Employee Handbook Law

An employee handbook is a compilation of labor laws in the state that are applicable to the employees. At Vision Law, our attorneys have considerable experience in the creation of such handbooks. A  free custom Employee Handbook is included when your company signs up for Vision’s Predictable Fees Program (12 month subscription). We have the experience necessary to break down the essentials of any labor or employment law into simple terms that most people can understand.

In law school budding lawyers learn a buzz phrase – “oh, that’s hornbook law” (aka “black letter law”). A “hornbook” is like “Cliff’s Notes” for law students and states the most rudimentary and basic recitation of the law so even a novice law student can figure it out. “Handbook” law is not “hornbook law” by any stretch of the imagination.

Handbook law is a phrase we use to describe the complexity of all the employment and labor law contained in a properly designed and drafted handbook. Pulling a boilerplate handbook off the Internet is definitely easy and cheap. The question is, does it comply with the law of the State of California and applicable federal law? More critical, does management understand how to use it?

Creation and Implementation Requires Expertise

Vision attorneys create and work with employee handbooks regularly. Handbook law requires a detailed understanding of at least the following employment and labor laws (California and federal):

• Wage and hour law, including exempt v. non-exempt status, regular rate of pay, workweek and workday, overtime, meal periods and rest periods, payday requirements, and lawful vacation or paid time off policies
• At-will rule and exceptions to that rule
• Anti-discrimination laws
• Anti-harassment laws
• Wrongful termination laws
• Leave of absence laws
• Labor relations under federal laws, including the right to organize and to engage in “protected concerted activity”
• Privacy laws as it pertains to employee use of property, tools and equipment, including computers and the Internet, and monitoring, either by telephone or audio-video surveillance
• Defamation law as it pertains to employee references
• Workplace safety
• Drug free workplace
• Workplace violence
• Intellectual property laws, including law of trade secrets and confidentiality agreements
• Unfair competition law
• Lawful and enforceable arbitration agreements

Contact Us

For a consultation with a California employment lawyer at Vision Law Corporation®, call 916-780-1920, or contact us online.

Also See:

• Free Employee Handbook
• Top Ten Employee Lawsuits and How to Avoid Them