Employee Handbooks are an integral part of every small business’s “CYA” arsenal. They are intended to provide objective standards for employee conduct, expectations, and disciplinary procedures.

However,  the overwhelming majority of small businesses tend to rely on publicly available online forms  or policies borrowed from fellow business owners to prepare their employee handbooks, whether out of necessity, preference, or convenience.

In states like California where employment and labor laws are constantly being added or amended, it is worthwhile to review your company’s employee handbook from time to time to assess whether they are adequate or create unnecessary risk that, with a few tweaks and modifications, could be mitigated.  Complying with labor laws is a lot like keeping good  dental hygiene: an unpleasant and frequent annoyance but one for which  an once of prevention is worth a thousand pounds of cure.   Here is some guidance on the most common errors or mistakes in small business employee handbooks:

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