What are the essential disclaimers your employee handbook should contain?

The importance of an employee handbook can be understood from the fact that it sets out the tone for major policies relating to employment. A handbook is a kind of reference tool for employees and employers alike. To employees, it states the expectations organizations have from them. From the employer’s perspective, it is a clear manner of stating what the employees are expected to do in terms of service conditions, behavior, dispute settlement, etc.

An important, in fact, perhaps the most important aspect of the employee handbook is the section on disclaimers. The employee handbook disclaimer is the part of the employee handbook which gives employers a degree of defense against legal actions from an employee who gets fired. It is a strong insulation against such actions from employees who believe they were fired in contravention of the terms of employment conditions that were assumed or implied.

Having an employee handbook without a disclaimer gives the employee the opportunity the upper hand when she decides to file a case for wrongful disclosure in the event of termination of service. Most legal jurisdictions rely on the employee handbook to decide if there was any justifiable action or inaction on the part of the employee that led to the termination. If there is no disclaimer in place stating the conditions under which an employee can be removed, then, the employer is standing on weak ground.

So, what are the essential disclaimers that your employee handbook should contain?

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