When’s the last time you updated your employee handbook? If it’s been a while—or if this is your first time—you need to know the following Pennsylvania employee handbook requirements or you will have your work cut out for you.
Your employee handbook sets the tone for your business. It can also help keep you protected from liability. When you hire Pennsylvania employees, you’re required to include five federal policies, along with eleven state-specific employment policies. Because these policies vary by state, you’ll need to update your employee handbook every time you hire in a new state.
“Because these policies vary by state, you’ll need to update your employee handbook every time you hire in a new state with different requirements,” said Josh Baca, Legal Product Counsel at SixFifty. “Pennsylvania can be even more tricky than other states because there are multiple additional local handbook requirements for employers who hire in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia.”
Unfortunately, hiring in multiple states means tracking and updating your handbooks with any changes to the law. That can be time-consuming and expensive, whether you’re using your own legal team or hiring outside counsel.
Here’s the good news: SixFifty makes it easy to create and update your employment policies across all 50 states. Read on to learn about the required and optional Pennsylvania employee handbook policies—plus, find out how our solutions can make compliance easy, fast and affordable.
Required Federal Employee Handbook Policies
Federal law is the supreme law of the land. The government has enacted eight mandatory policies to include in every employee handbook, in every state. These include major worker rights, like anti-discrimination policies, and how companies can handle certain types of leave.
Because these policies are included in every handbook, you’re obligated to update your handbooks every time federal law changes. In other words, if Congress updates the FMLA policy, each state-specific employee handbook must be updated to reflect the new changes.
Each of the following policies must be included in your employee handbook:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (15+ Employees)
- Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (50 Employees)
- Jury Duty Leave
- Military Service Leave
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Lactation Accommodation Policy
- Religious Accommodations Policy
Required Pennsylvania Employee Handbook Policies
Pennsylvania has 11 required employee policies that must be included in all state employee handbooks. Like federal required policies, they include jury duty leave—states are welcome to tailor federal policies further, as long as they don’t conflict with the federal law.
Note that the domestic violence and paid sick leave both include geographical and number of employees modifiers. If you’re hiring in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, be sure to include the appropriate policies in your handbook. Furthermore, the meal and rest breaks policy only applies to minors.
These policies must be included in Pennsylvania state employee handbooks:
- Crime Victim Leave
- Domestic Violence Leave (Philadelphia)
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Jury Duty Leave
- Meal and Rest Breaks (minors only)
- Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Leave
- Paid Sick Leave (for Allegheny County (26 Employees), Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh)
- Protected Activity (Philadelphia)
- Volunteer Emergency Response Leave
- Wage Theft Notice (Philadelphia: See SixFifty’s Protected Activity Policy)
- Witness Duty Leave
Optional Pennsylvania Employee Handbook Policies
In addition to the required policies, there are over 50 optional policies you can add to your state-specific employee handbook. Depending on your company type and industry, certain policies may not apply to your business—there’s no need to include them all.
Most companies will enact broad policies, such as employee benefits, direct deposit, types of leave and overtime policies. Other additions, like telecommuting and videoconference policies, might only apply to certain business types, such as technology companies.
Pick and choose from over 50 optional Pennsylvania state employment 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: Parental Leave; Bereavement Leave; Voting Leave; School Activity Leave
- Cannabis Policy
- Off-Duty Use of Facilities
- Outside Employment Policy
- Overtime Policy
- Paid Time Off
- Pay Transparency 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
- Video Conferencing Policy
- Weapons in the Workplace
- Workers’ Compensation Policy
- Workplace Violence Policy
- Workplace Visitor Policy
- Workweek and Work Schedules Policy
SixFifty Helps Employers Meet Pennsylvania Employee Handbook Requirements
Researching and adding employee handbook policies can be a time-consuming endeavor. Not only must you ensure each policy complies with federal and state employment laws, but you’ll also need to update the policies every time the law changes. Whether you’re assigning the job to your own legal team or hiring outside counsel, that’s an easy way to rack up dozens of billable hours.
SixFifty’s employee handbook platform makes it easy to create and update employee handbooks in all 50 states. Best of all, we update our products on a monthly basis. If there’s a change to the law, you’ll know right away—and our proprietary legal technology makes it easy to create the necessary changes. Simply answer a few questions about your company, download the automatically generated files and have your lawyer review and approve. It’s fast, easy and affordable.
Questions? Want to see how it works? Schedule a free demo with SixFifty today! Looking to create an employee handbook for a different state? View our interactive map for required employee handbook policies by state.
