The Ultimate Employee Handbook

A Complete Handbook with Your Important Policies for Employees

One of the most often overlooked books many estate planning law firms fail to incorporate into their practice is an Employee Handbook.  This is a handbook of written policies that the law firm has with respect to a number of important details that every businessowner should have established whenever they begin to bring on employees.  An Employee Handbook clearly communicates these policies and give you, the business owner and your management team, the leverage to enforce the policies you wish to set forth for your practice.

Here’s just a few of the important things that an Employee Handbook should include:

• Information About Working for the Firm
  • Typical legal disclosures, such as being an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO) and the Americans with Disabilities Act
  • Policies against harassment
  • Categories of employment
  • Protocols for communicating questions and needs

• Compensation to the Employee
  • How the employee should record their time
  • How and when the employee will get paid, including information on direct deposit
  • Any paycheck deductions, including garnishment/child support
  • Employee performance reviews
  • Firm policies on working overtime

• Time Off from Work
  • Observed holidays
  • Vacation and sick pay
  • Compensation policies for jury duty
  • Voting leave
  • Military or witness leave
  • Bereavement
  • Maternity and paternity leave

• Other Employee Benefits
  • Medical, dental, and vision (including COBRA)
  • Other benefits, such as life insurance, retirement plan and legal services
  • State disability insurance
  • Social Security
  • Unemployment and workers’ compensation
  • Bonuses

• Important Policies While on the Job
  • Confidentiality of client matters
  • Conversations with clients
  • Care of client files and records
  • Attendance and punctuality
  • Work hours and breaks
  • Dress Policy
  • Standards of conduct
  • Access to personnel files
  • Use of computer software and technology
  • Client and public relations
  • Solicitation and distribution at the office
  • Changes in personal information
  • Protecting company information
  • Conflict of interest and code of ethics
  • Care of equipment
  • Personal property
  • Visitors at the office and personal phone calls
  • Natural disasters
  • E-mail and voicemail monitoring
  • Internet, e-mail and computer communication policies
  • Use of personal cell phone
  • Parking
  • Loss or misplacement of office keys
  • Resignation or termination of employment

• Safety in the Workplace
  • Workplace violence
  • Housekeeping
  • Smoking and substance abuse
  • Concealed weapons

All of this might sound like overkill and be a bit too much, but these are the types of issues that many people never think about when it comes to having employees working under them.  By having an Employee Handbook, you are able to clearly and distinctly set up specific standards and protocols for working at your firm.

By not having these things in place, you leave it wide open to interpretation and it becomes even harder for you to enforce.  In lawsuit-happy America, where a former employee could be entirely wrong and you could have been entirely right, if there are no clear lines drawn about policies that were broken and enforcement of said policies consistently, then you will stand a good chance of losing should a case ever be brought against you!

Rather than have to reinvent the wheel, we are pleased to provide you this brand new product which is available for a one-time licensing fee.  The above policies described are laid out clearly in this 63-page handbook and you have the ability to modify and edit wherever necessary, but will surely save you hours of time developing on your own.

While this Employee Handbook was specifically designed for a California-based law firm, this product is still helpful not only to professionals of all kinds, but to those located anywhere!  We have noted parts of the handbook that you will need to modify and consult your own state labor law rules for further guidance and modification.

Think about all of the time and headache that having this handbook at your fingertips to work off of would save you!  You can get all of this for a one-time licensing fee of just $1295.