Many employers use an employee handbook to distribute to employees rather than giving each employee a complete copy of the weighty personnel policy manual. Such a handbook, written in conversational style, discusses the basic policies that apply to all employees but does not include policies that are of interest only to management.

Although they may not be written down in black and white, all employers have personnel policies. The everyday workplace practices that the employer accepts become implied policies and, over a period of time, have the same effect and impact as written policies. There is an advantage to writing down the policy: because developing written policies requires a formal thought process, the employer is more aware of the policies and is in a better position to control them. Without written policies, some employers may not learn what their implied polices are until they get into a courtroom.

Basically, personnel policies are a communication tool between the employer and the employees. Some of their functions include establishing the workplace rules, defining the benefits and privileges given to employees, and setting forth the expectations the employer has of employees. Among the other benefits of a personnel policy system are:

It must be remembered, however, that personnel policies are two-edged swords. While a well-written, consistently applied personnel policy system is an extremely useful tool for managers, a poorly written or inconsistently applied system is like a time bomb waiting to go off in the form of lawsuits.

It is important to develop a policy manual unique to one's own county. Never copy another employer's manual. While reviewing other manuals is a good practice in getting ideas for the development of your county’s manual, directly copying another manual can lead to many problems. Each employer is different and the policy manual should be custom-designed to meet the specific needs of the individual employer. By copying another manual, an employer may be adopting policies that do not fit his particular county. It is also possible to adopt policies that are in violation of employment laws. Just because someone else's policy manual looks good is no guarantee that the author thoroughly researched all the employment-related laws.

So, on with the writing.

Determining the format of the manual should be done early in the process. There are a variety of formats used and a review of other manuals will be helpful. It is wise, however, to adopt a format that will allow the reader to easily find the various issues covered by the policy. Over a period of time, it will be necessary to add, delete, and change polices, so the policy manual should be in a loose leaf notebook. The format should also allow these changes to be made without disrupting a major portion of the manual. A good approach to this is to have only one policy (or part of a policy) per page.

Determining the contents of a manual is a two step process. There is deciding what policies to include in the manual and then deciding what issues should be addressed in the individual polices. Two frequently used resources for determining what policies to include are lists of generally used personnel policies and the table of contents of other policy manuals. Remember, these resources are only guidelines. Some policies may not apply; some could be entirely wrong for a particular county or county office.

The next step is to decide what specific issues each policy should address.

There will be polices controlled by law and polices that will be optional. For those policies controlled by legislation, such as wage and hour issues or family and medical leave, the policies must at least meet the minimum requirements of the controlling legislation. It is okay to offer a greater benefit to employees than that required by law but never a lesser benefit. In some instances, the law may allow the employer several options. An example of this would be the employer's right to pick one of four different ways to identify the twelve month period used in determining how much leave an employee has available under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

By being aware of such options, the county will be in a better position to design the policy to meet its needs. Before adopting any policy controlled by legislation, carefully research the regulations to be sure the policy is in compliance.

The other group of policies could be referred to as optional policies. These are not required by law and usually address the expectations the employer has of employees or define the benefits and privileges that the employer has elected to provide the employees. Such issues as attendance, work standards, discipline, vacations, and holidays are included in this group. One effective approach to developing these policies is to imagine the questions an employee might ask. Start by asking all the questions an employee might ask about the policy. The next step is to answer those questions in a policy format.

The policy manual is intended to be a communication tool. The keys are precision and clarity. Precision means saying exactly what you intend to say. Clarity means saying it in such a way that it will be easily understood by the reader. Using short sentences which address a single issue, and keeping the voca-bulary simple, are two ways to help ensure precision and clarity.

In writing policies, care must be taken to avoid creating a property interest in a job. A property interest means that the employee has reason to believe there is a guarantee of some duration of employment or that the job cannot be taken away without some form of due process. A property interest may be created by terms such as "permanent employee," or "employees shall only be terminated for just cause." Lists of reasons for termination that seem to be all inclusive or a disciplinary procedure that seems to be inflexible can also create a property interest in a job. To help protect against the potential for creating such implied contracts, personnel policy manuals should have a prominent statement of "at-will" employment in the policy manual. Such a statement might read, "All employment with Tejas County is at will and no contract of employment exists between the county and any individual for any duration, either specified or unspecified. The county or the employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any legal reason or no reason, with or without notice."

What about departments that have special policy needs? In some cases, unique situations or organizational structure may make certain polices a poor fit for a department. In situations were there is a valid business need, it is acceptable to have polices that deviate from the general policies. When this occurs, a statement in the general policy normally excludes the department from coverage and makes reference to the policy which replaces it.

When completed, copies of the manual should be distributed to all employees. Each employee should sign a statement saying that he has received the manual and understands that he must read and comply with the policies in it. It is a good practice for each department head to meet with his employees to discuss the manuals contents and to answer questions employees may have.

From time to time, it may be necessary to update the manual because of new legislation or changes in the county’s personnel practices. When this occurs, all employees need to get a copy of the new or revised policy and sign a statement acknowledging that they have received it.

A personnel policy manual should be reviewed periodically to ensure its accuracy. While changes in policies should be made as they occur, sometimes they will slip by. This periodic review, normally annually or biannually, will help identify any changes that should be made.

Initially developing a personnel policy manual is a big project but, if it is well written, maintaining the policy system is not that difficult. Once developed, such a system will be a useful tool to free the manager's time for more important duties other than handling routine, recurring decisions affecting the employer-employee relationship.