Employment Law

Should You Hire a Lawyer to Review Your Employee Handbook? featured image

Should You Hire a Lawyer to Review Your Employee Handbook?

Your employee handbook is an important tool for educating your workforce on your firm’s policies. Unfortunately, if your employee handbook is poorly written, not clear, or unspecific, you could be setting yourself and your employees up for failure. It’s important to achieve a careful balance between instruction and protection. In other words, you need your employee handbook to communicate your policies effectively while proposing their value for both you and your employees. Meanwhile, you need to be certain that the handbook covers your assets if something goes wrong and an employee seeks to file a claim against you or your business.

If you want to avoid the pitfalls associated with poorly drafted employee handbooks, consult a Nashville construction attorney from Cotney Attorneys & Consultants. Our lawyers are well-versed in a variety of revision strategies for employee handbooks and other important documents including lump sum or fixed price contracts, cost-plus contracts, time and material contracts, and unit pricing contracts.

Review and Revise Your Employee Handbook

Keeping a lawful employee handbook is essential to the success of your business. In an era filled with labor law claims and lawsuits, maintaining an up-to-date and accurate employee handbook is vital to your contracting business. When you partner with our Nashville construction attorneys, your employee handbook will be reviewed to ensure that your company policies are compliant with all labor laws. This handbook should include a company policy, which is a statement detailing your firm’s responsibilities when various issues arise, and a comprehensive explanation of suitable workplace behavior.

Litigation Against Companies is Becoming More Prevalent

According to one human resources management company: “Federal and state laws and the growing number of cases of employee-related litigation against management strongly suggests that a written statement of company policy is a business necessity for firms of any size.” However, without a Nashville construction attorney on your side, ensuring that your company policy is legally sound is left to guesswork. More and more lawsuits are being brought against companies as a result of employee conduct. For example, the release of private information, mismanagement of scheduling, insufficient documentation of overtime pay, and lapses in reporting time for payment considerations are common areas where employers fail to protect themselves by having a lawyer review their employee handbook.

Additionally, the policies for handling complaints that arise between employees, especially related to harassment, should be clearly outlined in your employee handbook; otherwise, you could put yourself at risk of litigation. Discrimination suits, which are brought against employers by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), are on the uptick. Let a Nashville construction attorney review your employee handbook to avoid any potential complications.

If you would like to speak with our Nashville construction attorneys about reviewing your employee handbook, please contact us today.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.