Your employee handbook is a guide to everything employees need to know about your policies, processes, expectations, and company culture. It’s the easiest way to distribute required notifications and critical information. It also gives new employees a jump start in learning the company culture.

Every employee handbook should start with a few simple sections. The company mission, vision, values, and story, workplace guidelines, your code of conduct, employee rights and obligations, behavioral and professional expectations, and policies for leave and time off. If you want to include more, go for it!

Employee handbooks fulfill three main purposes. First, they protect your practice from legal trouble—once an employee signs the handbook, they’re agreeing to the rules within (as long as they’re compliant with federal, state, and local laws). Second, it sets expectations of behavior and ability. Finally, it helps bring your practice together by establishing your culture. For more info, check out our blog on handbooks!

When a disgruntled employee or former employee sues you, it often comes down to you and your practice doing something different than legal regulations or practice rules. By showing that they know exactly what they signed up for (the handbook) and that your practice followed through (record-keeping and documentation), you can eliminate the threat from 99% of employment lawsuits.

Because we were founded by healthcare law experts. For them, this is a passion. We maintain a knowledge vault that we update every time healthcare laws and regulations change at every level. Then our software automatically flags that change for every relevant practice the next time they need to update their own handbooks. Finally, our attorneys make sure those changes make sense for your practice.

Employee handbooks don’t have to be dry and boring. In fact, a captivating handbook is much more useful in terms of instilling culture and encouraging employees to actually read the thing. Use realistic examples, workplace anecdotes, and a conversational tone. Creative design and images can also enliven your handbook.

The easiest way to distribute your handbooks is in a digital format that automatically confirms receipt with a tool like e-signature (HR for Health does that!). Whatever way you choose, you should communicate any changes in policies and procedure, confirm receipt, and make sure you continue to correct, update, and adapt as your practice changes and new rules and regulations roll out.