Seasonal Employee Handbook: Fill & Download for Free

An employee handbook is so incredibly useful.In the beginning stages, you may have very few employees or none at all. And, it may seem ridiculous to create an employee handbook when your base isn’t very big. However, you should expect growth and even if your employee count stays relatively small—issues are likely to come up at some point. Why flirt with disaster?Here are a few things that a solid handbook will include:Company vision/cultureEmployee behavior expectationSick leave/paid time offBenefitsWorker compensation policyEqual employment policyPay/PromotionsOf course, there will likely be other business-specific information you would like to include. The main thing to remember, it should be clearly written and you should uphold those policies if you include them. State and federal laws will also guide you in the right direction of what you have to include in handbook.If crafted right, the handbook will not only protect you from potential litigation down the road, but also offer peace of mind to your employees. It’s just a good deal for everybody.Because an employee handbook is incredibly important, it’s best to collaborate with a seasoned business attorney. A lawyer can work with you to produce a handbook that not only reflects your core values, but also offers a layer of protection should any legal issues arise.LawTrades can help. We can put you in touch with a great business attorney that can help you create a thorough employee handbook. We are committed to providing each client with cost-effective legal services that will help your business grow and prosper. Get in touch for a consultation.

Yes, parents have to take care of their children. But if they also want to work and their children are frequently ill, they need to find a care giver who can stay with their children when sick. I don’t know the laws in your country. With most companies in the US, one is allocated a specific number of paid time off (PTO) days to use as vacation or sick leave. When one runs out of days, one goes to unpaid time off. And companies can address absenteeism and warn an employee, and then let them go if they miss too many days. The employee’s absence has impacts on your company. If the employee cared about your company, they would recognize this and remove themselves from the situation, and try to find a job at a company where they were not a key cog. At one company, we counseled an employee who was “sick” every Monday after they accrued 8 hours of sick leave or vacation (there was not PTO yet). HR told them it was an abuse of sick and vacation leave as sick was for when one was really sick, and vacation was to be prescheduled. Their behavior improved for a couple months, and then reverted. They received a second warning and were dismissed.If companies want loyal employees, the company also needs to demonstrate loyalty to its employees. My suggestion is counsel the employee on the situation. Perhaps they will just resign as they care about the company. Or you can help them find work or give them some notice so that they can find work. My guess is that the other employees are not happy about the situation. I will also voice some suspicion. Flu is normally seasonal, and once one gets flu, one is immune until the next flu season. Fever is a common excuse in many countries. Have you ever seen a doctor’s note? Can you ask for one? Some companies require it after missing three days of work for illness. Other companies where there is suspicion may require it as a condition of continued employee. An employee handbook is good as it could cover these situations. But no employee handbook can also be good. You can set policy based on the individual, being fair to everyone.Good luck.

It’s difficult to know why they’re firing you — even if you asked them, there’s a good chance they won’t tell you the truth — but most of the time, that won’t happen when you ask for a raise (so don’t let it prevent you from doing so in the future!). As for options, if you’re already being fired, it’s best to protect yourself and prepare for your next move. Step 1, apply for unemployment insurance. Step 2, get an attorney. *Do not sign anything from the company firing you without an attorney seeing it first.* Explanation below…I would recommend NOT assuming that just because you live in a “fire at will” (“at-will employment”) state, if that’s the case, that there are no options for you. In some cases, there are still legal protections from being fired for ‘no reason,’ including things like discrimination or other exceptions that could be considered “wrongful termination.” (A lot of employers somehow do not realize this and assume that “at-will” means “open season.” That is not the case!)Request a written termination letter so that you have proof that you’re being terminated, and make sure they don’t write in there that you’re “resigning.” Communicate everything over email — the request for the letter, specifying that you’re requesting a “termination letter,” and if they try to call it a resignation, put in writing why it is not that, with as much detail as possible. If you resign (or sign a document that says you’re resigning), you could lose any rights you may have (unless you can prove that you were forced to resign ‘under duress’).Next, contact an attorney that knows employment law in your state. If you don’t know one, try a service like LegalShield (google that company along with the word “competitors” to find other similar options), which is a service that allows you to pay an affordable monthly fee for legal advice. Have them review your company’s employee handbook (if you have one), any documents you received or signed upon employment, and your termination letter. They can help you determine whether or not you have any options. (I knew a guy fired once who discovered that because the parent company of his company was not in an “at-will employment” state, he was eligible for protections he hadn’t realized, and sued the company for over $90k.)If they don’t give you a termination letter, call LegalShield (or whoever) anyway to ask what you can do. They may be able to assist you in requesting one, or you may have additional allowances or protections based on the fact that they won’t give you one.If it turns out you don’t have a case for “wrongful termination,” at least you know! Your first move though, before all of this, is to apply for unemployment insurance (for which you can usually only qualify if you are terminated under certain circumstances — NOT if you resign — another reason to get proof that it’s termination and not a resignation). Unemployment insurance can help float you financially until you find another gig. (And when interviewing for new gigs, obviously don’t provide your last company as a reference.)When you request a termination letter, your company may put in there that you promise not to say anything disparaging about them, or that you are waiving your rights to unemployment insurance (since they may have to pay for it if you’ve been there 6 months or more) — do not allow that! You can help others in the future by spreading the word about what they’ve done (but only after your situation is settled) on Glassdoor, etc. Get your attorney involved to review the letter BEFORE you sign it and they can translate any legal jargon for you. And also do not allow your company to rush you to sign it before having your lawyer look at it. (Companies sometimes rely on you being too scared to take the time to do your homework, but in reality, they can’t make you sign anything and you are not obligated to!) They may even offer you severance money that “expires” within a short amount of time to convince you to hurry up and sign. Do not fall for that.Protect yourself, take your time, don’t panic, and good luck!!