Drafting your own employee handbook can be time-consuming and expensive, especially when lawyers are involved. Using basic templates might be tempting, but they rarely cover everything you need to address. They’re also unlikely to include all federal, state and local laws that apply to your employees.Many companies wonder whether they can save time or money using employee handbook software.
The answer is yes—as long as that software is designed to create customized employee handbooks that comply with state, local, and federal employment laws. SixFifty’s employee handbook generator can help you create your own custom handbooks: it’s fast, easy and cost-effective.
Here’s what you need to know about employee handbook software.
Why do you need an employee handbook?
Employee handbooks serve several important purposes. First, they introduce your employees to the company during the onboarding process, including your mission statement, company culture, and values. They also set expectations for your employees, from how to treat colleagues and clients to how to dress or handle grievances.
Next, employee handbooks act as a guide to what workers can expect from their managers and company leadership. They inform employees of benefits, company policies, and procedures.
Finally, employee handbooks protect the company. Not only should they comply with all state, federal and local laws, they can limit your liability as a company. Should employee disputes arise, your handbook is a powerful tool to prove that you acted in compliance with all applicable laws.
Employee handbook builder software
While one-size-fits-all employee handbook templates can’t quite cover everything an employee handbook must contain—especially when state- and locally-specific laws apply—employee handbook builder software provides a good alternative to having an attorney draft a handbook from scratch.
There are dozens of companies who offer employee handbook software, but not all are created equally. It’s important that you review the features of each before you choose a software tool: some may only generate basic text without state-specific features, while others might be static and therefore useless when laws change.
Software features
When you’re looking for the right employee handbook software, make sure it includes these benefits:
- Legal expertise: The number one feature your employee handbook software needs? Legal expertise from real lawyers. Every state has different employment laws, which can impose additional obligations on employers. Your handbook needs to comply with all applicable federal laws as well as state and local laws—and unless lawyers have weighed in on the research and generation, you could leave your company open to liability.
- State-specific handbook generation: Next, your handbook software needs to be able to create handbooks for every state, as well as any specific, local laws. This is crucial if you plan to hire out-of-state employees—you don’t want to risk running afoul of the law, nor should you have to redo the entire handbook every time you hire someone in a new state.
- Automatically generated: Employee handbook software should automatically generate handbooks for you. This saves time and ensures all of the required elements are present, instead of you needing to decide what’s required and what isn’t.
- Updates when the law changes: Finally, an employee handbook generator should notify you when the law changes, so you can update your handbooks accordingly. Otherwise, you run the risk of relying on outdated laws. This can open your company up to liability.
Employee handbook software benefits
When you use employee handbook software, you reap two major benefits. First, you don’t have to do the heavy lifting of creating a handbook from a blank page. When you use software, you’re more likely to cover all the important topics and policies. This can save considerable time, especially for small businesses.
Second, when you use a handbook generator with legal expertise, you’ll get a universal or state-specific, legally compliant document. That protects your company from liability, and eliminates the need to have your in-house team or lawyer create the document, which can be quite expensive. Instead, you can simply have your legal team review before you distribute.
Use SixFifty’s employee handbook software for legally compliant handbooks
When you need efficient, legally-sound employee handbook software, look no further than SixFifty. Our employee handbook tool pairs easy-to-use technology with real legal expertise to automatically generate legally compliant employee handbooks in record time. Simply follow the instructions and answer questions about your company. The software will automatically generate your complete handbook. Best of all, you’ll be notified anytime state or federal law changes, so you can regenerate your handbooks as needed.
If you’re ready to save time and money on your employee handbooks, schedule a product demo with SixFifty today!
Looking for the employee handbook requirements for your state? View our interactive map for required employee handbook policies by state.
