• A company should consider working with a lawyer to ensure its employee handbook will not be perceived as an employment contract.

One of the most important communications employers will make with new employees is through the employee handbook. It is crucial that this handbook accurately reflect what the company expects from employees and communicate necessary information to the employees.

Using the handbook

HR needs to ensure that employees read, understand, and follow the handbook. Most companies find it helpful to put an acknowledgment statement in the front of the handbook. The statement should be signed by the employee, within a reasonable time, and returned to HR, to provide evidence that the employee received the handbook.

This receipt provides only that the employee has received the handbook, not that the employee has entered into any type of agreement by signing the receipt.

This is an important concept, because if not carefully crafted, employee handbooks may be at risk of being construed as a contract between the employee and the employer. There have been cases in which courts have ruled that employee handbooks were, in fact, employment contracts, and the employer was stuck having to meet the terms of the contract — terms the employer never intended to create.

A company may want the handbook receipt to include a statement indicating that:

• Employees must read and become familiar with the contents of the handbook;
• The handbook provides information for guidance and reference;
• The terms of the handbook do not offer or guarantee continued employment, and that employment is at will — that the company or the employees may terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason;
• The handbook is not intended to create, and should not be construed as creating, a contract between the company and the employees;
• No contractual relationship will arise unless an express written contract is signed by a company representative who is authorized to enter into such a relationship;
• The contents of the handbook may be changed at the company’s discretion at any time for any reason;
• The handbook is confidential company information and copying in any manner is prohibited; and
• The handbook is company property and must be surrendered upon termination of employment.

Keep in mind that what the handbook says is what may cause it to be perceived as a contract. Employers may want to work with a lawyer who is experienced in employment laws and perhaps contracts, to ensure that the employee handbook is not conveying anything the company does not want it to convey.