What Laws, Regulations and Policies Must Be Part of Your Employee Handbook in 2020?

An employee handbook tells employees what the company expects of them and what they can expect in return. Employees read it when they join, when they consider leaving, and when they consider suing, so it must be kept current.

This 90-minute webinar explains which laws, regulations and policies belong in your employee handbook. Many companies rely on one-size-fits-all online templates, but a handbook that isn't tailored, updated regularly, applied consistently and aligned with current regulations can be a major risk.

You'll look at state-by-state requirements, criminal background checks, harassment rules after the MeToo movement, pay practices, the NLRB's role, and the records you must keep, protect and eventually destroy.

• Identify what your handbook must include under federal, state and local rules
• Avoid the key handbook violations that lead to fines and penalties
• Explain how NLRB rules affect handbook policies
• Address background checks, harassment and pay practice policies
• Set retention periods for employment records, including where state and federal rules differ
• Recognize e-records and know when the duty to preserve is triggered
• Shred or destroy records properly and keep retention policies legally sound

Handbook content and risk

• Myths about what belongs in an employee handbook
• New state-by-state requirements
• What to include based on federal, state and local regulations
• Criminal background checks in the handbook and company policies
• How sexual harassment requirements have changed since the MeToo movement
• How pay practices and regulations have changed the view of women and minorities
• Key handbook violations and mistakes that risk fines, penalties and criminal sanctions
• The NLRB and the employee handbook, including NLRB rules that eased employer concerns
• Why managers have a big impact on your handbook
• Legal updates your handbook should reflect

Records retention

• Which employment documents and records to keep and for how long
• When state retention rules differ from federal rules
• Why keeping everything is almost as risky as keeping nothing
• What counts as e-records, such as log-on/off times, Outlook calendars, notes, to-do lists and emails
• Checking whether your document creation, storage, retention and destruction policies are current and legally sound
• When and how to shred paper or destroy electronic records, such as for terminated employees
• When the legal duty to preserve records is triggered

Employment attorneys often ask for the handbook first when pursuing charges against an employer. A well-built handbook reduces risk, while a poor one exposes you to fines, penalties and even criminal sanctions.

Employers also hold large amounts of paper and digital employee data and must know what to keep, for how long, and how to keep it confidential. The session suits owners, executives, HR, compliance and payroll staff, federal contractor department heads and managers.

• Business owners, company leadership, and board of directors (CFO, COO, CEO)
• Federal Contractor department heads
• Human resources professionals
• Compliance professionals
• Payroll professionals
• Managers/Supervisors & new and potential managers
• Office managers responsible for HR responsibilities

Margie Faulk is a senior level human resources professional with over 15 years of HR management and compliance experience. A current Compliance Advisor for HR Compliance Solutions, LLC, Margie, has worked as an HR Compliance advisor for major corporations and small businesses in the small, large, private, public and Non-profit sectors.  Margie has provided small to large businesses with risk management strategies that protect companies and reduces potential workplace fines and penalties from violation of employment regulations. Margie is bilingual (Spanish) fluent and Bi-cultural.

Margie’s area of expertise includes Criminal Background Screening Policies and auditing, I-9 document correction and storage compliance, Immigration compliance, employee handbook development, policy development, sexual harassment investigations/certified training, SOX regulations, payroll compliance, compliance consulting, monitoring US-based federal, state and local regulations, employee relations issues, internal investigations, HR management, compliance consulting, internal/external audits, and performance management.
Margie is a speaker and accomplished trainer and has created and presented compliance seminars/webinars for over 16 US and International compliance institutes. Margie has testified as a compliance subject matter expert (SME) for several regulatory agencies and against regulatory agencies, thank goodness not on the same day. Margie offers compliance training to HR professionals, business owners, and leadership to ensure compliance with workplace and regulations. 
Margie’s unique training philosophy includes providing free customized tools for all attendees. These tools are customized and have been proven to be part an effective risk management strategy. Some of the customized tools include the I-9 Self Audit. Correction and Storage program, Ban the Box Decision Matrix Policy that Employers can provide in a dispute for allegations, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Compliance Guide, Drug-Free Workplace Volatile Termination E-Book and other compliance program tools when attendees register and attend Margie’s trainings.
Margie holds professional human resources certification (PHR) from the HR Certification Institution (HRCI) and SHRM-CP certification from the Society for Human Resources Management. Margie is a member of the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE).