• While few policies are required, employers should create and distribute information employees are expected to know.
• Written company policies provide employers with legal protection.

Very few company policies are mandated by law. If a state or federal agency wants to make employees aware of something, the agency requires a poster rather than a policy.

For example, policies on discrimination and harassment are strongly recommended, but are not required by federal law. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) does have a poster on discrimination laws. Most employers probably have posters on minimum wage, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance, and so on.

At the federal level, the FMLA regulations state that employers must provide the general notice to employees (which has the same information as the poster) “by including the notice in employee handbooks or other written guidance to employees concerning employee benefits or leave rights, if such written materials exist, or by distributing a copy of the general notice to each new employee upon hiring.” This means that even if employers have a handbook, the FMLA general notice could still be distributed separately.

Although there aren’t many mandatory policies, employers should have a policy for any subject that employees are expected to know about, or which might offer legal protection.