Employee handbooks are not enforceable. They have not been enforceable since the early 1990’s. In the early 1990’s, after a few court decisions, Texas employers realized they had to include a disclaimer in each handbook stating that the handbook is not a contract. Employers wanted employe handbooks to not bind the employers. Much of what
Employee handbook
Social Media Policies Guidelines
Many employers need to develop and fine tune their social media policies. See several sets of policies and guidelines at this website from Delaware Employment Law. Connecticut Employment Lawyer presents some helpful guidelines at this post.
Employee Handbooks Need to Change
Mike Maslanka, generally a defense lawyer, offers a good point about employee handbooks. All large employers have them. They provide concise, easy-to-read rules. But, employee handbooks generally do not provide a purpose for the rule. They do not explain why a particular rule is necessary, or even better, why the rule provides a benefit to…
Written Counseling is an Effective Defense
I talked about how employee handbooks are not a contract. That means an employer does not necessarily have to counsel an employee three times in writing before terminating that employee. But, a question that often comes up is why would an employer want to counsel an employee in writing? The most common reason…
Fairness Only Counts in Horseshoes
Many times over the years, I have been asked or told that what the employer did was not fair. The employee will tell me how they were fired with just one warning. The employee explains that the employee handbook clearly says the employer must have three written warnings "before they can fire you."
"Well,"…