Employee Handbook for Small Business

shlshsm

How many employees should a small business have before a handbook becomes necessary? I have seen varying numbers beginning with 10 employees and up.

mwild31

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-09-03 AT 12:05PM (CST)[/font][p]2, no 5, no, wait a minute 13 or it could be 25? Basically, there's not hard and fast rule that states you have to have a handbook after achieving a certain level of employees (in the private world). There are however, regulations that must be followed once a there are a certain number of employees on hand & the employee should be notified. This doesn't necessarily have to be posted in a handbook - it can be treated as a seperate policy. I enjoy a good handbook, but I would need more information from you regarding whether or not I would recommend your company incorporating one.

shlshsm

Thank you. I am in the process of writing a handbook for a law firm comprising a staff of 10. I know that the law firm is exempt from compliance with several federal laws because of the number of staff, but I also read somewhere that a handbook is recommended for staff of 15 or more.

Parabeagle

You have my sympathies. One of the most ulcer-generating tasks I ever undertook was to write a handbook for a law firm. Whatever you do, just implement it when you get it done. Don't show it to any of the attorneys. They'll just ignore it anyway. Good luck! x:-)

marc

One of these days I will learn how to properly post. I sent a reply earlier and it didn't make it, I probably clicked the wrong option again.

Excuses aside, the gist of my post was that you probably already had several policies, they just were not formalized in a handbook. And no, just because they are attorney's, they should still get some guidance.

Do you have a vacation policy? How about holidays and sick leave? Do you reimburse the ees for business expenses? How do you pay the cell phone bills? If your company has already answered these questions, you already have the beginnings of items that can go into a small company policy. This website has sample employee handbooks that can guide you to other policies that you should address.