All About Employee Manuals
An employee handbook is a written policy pertaining to all law firm staff members. It is not just a compilation of rules that your employees are expected to follow; rather, it is an opportunity to communicate the culture of your law firm.
All law firms can benefit from having an employee handbook. Typically, in the absence of a handbook, a law firm must rely on legally binding employment contracts and , somewhat less binding (but no less important) promises and oral policies conveyed to employees. The handbook extends the law firm’s commitment to the employee beyond the individual contract and expands that commitment to the entire firm. An employee handbook is a chance to give your law firm culture a physical presence.
The key to having a successful employee handbook is to incorporate the guide into the daily operations of the law firm from the start. Because the handbook will be referenced regularly, you should ensure that the document is both accurate and up to date. To achieve this, the handbook should be reviewed and updated every year.
What Goes in a Law Firm Manual
Here are some key elements to include in a law firm employee handbook:
Company Information: A brief introduction to the law firm and its history and mission.
Definitions: Definitions of terms used in the handbook. This can include the terms "you," "yours," "we," "our," etc. as they are used in the handbook.
Code of Conduct: Including social media policy, dress code, conflict of interest policies, and any rules around respectful interactions with clients and co-workers.
Work Schedules: Work and lunch hours, break policy, overtime policy, attendance requirements, absenteeism, tardiness, and timekeeping.
Electronic Device/Internet Policy: Use of personal and company-issued electronic devices. This should also be covered by confidentiality agreements.
Confidentiality Disclosure: Acknowledgement that you understand and agree that sensitive information cannot be disclosed. This includes work that the law firm is doing for clients and details surrounding those matters, the business details of the law firm itself, and any client list.
Laws to Consider
Legal Considerations that Fit the Firm and Its Employees
Practical considerations are important but there are legal requirements that must be met by any law firm handbook. At a minimum state and federal laws must be complied with. This is particularly true for wage and hour considerations, including the highly technical state and federal overtime regulations, FMLA, COBRA and leave issues. Some provisions that are included in many handbooks may violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Moreover, your handbook must comply with any local and special state law requirements affecting employment in your jurisdiction.
FMLA (Leave of Absence) Any law firm employee handbook must contain provisions complying with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). In addition, the handbook must comply with any state law requiring family or medical leaves of absence. Although the regulations do not require an employer to place FMLA-designated material in its employee handbook, an employer is encouraged to do so. Including FMLA information in the employee handbook gives the employee a clear understanding of the law as it applies to them as well as to ensure that the employer is complying with the law.
Hardship Considerations State and federal law permit employers to excuse their efforts to accommodate a disabled employee if the necessary accommodation would present what would be too much of financial or administrative difficulty.
Miscellaneous Provisions intended to impose discipline for discriminatory harassment can have an overall broader impact and must be reviewed as to compliance and avoidance of issue with documents presented to a court later. Bad language can be validly addressed as long as a disclaimer is provided. The federal statute of limitations is 180 days (300 days in some states) for EEOC purposes. Protections should be included for privileged communications. It is vitally important that a law firm’s employee handbook contain a clear statement that nothing in the handbook creates an enforceable contract because if it does then the company may not unilaterally adopt new policies without an amendment of the handbook and this policy must be published to all employees.
How to Tailor a Handbook for a Law Firm
When customizing a general employee handbook for a law firm, the task is to find a happy balance between the level of detail required – especially regarding employment-related laws – and the practical realities of running the firm. Oversights in compliance with Specific Laws and Regulations may result in lawsuits or other regulatory actions, while excessive overkill in responding with inappropriate guidance tends to make the firm seem rigid, unresponsive to employee input and overall unfriendly. Successful law firms strive to address all of these issues while continuously developing and strengthening a positive work culture.
For example, you may need to describe specific requirements for maintaining continuing education, bar admission or bar association membership, and/or to specify the types of professional development training the firm provides. You may also want to say something about how and when the firm reimburses employees for obtaining CLE credits.
The categories of employee roles and levels can vary significantly between firms, particularly amongst those that invest heavily in creating detailed career tracks with set guidelines for mobility: from secretary to paralegal; from paralegal to junior associate; from junior associate to senior; from senior associate to partner. Visibility is key: junior associates need to know how they are perceived by senior associates and partners, and what they must do to gain greater respect and responsibility.
This kind of information is not typically included in general employee handbooks for other businesses.
On the "Hard Law" Side
There are some aspects of employment law that are specific to the legal field, however. You cannot overlook these aspects, and they must be addressed:
- Bar admission and payment of any bar dues are mandatory — how you address this in your handbook is not optional.
- Lawyers working for other lawyers tend to require a higher level of diligence than at the average business; therefore, additional recruiting and compensation specifics are required.
- Law-related employment laws and regulations can be more complex than those for other businesses; thus the need for a more exhaustive description of employment at-will, which many consider standard, is recommended.
- At law firms, harassment is an especially consequential issue. What might be considered harmless ribbing between co-workers in a non-law firm may result in the swift termination of an employee in a law firm – so a specific policy on what is and is not acceptable behavior must be articulated in the employee handbook.
A Primer On Resources
Perhaps the best advice is to seek out the guidance of resources that have earned a reputation in the industry as being specifically geared toward legal employers, like ILG. The ILG Employee Handbook Bundle provides sample policies and language that has been tested and proven to help law firms — including your own.
Using and Updating Your Manual
When it comes to law firm employee handbooks, you have two goals: for it to be complete and compliant, and to implement and maintain it. This post in the Law Firm Employee Handbook series will lend some tips on the latter.
First of all, how do you distribute your handbook? All new employees need to receive a copy during orientation, so this is a given. However, even current employees need to receive a new copy upon changes to the handbook itself.
I recommend your handbook be available both digitally and in print. Digital distribution allows you to have easily updated information, and print copies are useful for when staff is away from their computer . Make sure users can access the handbook on phones and tablets, which allows for greater flexibility.
If handbook distribution is left to individual lawyers who have their own formats or distribution methods, things can become very disorganized very quickly. This is another place where a system with a single point of control can be helpful.
The Employee Handbook Database application we’ve developed has an Integrated Handbook System, which allows you to adjust the Handbook location for delivery by each individual employee.
Training Staff and Getting Them to Comply
Personnel Training & Compliance
A good employee handbook can’t work to its full potential if the policies it contains are not followed. To that end, employers should include training on the handbook’s contents as part of the firm’s new hire orientation process, as well as onboarding for existing employees when policies are updated, changed, or even adopted anew. Not only will this ensure that all employees are familiar with all policies, but it will give them the opportunity to ask questions about those policies that may be unclear, or that they did not previously understand to be applicable to them. The training should cover the type of situations to which the policy applies, and lay out the consequences for failing to comply with the policy. Finally, because it is often the human element that necessitates specific policy provisions, training should also emphasize the fact that the policy is informed by a goal of respect for everyone’s right to do their job without the distraction of another undermining their good work. Reminding employees – and giving them the tools they need to help educate their fellow employees – that there is a reason for each policy will increase the policy’s effectiveness in achieving its stated goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I provide a digital version of my employee handbook, in addition to the paper copy?
Yes. A "digital" version is preferable. (Paper is not the future, and few clients are requesting it these days!)
Simply convert your handbook to a .pdf formatted document and ensure that you distributed it electronically.
Note: remember when you distribute the digital version, to be sure to password-protect the document to prevent any further distribution.
As I create new policies, should I include them in an addendum to the handbook or issue a "policy bulletin" regarding the new policy?
If the policy is minor, such as a change in the method of time reporting, the employee may not even notice the change. Therefore, a separate "policy bulletin" may be the best approach.
If, however, the policy is extensive, or changes a significant employee privilege or right , you may want to issue an employee handbook addendum, as opposed to a separate "policy bulletin." Such an addendum will memorialize the change and avoid any confusion.
How do I handle employee acknowledgements of changes or new policies?
When providing the employee handbook, either as a digital or a paper format, you should include an Employee Acknowledgement Form acknowledging receipt and understanding of the handbook. Make sure the employee’s signature line reads, "I hereby acknowledge receipt of the ABC Law Firm’s Employee Handbook," as opposed to "I have read the ABC law firm’s employee handbook." It is not required that the employee read the handbook, just that he or she received it.
This signature also clears up any ambiguity associated with an employee’s prior receipt of an outdated employee handbook.