If you are in business, you most likely have heard about employee handbooks, right? Here are four things you need to know about them:

They need to be in good language

To avoid confusion, you should ensure that the manuals are in a language that is easily understood by both you (employer) and employees. The manuals should also be in a language that preserves at-will employment and clearly details all the rules that an employee needs to observe while in the workplace.

In addition to this, the language in the handbook should be fashioned in such a way that it can’t be interpreted as an employment contract. To be on the safe side you should ensure that you avoid jargon in your language.

While it’s fine to have informal tone in the document, you should keep it at a minimum. This is to avoid looking unprofessional.

Remember that they are only guides

Although, a handbook is an important document in any institution, you should avoid taking it too seriously. The first thing that you should do is to include a statement that says that the manual is not a contract, but a summary of the company’s policies.

While you should not take the document too seriously, you should ensure that it contains all the necessary information. For example, it should state the way employees should conduct themselves.

It should also include information that prohibits discrimination and harassment based on gender, color, disability, age, race, and national origin. It should also address retaliation against whistleblowers.

Wage and hour issues should take center stage

Since employees will be working in your company in order to support themselves financially, you should ensure that you state the amount that the employees should expect as compensation for their services.

To be on the safe side you should give all the information that your employees will need to know. For example, you should give the formula that you will use to calculate your employees’ salaries or wages.

Cover the gray areas

If you notice an issue that will be challenging to your company, you should cover it in the handbook. For example, you should state whether an employee should call if going to be out of work due to sickness. You should also state what the employee should do if he/she is called on jury duty.

If you find it appropriate, you should mention whether lovers are allowed to work in your company. You should cover all of these gray areas for the prosperity of your company.