When hiring employees who work in New Hampshire, your employee handbook must align with both federal and state-specific employment laws. As New Hampshire employment law may differ significantly from other states where you hire, customizing your New Hampshire employee handbook to comply with state requirements is crucial.
While employers aren’t required to create and distribute employee handbooks, they are required to implement and comply with a variety of policies in the workplace. An employee handbook offers significant benefits in this regard. Employee handbooks serve as a means to introduce the company, establish expectations, explain essential policies and procedures, and reduce legal risk. Conversely, failing to comply with New Hampshire and federal employment laws in your handbook could subject your company to substantial legal risk.
To simplify the process, SixFifty’s Employment Docs enables employers to quickly and cost-effectively generate customized, state-specific employment handbooks.
Here’s what employers should know about creating their own New Hampshire employee handbooks.
Required New Hampshire employee handbook policies
New Hampshire has ten required state-specific employee handbook policies:
- Crime Victim Leave (25 Employees)
- Day of Rest Law (see SixFifty’s Workweek and Work Schedules Policy)
- Emergency Services Leave
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Holidays (Veterans Day)
- Jury Duty Leave
- Meal and Rest Breaks
- Pregnancy and Parental Leave (6 Employees)
- Smoking Policy
- Whistleblower
Keep in mind that two of the policies have employee thresholds, so you don’t need to include them if you don’t meet the requirements. However, if your company is approaching these thresholds, it’s wise to include them now.
Optional New Hampshire employee handbook policies
In addition to the required policies, New Hampshire employees are free to include as many optional policies as they choose, like these:
- Affinity Group Policy
- Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
- Arbitration Policy
- At-Will Employment Policy
- Background Check Policy
- COBRA Policy
- Cell Phone Policy
- Code of Conduct Policy
- Company Property Policy
- Confidentiality and Trade Secrets Policy
- Desk Hoteling Policy
- Direct Deposit Policy
- Dress Code Policy
- Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy
- Electronic Devices While Driving Policy
- Employee Benefits Policy
- Employee Classification Policy
- Employee Dating Policy
- Employee References Policy
- Employment of Relatives Policy
- Exit Interview Policy
- Gifts Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Home Office Reimbursement Policy
- Job Duties Policy
- Key or Access Card Policy
- Immigration Law Compliance
- Leave Policies, including: Paid Sick Leave; Bereavement Leave; Organ, Bone Marrow, and Blood Donor Leave; Domestic Violence Leave; Voting Leave; Witness Duty Leave; School Activity Leave
- Cannabis Policy
- Off-Duty Use of Facilities
- Outside Employment Policy
- Overtime Policy
- Payment of Wages Policy
- Payroll Deductions Policy
- Performance Review Policy
- Personnel Files Policy
- Pets in the Workplace Policy
- Progressive Discipline Policy
- Public Relations Policy
- Punctuality and Attendance Policy
- Record Retention Policy
- Remote Working Policy
- Salary Pay Policy
- Smoking Policy
- Social Media Policy
- Solicitation and Distribution of Literature Policy
- Technology Systems Policy
- Temporary Relocation Policy
- Timekeeping Policy
- Vacation/Paid Time Off
- Video Conferencing Policy
- Weapons in the Workplace
- Workers’ Compensation Policy
- Workplace Violence Policy
- Workplace Visitor Policy
Not all of the policies will apply to your workplace and workforce, depending on your company and industry type, size, employment type, and other factors.
Required federal employee handbook policies
If you choose to create an employee handbook, you should include these policies that are required by federal employment law:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)(15+ Employees)
- Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (50 Employees)
- Jury Duty Leave
- Military Service Leave
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Lactation Accommodation Policy
- Religious Accommodations Policy
Employers in all 50 states are required to implement these policies, in addition to any that are required by the specific state(s) in which they have employees. Therefore, all of your employee handbooks should contain these federal policies (if your organization meets the 50-employee requirement for the FMLA Policy).
How to create a New Hampshire employee handbook
Crafting New Hampshire state-specific employee handbooks requires thorough research and drafting, which can be risky. Any inadvertent violation of federal or New Hampshire state employment laws in your handbooks could expose your company to legal liability.
To ensure compliance with legal requirements in your state-specific handbooks, you have several options. One approach is to hire an attorney for handbook drafting, guaranteeing adherence to the regulations. However, when hiring employees in multiple states, billable hours can quickly add up.
Some companies may consider using one-size-fits-all online templates. This approach is not advisable, as there’s no guarantee that the templates will encompass all the required state-specific policies.
We know the challenges associated with drafting employee handbooks. That’s why SixFifty has taken care of the hard work for you. Our employee handbook creator is designed to support employers throughout every stage of the employment life cycle, starting from offer letters and continuing through termination and offboarding. Creating top-tier New Hampshire employee handbooks that meet all requirements has never been easier. Best of all, our legal team closely monitors any developments in employment law nationwide. Should any changes arise, we’ll promptly notify you, enabling you to regenerate your documents accordingly.
Ready to learn more? Schedule a demo today!
Looking to create an employee handbook for a different state? View our interactive map for required employee handbook policies by state.
