for a different state? View our interactive map for required employee handbook policies by state.
