With the turn of the new year and various state employment laws taking effect on January 1, 2025, many employers are revising their employee handbooks. In drafting and revising employee handbooks, they’re often faced with an important decision: Should they offer a minimalistic, bare-bones handbook; a lengthy and nearly exhaustive handbook; or something in the middle? Ultimately, the necessary details and depth of an employee handbook will depend on your business and your employees’ roles, but a well-crafted handbook can serve as a shield both before and during litigation and as a useful tool to highlight policy changes.
Compliance Checklist
Although your employee handbook should be tailored to your business’s specific needs, below is a general checklist of what the revisions should include:
- Disclaimer language stipulating that the handbook isn’t an employment contract or a guarantee of any benefit and that you have the right to amend the handbook without prior notice;
- Clear at-will employment language, if applicable;
- A thorough but general equal employment opportunity provision and a process for appeal;
- A process for employees to follow when seeking accommodations for a disability or some other protected status;
- A clear antiharassment statement and a process for making a harassment claim;
- A description of your method of implementing Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights, including definitions;
- Identification of eligibility and duration of various leaves of absence, vacations, and holidays;
- Clear descriptions of payroll practices, including overtime, premium pay, and increases;
- A clear description of timekeeping practices, particularly employees’ responsibilities;
- A clear description of welfare and retirement benefits, including eligibility and reference to plan documents, as appropriate; and
- A clear process for resolving disputes.
Federal Issues to Keep an Eye On
In addition to ensuring the handbook is current with your practices, you should update it according to the changing landscape of federal employment law. For example, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act’s (PWFA) regulations took effect in 2024. The PWFA provides explicit protections for employees relating to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions when other federal and state statutory protections may not provide such coverage.
Although the FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave following the birth of a child, it applies only to employers with 50 or more employees, and covered employees must have worked with the employer for at least a year, among other requirements. On the other hand, the PWFA covers all employers with 15 or more employees and consequently applies to some employers that aren’t covered by the FMLA’s provisions.
As a result of the new PWFA regulations, you should review references in your handbook to the interactive process (discussions between the employer and employee about accommodations) or the requesting of accommodations to ensure they include the PWFA.
Another item in the handbook that may need to be updated is noncompete agreement language. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) attempt to limit noncompete agreements wasn’t successful, but various state legislatures have stepped in on the issue. Accordingly, employers that wish to address noncompete agreements in a handbook should ensure the state laws where their employees are located will allow such restrictions.
State and Local Issues
Handbooks should also be reviewed to account for developments in state and local laws in the locations of an employer’s workforce. In the era of remote work, you should pay special attention to any remote employees working in different states. If you have remote employees, review where they work and whether you should have addendums in your handbook for the states where benefits or requirements are different.
Recent trends in some states that may require you to revise your employee handbook include:
- The enactment of pay transparency laws;
- State and local minimum wage increases;
- The legalization of marijuana use for recreational or medical purposes; and
- Paid sick leave laws and personal leave laws.
Publication Is Vital to Effectiveness
The most well-written and tailored handbook, especially if it contains new provisions, will be ineffective if it isn’t publicized. Providing the handbook to employees and specifically notifying them of any updates will increase the effectiveness of the handbook and any revisions therein.
Even if a handbook doesn’t need to be updated, consider circulating it at least annually to employees and requiring that they acknowledge receipt. For example, a well-publicized policy against workplace harassment is a great safeguard against liability for an employee’s alleged harassment. So, many employers annually reissue their harassment and discrimination policies and require employees to acknowledge they received, read, and understood them.
Bottom Line
The new year is a great time to take care of administrative tasks like handbook review. It gets your employees and your business off on the right foot.
Marcus D. Black is an attorney with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC in Charleston, West Virginia, and can be reached at marcus.black@steptoe-johnson.com.