Would Your Employee Manual Pass the Test?
What does your employee manual say? Having an inaccurate manual is almost as bad, if not worse, than no manual at all. If you have policies that are not accurate to your business you may be holding your business accountable to things that you will have a hard time fulfilling and at very least may cause you unnecessary financial hardship. For example:
“The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an Indianapolis worker who was deemed ineligible for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may sue his former employer under state law for either breach of contract or promissory estoppels. According to the federal appellate court, statement in the employee handbook and two letters received by the employee that promised him 12 weeks leave may have been sufficient to create an enforceable contract under Indiana Law. Alternatively, the court held that the worker may be able to prove his claim for promissory estoppels because he relied to his detriment on the company’s promises.” (http://www.elinfonet.com/starticles/15)
Problems with employee manuals have arisen from court decisions in recent years which have found employee manuals in some circumstances to be binding employment contracts. Most often, the difficulties in these cases were created by the employers themselves, who made promises in their employee handbooks which were not kept. Courts throughout the country have held that employee manual statements, improperly drafted, can create exceptions to the traditional “at will” doctrine of employment.
You want to have an employee manual that sets forth the expectations that are valid for your business and ones that being set in place work to make your place of business more cohesive while also being compliant with the necessary laws.
How does your stack up?
Dr. Laina Molaski
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