There are approximately 6 million firms in the US that have employees. And for everyone that manages employees, there is a virtual minefield of organizational and legal issues that must be navigated. Perhaps that explains the fact that approximately 17 million firms, usually sole proprietorships, choose NOT to have employees.

Employee handbooks are often expected only in larger firms, where the investment in time and production for a glossy brochure full of carved-in-stone policies seems well spent. However, it might just pay to take another look. Smaller internal organizations and even companies with few employees, including sole proprietorships, may benefit from centralized, standard procedures.

An employee handbook can be an easy reference tool that looks professional and is easy to update. A great way to do this is with the UniKeep organization system. UniKeep View Case Binders(TM) are fully enclosed and stackable with an easy to use full wrap overlay that lets you create custom covers with a single sheet of paper. The durable, 100% polypropylene rings are easy to use and when combined with UniKeep accessories like snap in tabbed pockets and customizable indexes, the possibilities are endless while the content can always be current. Covers and indexes can be customized with your own company logo and information using templates, shown here, from www.unikeep.com.There are several things to consider when compiling a company handbook. Who will use the handbook? If you need to distribute this to a large number of employees, it makes a lot of sense to spend the extra time to nail down as many details as possible before anything is formally distributed. But smaller organizations often demand less structure. Revisions can become a useful and educational part of the editing process for teams that are struggling with their first handbook.

Why do you need a handbook? There are legal implications regarding the standardized information that you provide to all employees and there are financial implications regarding standardized processes. But you can also think of the handbook as your list of “Frequently Asked Questions”. It’s a good rule of thumb to expect each standard form like time sheets, expense reports, vacation requests, and applications for direct deposit to have a basic policy or procedure that documents how it’s used.

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A handbook can be a useful tool for firms with no employees. In this case, it becomes a centralized resource for customer directories, sub-contractor lists and contacts, retirement and pension plan account information, and frequently used forms like current W-9s, copies of certificates of incorporation or insurance, and open projects lists. It also holds documentation for ANY standardized task, from step-by-step instructions to performing routine backups to tax calendars and updated IRS policies. Organizing routine references reduces the time it takes to run a business, leaving more time to actually do business.

" The 'Employee Handbook' is an invaluable tool in harnessing a company's tacit knowledge,” says Meegan Addy, Business Manager at Exxceed, Inc., a Chicago firm that provides human capital management solutions. “Learning the policies and procedures alone are enough to keep a new hire busy for a month, wasting valuable training time as well as the time of his or her peers. In using UniKeep Binders, we are organizing our handbooks to provide a central location for all the paperwork a new hire needs to ease their entry to our firm. The more time they can dedicate to learning our business and not shuffling paper work, the quicker they will become satisfied and contributing members of our team."

Date everything so it’s instantly clear whether the version you have is the most current. Format your documents to automatically include the date printed in the document’s footer. With each revision, include a new index page listing all contents with latest revision dates. UniKeep tab dividers make this especially easy. The index inserts into a special page protector at the back of the document so you don’t even have to open the rings!

The employee handbook is NOT the place for proprietary company information or personal employee information. Handbooks should be labeled and considered “Company Confidential” but it’s important to recognize that can rarely be strictly enforced.

Checklist of items to consider for an employee handbook:

• Performance policy and forms
• Salary review policy/schedule
• Index that includes the person or department that is responsible for the handbook and individual components
• Annual list of holidays
• Employee benefits menu, eligibility and co-pay requirements and schedule of when benefits become effective, when they can be changed, and who to call if there is a question or problem
• Tuition reimbursement
• Training that may be required or optional
• Workflow charts
• Organization charts
• Company directory of locations, employees, and contact information
• Emergency and evacuation policies, including building maps
• Termination and resignation policies
• Policies regarding leaves and disability
• Position descriptions. This might be a general listing of roles and responsibilities assigned to specific positions, but this can be very helpful if you have high turnover or frequently employ temporary or contract labor
• Blank copies of all standard personnel forms including applications and claims forms for all benefits programs

And keep in mind that sometimes the policy is simply not to have a policy. It’s OK to say that.

For more information:
Exxceed, Inc. www.exxceed.com
312/ 795.9494

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