NEW: Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits
As of January 1, 2021, most employees working in Massachusetts are eligible for between 12 and 26 weeks of job-protected, paid family and medical leave benefits under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, which applies to all employers. If the employer has 25 or more employees, benefits are funded by employer and employee payroll contributions. If the employer has fewer than 25 employees, funding is by employee payroll contributions alone.
This policy is optional; however we strongly recommend including it your handbook to show compliance and to explain the PFMLA requirements to employees.
NEW: Colorado Paid Sick Leave
Effective January 1, 2021, Colorado’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act applies to employers that employ 16 or more employees nationally and at least one (1) in Colorado. The Act requires those employers to provide up to 48 hours of paid sick and safe leave to their employees each year. Employers with 15 or fewer employees nationally and at least one (1) in Colorado must begin providing paid sick and safe leave under the law effective January 1, 2022.
The handbook policy is optional; however, for consistency with other paid sick day laws, we strongly recommend including the policy in the handbook. In addition, the law includes separate notice and posting requirements employers must provide.
UPDATE: California Paid Family Leave Benefits
The policy was updated to reflect that as of January 1, 2021, employees may be eligible to receive benefits through the California Paid Family Leave program when they take leave to participate in a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Earlier this year, we updated the advisory notes (Explain this to me) to reflect that employees may be eligible for up to eight (8) weeks of partial pay.
NEW: Maine Paid Leave
Effective January 1, 2021, Maine’s Earned Paid Leave law requires employers with 11 or more employees in Maine to provide up to 40 hours of paid leave to be used for any reason.
The handbook policy is optional, however for consistency with other paid leave laws, we strongly recommend including the policy in the handbook. Maine employers also are required to post Maine’s Regulation of Employment poster in all workplaces.
UPDATED: San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Benefits
We updated this policy to clarify that as of July 1, 2020, employees may receive up to eight (8) weeks of leave in a 12-month period.
Note that the policy applies to employers with 20 or more employees (including employees in and out of the City/County of San Francisco).
UPDATE: Hawaii Family and Medical Leave
The policy has been updated to reflect recent state law (HB2148 HD1 SD1) that extends family leave to include the care of grandchildren and siblings. The law was signed on September 15, 2020, but is retroactive to July 1, 2020.
UPDATE: Oregon Non-Harassment and Discrimination
We have updated the Time Period To Bring a Legal Claim paragraph to state that individuals have five (5) years to file a claim for unlawful harassment or discrimination occurring on or after September 29, 2020.
The Oregon Workplace Fairness Act requires all Oregon employers to adopt a written policy containing procedures and practices to reduce and prevent specific types of unlawful harassment, discrimination and sexual assault. This new policy incorporates the Act’s requirements and also prohibits harassment and discrimination protected by federal law, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment.
This policy replaces the national Non-Harassment and Sexual Harassment policies previously included in the Oregon Employee Handbook Builder. The new, comprehensive Non-Harassment policy will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
To reiterate, the Sexual Harassment policy has been deleted from the Handbook Builder.
To accompany the policy, we've also added a Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. We suggest you print and ask employees to sign the Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy.
UPDATED: Massachusetts Non-Harassment
We have added contact information for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination offices in New Bedford and Worcester.
Massachusetts requires employers with six (6) or more employees to adopt a sexual harassment policy, and this provision is intended to comply with that law. This new policy addresses all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment. This policy replaces the separate Massachusetts Sexual Harassment policy and the national Non-Harassment policy previously included in the Massachusetts Employee Handbook Builder. The new, comprehensive Non-Harassment policy will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
To reiterate, the Sexual Harassment policy has been deleted from the Handbook Builder.
The written policy must be provided annually to all employees, and new employees must be provided a copy at the time of employment. To accompany the policy, we've also added a Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. We suggest you print and ask employees to sign the Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy.
NEW: Virginia Pregnancy Accommodations
Under the Virginia Values Act, which took effect on July 1, 2020, employers must make reasonable accommodation to the known limitations of a person related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions unless they can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer.
The law applies to employers with five (5) or more employees in the U.S. and at least one (1) in Virginia for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar years.
This policy must be included in the employee handbook no later than October 29, 2020.
NEW: New York Sick and Safe Leave
New York state requires all employers to provide either paid or unpaid sick and safe leave, beginning on September 30, 2020. Employees begin accruing the paid sick and safe leave on September 30, 2020, but employers do not have to allow use of the leave until January 1, 2021.
Leave is based on number of employees as follows:
- employers with 100 or more employees must provide up to 56 hours of paid sick and safe leave per year;
- employers with between five (5) and 99 employees (as well as employers with four (4) or fewer employees but with a net income of greater than $1 million) must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick and safe leave per year;
- employers with between one (1) and four (4) employees, must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick and safe leave per year.
NEW: Bernalillo County, New Mexico Earned Paid Time Off
Effective October 1, 2020, under the Employee Wellness Act, employers with two or more employees in the unincorporated limits of Bernalillo County, New Mexico must provide earned paid time off to eligible employees. The paid time off may be used for any reason, and the amount that must be provided per year is between 28 and 56 hours depending on employer size.
The handbook policy is optional; however, for consistency with other paid time off laws which require written notice to employees, we strongly recommend including the policy in the handbook.
Replacement of Mississippi State Flag Icon with Outline of the State
We removed the Mississippi state flag icon from the Mississippi Employee Handbook Builder because the state flag is undergoing redesign. In its place, we substituted an image of the state boundaries.
If you asked to have the flag icon appear on the title page of your Employee Handbook, the flag will remain there until you re-publish your Mississippi handbook, at which time the state outline will appear.
Once Mississippi decides on a new flag, we will make that icon available for the Mississippi handbook.
UPDATE: Michigan Your Paycheck
Stemming from a periodic review of handbook policies, we replaced Michigan Your Paycheck with the national policy. The policies are similar and there was no reason for a separate Michigan policy.
UPDATE: Michigan Working Hours and Schedule
Stemming from a periodic review of handbook policies, we replaced Michigan Working Hours and Schedule with the national policy. The policies are similar and there was no reason for a separate Michigan policy.
UPDATE Seattle Paid Sick and Safe Time (For Employees Also Covered Under Washington Paid Sick Leave)
We have updated the policy to include changes in the Seattle law resulting from Covid-19.
NEW: Georgia Lactation Accommodations
This new Georgia-specific policy replaces Lactation Breaks in the Georgia Employee Handbook Builder.
Georgia law generally requires all employers, regardless of size, to permit employees reasonable paid break time to express milk in a private place other than a restroom if they are at the employer’s worksite. This provision is not required by law but is recommended to show compliance with the law and to alert employees to their rights.
NEW: Tennessee Pregnancy Accommodations
The Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for medical needs arising from pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions to job applicants and employees unless doing so would create a business hardship. Note that the state statute defines “hardship” as “an action requiring significant difficulty or expense.”
The Act takes effect on October 1, 2020 and applies to employers with at least one (1) employee in Tennessee and 15 or more employees nationally.
This policy is optional, but we strongly recommend including it in the Employee Handbook.
NEW: Rhode Island Non-Harassment
Rhode Island requires employers with 50 or more employees to adopt a sexual harassment policy, and this new policy is intended to comply with that law. The policy addresses all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment.
This policy replaces the separate Rhode Island Sexual Harassment policy and the national Non-Harassment policy previously included in the Rhode Island Employee Handbook Builder. The new, comprehensive Non-Harassment policy will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
To reiterate, the Sexual Harassment policy has been deleted from the Handbook Builder.
To accompany the policy, we've also added a Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. We suggest you print and ask employees to sign the Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy.
NEW: Vermont Non-Harassment
We created this policy to address all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment.
This policy replaces the separate Vermont Sexual Harassment policy and the national Non-Harassment policy previously included in the Vermont Employee Handbook Builder. The new, comprehensive Non-Harassment policy will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
To reiterate, the Sexual Harassment policy has been deleted from the Handbook Builder.
To accompany the policy, we've also added a Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. We suggest you print and ask employees to sign the Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy.
NEW: Connecticut Non-Harassment
We created this policy to address all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment.
This policy is specific to Connecticut and replaces the national Non-Harassment and Sexual Harassment policies previously included in the Connecticut Employee Handbook Builder. The new, comprehensive Non-Harassment policy will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
Employers in Connecticut are not required to have a harassment policy specifically, but courts and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have consistently found employers liable for harassment, and particularly sexual harassment, if they did not distribute an effective harassment policy to employees.
To accompany the policy, we've also added a Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. We suggest you print and ask employees to sign the Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. This also can be accomplished as part of your annual training on employee policies.
NEW: South Carolina Lactation Accommodation
This new policy addresses the South Carolina Lactation Support Act, which requires all employers, regardless of size, to permit employees reasonable unpaid break time to express milk in a private place other than a toilet stall.
This provision is not required by law but is recommended to show compliance with the Act and to alert employees to their rights.
Note that this new state-specific policy replaces the national Lactation Breaks policy in the South Carolina Handbook.
NEW: New York Harassment Complaint Form
Every employer in New York State is required to adopt a sexual harassment policy and a complaint form. The New York Non-Harassment Policy, which covers all forms of harassment including sexual harassment, is included separately in the Employee Handbook Builder and is intended to comply with the New York policy requirement.
This new complaint form replaces the Sexual Harassment Complaint form in the New York Handbook Builder.
NEW: Maine Non-Harassment
We created this policy to address all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment.
This policy replaces the separate Maine Sexual Harassment policy and the national Non-Harassment policy previously included in the Maine Employee Handbook Builder. The new, comprehensive Non-Harassment policy will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
To reiterate, the Sexual Harassment policy has been deleted from the Handbook Builder.
To accompany the policy, we've also added a Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. We suggest you print and ask employees to sign the Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. This also can be accomplished as part of your annual training on employee policies.
NEW: New York Non-Harassment
We created this policy to address all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment.
This policy replaces the separate New York Sexual Harassment policy and the national Non-Harassment policy previously included in the New York Employee Handbook Builder. The new, comprehensive Non-Harassment policy will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
To reiterate, the Sexual Harassment policy has been deleted from the Handbook Builder.
To accompany the policy, we've also added a Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. We suggest you print and ask employees to sign the Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. This also can be accomplished as part of your annual training on employee policies.
UPDATE: Non-Harassment
We have updated this policy to address all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment.
This policy replaces the separate Non-Harassment and Sexual Harassment policies previously included in the Employee Handbook Builder and will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
To reiterate, the Sexual Harassment policy has been deleted from the Handbook Builder.
Although the federal employment discrimination laws do not specifically require employers to have a Non-Harassment provision, courts and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have consistently found employers liable for harassment, and particularly sexual harassment, if they did not have an effective harassment policy distributed to employees.
Given the changes to the Non-Harassment policy, we suggest you print and ask employees to sign the updated Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. This also can be accomplished as part of your annual training on employee policies.
DELETED: New Jersey Non-Harassment
With the recent updates to the national Non-Harassment policy, a state-specific Non-Harassment policy for New Jersey is no longer needed. Therefore, we deleted the New Jersey Non-Harassment policy and replaced it with the national Non-Harassment policy.
New Jersey Handbook users should review and save the Non-Harassment policy and republish their New Jersey Handbook to ensure it contains the latest provisions.
UPDATE: Acknowledgement & Receipt California Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Prevention
Given the changes to the California Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Prevention policy, we suggest you print and ask employees to sign the updated Acknowledgement & Receipt of the California Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Prevention policy. This also can be accomplished as part of your annual training on employee policies.
All employees should sign and return the Receipt. This Receipt is vital because the employees' signature is an acknowledgment of their receipt of the California: Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Prevention policy, their obligation to comply with its terms and their acknowledgment of the reporting mechanisms the company provides for policy violations. It also shows the employer's compliance with the law's requirements. Procedures should be implemented to ensure that this and all other acknowledgments are collected and retained in employees' personnel files.
UPDATE: Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy
We have updated the Non-Harassment policy to address all forms of harassment based on protected class membership, with a special emphasis on sexual harassment. The updated policy replaces the separate Non-Harassment and Sexual Harassment policies previously included in the Employee Handbook Builder and will help employers streamline their harassment procedures since the requirements are addressed in a single policy.
Given the changes to the Non-Harassment policy, we suggest you print and ask employees to sign the updated Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy. This also can be accomplished as part of your annual training on employee policies.
UPDATE: California Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Prevention
We updated the policy to comply with federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, including transgender status.
This updated provision sets forth the Company's commitment to a harassment-free workplace and is based on regulations issued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”). It is mandatory for California employers.
UPDATE: Equal Employment Opportunity
We updated the policy to comply with federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, including transgender status.
NOTE that a separate EEO policy for UTAH is no longer necessary in light of the inclusions in the federal policy. The state policy has been removed from the Handbook Builder and replaced with the federal policy.
UPDATED: New Jersey Equal Employment Opportunity
We updated the policy to comply with federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, including transgender status.
UPDATED: Minnesota Equal Employment Opportunity
We updated the policy to comply with federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, including transgender status.
UPDATED: California Equal Employment Opportunity
We updated the policy to comply with federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, including transgender status.
UPDATE: New York Voting Leave
This policy has been updated to reflect recent changes to New York’s voting leave law that were included in the state’s 2020 budget.
DELAYED Implementation of Dallas Earned Paid Sick Time
We have pulled Dallas Earned Paid Sick Time from the Texas Handbook Builder because of a court ruling to delay implementation of the Dallas Paid Sick Leave Ordinance.
The Ordinance, requiring employers to provide paid sick time to employees who work in Dallas, went into effect August 1, 2019, but the city delayed enforcement until April 1, 2020. On March 30, 2020, implementation was further delayed by a U.S. District Court ruling.
If you added the policy to your handbook, you may wish to delete it until the case is resolved and the effective date is known. You can do so by accessing your handbook builder and republishing your handbook.
UPDATED: California Family and Medical Leave
We updated this policy and the advisory notes in order to:
- clarify the interaction of the FMLA/CFRA/PDL
- remove information regarding the 2015 CFRA regulation changes
- reorganize content referencing military qualifying exigency leave
- clarify how intermittent leave may be taken for bonding under the CFRA
- clarify the initial medical certification process
NEW: District of Columbia Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits
Effective July 1, 2020, employees may be eligible for wage replacement benefits under the District of Columbia Universal Paid Leave Act for leave taken to bond with a child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, and address their own serious health condition.
A written policy is not required by law but we strongly recommended including the policy in your handbook to show compliance with the law and to provide employees with information about the benefits.
UPDATE: Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave
This updated version reflects recent amendments to the paid family and medical leave law.
We suggest subscribers confirm the number of employees in the Interview section of the handbook to ensure the appropriate policies are populating correctly. All Washington Handbooks for subscribers with one (1) or more employees in Washington state should include Washington: Paid Family and Medical Leave. In addition, Washington Handbooks for subscribers with 50 or more total employees should include Family and Medical Leave (the national policy).
UPDATE: Oregon Family and Medical Leave
We have corrected a minor programming error in the policy content. The correction will require you to accept the updated policy in the Handbook Builder.
UPDATE: Workplace Conduct
We have corrected a minor programming error in the policy content. The correction will require you to accept the updated policy in the Handbook Builder.
TEMPORARY REMOTE WORK/TELECOMMUTING POLICY IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19
We are providing a sample policy that may be added temporarily to your employee handbook to address employees who are working/ telecommuting remotely from home as a result of COVID-19.
An employee handbook policy addressing telecommuting is not required by law and is entirely optional. Because a policy is not required and because of the temporary nature of COVID-19 stay-at-home state orders, we do not recommend employers add this policy as part of their regular employee handbooks. However, we recognize some employers may want to include a temporary policy to address limited remote work related to COVID-19.
Information on the telecommuting and the sample can be found here: TEMPORARY REMOTE WORK/TELECOMMUTING POLICY IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19
UPDATE: New Jersey Earned Sick and Safe Leave
We have updated the policy to reflect that earned sick and safe leave may be used for school or workplace closings related to an epidemic or public health emergency or declaration of a state of emergency (including reasons specific to the employee or a member of the employee’s family).
UPDATED: Vermont Earned Sick Time
The advisory notes and policy have been updated to allow subscribers to provide earned sick time through an accrual or grant method.
UPDATE: New Jersey Family and Medical Leave
This provision was updated to allow leave in the event of a state of emergency declared by the Governor, or when indicated to be needed by the Commissioner of Health or other public health authority, an epidemic of a communicable disease, a known or suspected exposure to the communicable disease, or efforts to prevent spread of the communicable disease.
UPDATE: New Jersey Family Leave Insurance Benefits
The provision has been updated to reflect that leave is available in the event of a state of emergency declared by the Governor, or when indicated to be needed by the Commissioner of Health or other public health authority, an epidemic of a communicable disease, a known or suspected exposure to the communicable disease, or efforts to prevent spread of the communicable disease.
NEW: New Mexico Pregnancy Accommodations
This policy reflects the provisions of the New Mexico Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act, which takes effect May 20, 2020.
This policy applies to employers with four (4) or more employees nationally and at least one (1) in New Mexico. Including the policy in the handbook is optional, although we strongly recommend doing so.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act
We are providing sample policies that may be added temporarily to your employee handbook to address the short-term requirements imposed by the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The FFCRA applies to private employers with fewer than 500 employees and certain public employers. FFCRA took effect on April 1, 2020 and will expire on December 31, 2020.
An employee handbook policy describing the FFCRA requirements is not required by law and is entirely optional. Because a policy is not required and because of the temporary nature of the FFCRA, we do not recommend employers add a FFCRA policy to their employee handbooks. However, we recognize some employers may want to include a FFCRA policy due to the high-profile nature of the law and inevitable questions from employees. Therefore, we are providing two model policies for your convenience, one for employers with fewer than 50 employees and one for employers with between 50 and 499 employers. As with all new policies, employers are strongly encouraged to have their own attorney review any policy related to the FFCRA before distribution to employees.
Information on the FFCRA and the sample policies can be found here: FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT SAMPLE POLICIES.
UPDATE: Rhode Island Earned Sick and Safe Leave
The policy and advisory notes have been updated to remove references to the 2018 effective date and the step progression of hours of sick and safe leave provided. As of 2020, employees must be allowed to accrue and use up to 40 hours each calendar year.
UPDATE: Connecticut Paid Sick Leave
The policy and advisory notes have been updated to remove references to the 2012 effective date.
NEW: Pittsburgh Paid Sick Time
Effective March 15, 2020 in accordance with the City of Pittsburgh’s Paid Sick Days Act, employers with any employees in Pittsburgh must provide paid sick time to eligible employees. The amount of paid sick time employees are eligible for depends on the size of the employer’s workforce
NEW: New Jersey Pre-Tax Transportation Fringe Benefit
Effective March 1, 2020, every employer in New Jersey that employs at least 20 people nationally and at least one (1) in New Jersey (including full-time, part-time, seasonal, temporary, supplied by placement agency, etc.) is required to offer a pre-tax transportation fringe benefit to all of its employees who are not subject to a collective bargaining agreement.
Including this policy in your Employee Handbook is optional, but it may be useful to show compliance with the law.
This policy replaces the Transportation Reimbursement Program policy for employers that qualify for the transportation fringe benefit, i.e., employers with 20 employees nationally and at least one (1) in New Jersey.
UPDATE: Record Retention
We updated the interview question to give subscribers the option to add other titles in the question regarding informing the company of a potential or actual litigation, external audit, investigation or similar proceeding.
NOTE that if you are satisfied with your policy as is, there is no need to update your response to this interview question or republish your handbook.
UPDATE: Washington Pregnancy and Childbirth Leave
We have updated this policy to reflect changes necessitated by the new Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave policy and to comply with the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), which applies to employers with eight (8) or more employees. WLAD prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy and requires covered employers to provide employees with a leave of absence for the period of time that they are sick or temporarily disabled because of pregnancy or childbirth. In addition, employers must treat employees on pregnancy disability leave in the same manner as other employees on leave for sickness or other temporary disabilities. Pregnant employees are eligible for the leave regardless of number of hours worked.
UPDATE: Illinois Leave for Domestic, Sexual and Gender Violence
We have updated this policy to reflect the expanded inclusion of victims of gender violence in addition to domestic and sexual violence. Please note that the title has changed as well as the advisory notes and policy content.
NEW: Nevada Paid Leave
We have added this policy to the Nevada Handbook Builder. In accordance with Nevada law, all employers with 50 or more employees in Nevada must provide paid leave effective January 1, 2020. The required paid leave may be used for any purpose.
Please visit and update the number of employees in the Handbook Builder so this policy populates correctly.
Note that the law specifically exempts from coverage "An employer who, pursuant to a contract, policy, collective bargaining agreement or other agreement, provides employees with a policy for paid leave or a policy for paid time off to all scheduled employees at a rate of at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave per hour of work performed.”
UPDATE: California Bone Marrow Donation Leave
This policy applies to employers with 15 or more TOTAL employees and at least one (1) employee in California. We have not made any content updates to this policy but ask employers to visit and update the number of employees in their Handbook Builders to make sure this policy populates correctly.
UPDATE: California Organ Donation Leave
California law requires employers with 15 or more employees nationally and at least one employee in California to provide eligible employees with up to 30 days of paid leave in any one-year period to participate in an organ donation. Effective January 1, 2020, covered employers also must provide employees with an additional 30 days of unpaid leave in any one-year period for the same purpose.
Please be sure to visit and update the number of employees in your Handbook Builder to make sure this policy populates correctly.
UPDATE: California Lactation Breaks
This policy has been updated to comply with California law, which requires all employers to provide a reasonable amount of break time and compliant room or location to accommodate employees who want to express breast milk for their infant child. In addition, effective January 1, 2020, California employers must have a policy that addresses lactation accommodation.
UPDATE: San Francisco Lactation Breaks
This policy has been updated to comply with California’s law, effective January 1, 2020 requiring employers to have a lactation accommodation policy. Employers in San Francisco may use this policy to comply with both laws.
Under the law, all employers in San Francisco City and County must provide a reasonable amount of break time and a compliant room or location to accommodate an employee who wants to express breast milk for the employee’s infant child. In addition, employers must have a policy that addresses lactation breaks.
Please note that the title of the policy has been changed from Lactation "Accommodations" to Lactation "Breaks."
NEW: Duluth Earned Sick and Safe Time
Effective January 1, 2020, employers with one (1) or more employees in Duluth and five (5) or more employees nationally must provide paid Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) to employees who meet the eligibility criteria (contained in the Explain this to me advisory notes of the policy). The handbook policy is optional unless it is used to satisfy the notice requirement.
NEW: Oregon Workplace Accommodations
Effective January 1, 2020, Oregon employers with at least one (1) employee in Oregon and six (6) or more employees nationally must provide reasonable accommodations for employees with pregnancy-related conditions. The new law (HB 2341) amends Oregon's civil rights code and its mandate extends to medical conditions related to pregnancy, including childbirth and lactation, and expands protections against pregnancy-related discrimination.
This provision is not required by law, but it is considered a best practice to comply with the law's requirements.
NEW: New York Reproductive Health Decision Making Discrimination
This new policy is effective on January 1, 2020 for New York employers. The State of New York has added section 203-E to its Labor Law prohibiting discrimination based on an employee's or a dependent's reproductive health decision making.
An employer that provides an employee handbook to its employees must include in the handbook notice of employee rights and remedies pursuant to this law, and this provision is intended to comply with the requirement.
NEW: Maine Pregnancy Accommodations
Maine’s “An Act to Protect Pregnant Workers,” which applies to all Maine employers, provides broad protections for workers, covering any limitation of an employee’s ability to perform their job due to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions including lactation. The law took effect September 19, 2019 and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions.
This handbook policy is not required but is strongly recommended to inform employees of their rights and obligations under the Act.
UPDATE: Oregon Lactation Breaks
Effective September 29, 2019, Oregon now requires all employers to provide a “reasonable” rest period to express milk each time an employee has a need to do so until the child reaches 18 months of age. Previously, Oregon required employers with 25 or more employees to provide one (1) 30-minute break per four (4) hours worked. This provision has been updated to reflect the new requirement.
UPDATE: Drug-Free and Alcohol-Free Workplace
We added extensive advisory notes behind the “explain this to me” tab explaining state laws on medical and recreational marijuana and how they affect the policy. We urge all subscribers to review the notes. We also added an additional reference to medical marijuana in the policy text acknowledging it is a controlled substance.
UPDATE: Philadelphia Paid Sick Time
The logic for including this policy in your handbook has been adjusted, but the policy itself has not changed. This policy will appear in the PA handbook only if a subscriber has one (1) or more employees in Philadelphia. If you want this policy in your PA handbook, please make sure you enter the number of employees in Philadelphia in the interview section of the handbook builder.
UPDATE: New York State Paid Family Leave
As of January 1, 2019, eligible employees are entitled to up to 10 weeks of paid family leave within any 52-consecutive-week period. (This amount previously was 8 weeks.) The weekly monetary benefit will be 55% of the employee's average weekly wage or up to 55% of the state average weekly wage. (This amount previously was 50%.)
UPDATE: Bereavement Leave
We updated the policy to give subscribers the option to add relatives to the list included in the policy. We also added "civil union partner" to the list of close relatives.
NOTE that New York and New Jersey previously had state-specific policies that included civil union partners as close relatives. Now that this relationship is included in the model policy, we have deleted the separate state policies. NY and NJ subscribers who had customized their Bereavement policy will need to make those revisions to the updated policy in their handbook.
NEW: New York Westchester County Safe Time Leave
Effective October 30, 2019, all employers must provide up to 40 hours of Paid Safe Time Leave per year to employees who work in Westchester County for more than 90 days in a calendar year and are victims of domestic violence or human trafficking.
This handbook policy is optional; however, we strongly recommend including it in the handbook.
UPDATE: California Working Hours and Schedule
We have added the option to include variable hours in the policy.
Note that this updated policy includes recent provisions in the California Wage Orders, which require that employers maintain accurate time records of when non-exempt employees begin and end each work period, including meal periods. Failure to comply with such requirements subjects an employer to significant liability.
UPDATE: Working Hours and Schedule
We have added the option to include variable hours in the policy. Should you wish to add variable hours, please answer the interview questions, update the policy, and republish your handbook.
If you are content with your policy the way it is (i.e., standard hours), there is no need to republish your handbook.
NEW: Pittsburgh Pregnancy Accommodations
This new policy applies to employers with 5 or more employees in Pittsburgh, PA, and complies with a recent Pittsburgh City Code (Article V, Chapter 659, Section 659.02) that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions and events. In addition, covered employers must reasonably accommodate employees because of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions and events.
This policy is not specifically required by law but is intended to comply with the PHCR’s guidance regarding “best practices” to implement the Code. Protections apply to pregnant employees, persons affected by a pregnancy-related condition, and to the partner of a pregnant person or person affected by a pregnancy-related condition.
NEW: Kentucky Pregnancy Accommodations
This new policy applies to employers with 15 or more employees in Kentucky. The Kentucky Pregnancy Workers Act (effective June 27, 2019) requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodation for pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Kentucky also prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.
This policy is optional, but we recommend including it in your handbook.
NEW: Tennessee Abusive Conduct Prevention
This policy is optional, but strongly recommended because it can serve as a defense to workplace “bullying” suits brought by employees in Tennessee.
HB 856 extended the Healthy Workplace Act to all private employers and provides that if an employer adopts the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations’ model policy on abusive conduct in the workplace then the employer is immune from suit for any employee's abusive conduct that results in negligent or intentional infliction of mental anguish. The law took effect April 23, 2019.
NEW: Baltimore City Lactation Accommodation
Effective April 15, 2019, employees have a legal right to request a lactation accommodation pursuant to the Baltimore City Lactation Accommodation in the Workplace Ordinance (the “Ordinance”).
The Ordinance applies to employers with two (2) or more full-time equivalent employees in the City of Baltimore, Maryland. Employers must include a written policy on lactation accommodation in their employee handbooks and distribute the policy upon hiring.
For more details, please review the policy and the advisory notes behind the “Explain this to me” tab.
UPDATE: Arizona Earned Paid Sick Time
This policy has been updated to allow employers to provide sick time either as an accrual or as a front-loaded grant.
The policy applies to all employers, but the amount of earned paid sick time for which employees are eligible depends on the size of the employer’s workforce in Arizona.
Please be sure to read the advisory notes (Explain this to me) and answer the interview questions.
NEW: New York Westchester County Earned Sick Leave
Effective April 10, 2019, Westchester County, New York enacted the Earned Sick Leave Law that applies to all employers with employees in Westchester County, New York.
The law covers employees that work within Westchester County for more than 80 hours in a calendar year. Employers with five (5) or more employees will be required to provide paid sick leave; employers with four (4) or fewer employees must provide unpaid sick leave. Employees begin accruing the paid leave on July 10, 2019.
This handbook policy is optional. However, by July 10, 2019, employers must provide current employees with a copy of the Earned Sick Leave Law and written notice of how the law applies to them and must display a copy of the law and a poster in a conspicuous location in the workplace. Employees hired after July 10, 2019 must be provided a copy of the Earned Sick Leave Law and written notice of how the law applies to them upon commencing employment. This policy helps to satisfy the written notice requirement.
NOTE: this policy was updated on 4/23/19 to reflect the latest guidance from the County. The revisions allow employers to provide sick leave as a front-loaded grant or as an accrual.
UPDATE: New Jersey Safe Act Leave
The provision has been updated to reflect that while eligible employees may elect to use any employer-provided paid time off such as paid vacation or sick time during leave under the NJ SAFE Act, employers may no longer require them to use the paid time. Eligible employees also now may be able to receive paid family leave insurance benefits when they take leave under the NJ SAFE Act. For more information on this benefit, please see the New Jersey Family Leave Insurance Benefits policy.
UPDATE: New York City Lactation Room
Effective March 18, 2019, employers with four (4) or more employees in New York City must implement a written lactation room policy. The policy must be distributed to all employees upon hire.
Please note that the policy was updated significantly effective April 9, 2019 based on new guidance from the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
UPDATE: New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time
This policy has been updated to reflect the September 20, 2018 FAQs from NYC Consumer Affairs. Note that the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time law requires employers to distribute a policy addressing paid safe and sick time to employees at the time of employment, within 14 days of the effective date of any changes and upon request by an employee. This provision is provided as a sample policy for employers that want to include the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Policy in the employee handbook.
NEW: Michigan Paid Medical Leave
The Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA) requires employers with 50 or more employees (regardless of where they are located or how many hours they work) to provide eligible nonexempt employees with up to 40 hours of paid sick leave each year to be used for their own illness or a family member’s illness, for absences related to domestic or sexual violence, for school or workplace closings related to a public health emergency, and for the employee’s or employee’s family member’s exposure to a communicable disease. The law is effective March 29, 2019.
This handbook policy is optional but recommended.
NEW: California Business Expense Reimbursement
California law requires employers to reimburse employees for “all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge” of the employees' duties. The law does not require employers to have a policy addressing business expense reimbursement, but it is recommended to show compliance with the law.
UPDATE: Business Expense Reimbursement
We have updated the advisory notes behind the "Explain this to me" tab. No policy content was changed.
NEW: Illinois Business Expense Reimbursement
This policy reflects provisions in the Illinois Wage Collection and Payment Act allowing employers to implement a "written expense reimbursement policy" that limits their employees' business expense reimbursements and should be included in your handbook.
Effective January 1, 2019, Illinois law requires all employers to reimburse their employees for "all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee" in the scope of employment and directly related to services performed on behalf of the employer.
UPDATE: Illinois Pregnancy Accommodations
We have updated this policy to define "undue hardship," which are the conditions that may affect the ordinary operation of the business and, therefore, make it difficult for an employer to provide an accommodation for employee pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions.
The definition is included in the "Explain this to me" advisory notes.
NEW: Illinois Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Notice
All employers in Illinois must provide notice to employees explaining their right to be free from discrimination in the workplace and their right to reasonable accommodation based on pregnancy and disability and their right to be free from sexual harassment.
This notice is intended to comply with the Illinois handbook requirement and should be included in your employee handbook.
UPDATE: Oregon Sick Time
The policy has been updated to include an interview question that allows subscribers to select either the accrual or grant method of allocating sick time. Additional revisions have been made to the advisory notes and policy content so be sure to review both.
In addition, the Oregon Sick Time law supersedes the Portland Protected Sick Leave Ordinance, and Portland employers must comply with the Oregon law. As a result, the Portland Protected Sick Time policy has been deleted from the Employee Handbook Builder.
UPDATE: References
An interview question was added to allow subscribers to more easily customize this policy.
UPDATE: Exit Interviews
An interview question was added to allow subscribers to more easily customize this policy.
UPDATE: Safe Harbor Policy for Exempt Employees
This policy was updated to further clarify when deductions may be made from exempt employee pay for full-day absences related to sickness or disability.
UPDATE: Illinois Lactation Breaks
The Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act requires employers with six (6) or more employees to provide nursing mothers reasonable break time to express breast milk during the workday unless doing so would create an undue hardship for the employer. Amendments to the Act, which took effect August 21, 2018, clarify that the break time “may not reduce an employee’s compensation for time used” to express milk, and so the break time generally should be paid. Employers also must make reasonable efforts to provide a private room or location other than a toilet stall in close proximity to the employee’s work area. The Act further requires that break time be provided for at least one (1) year after the birth of a child, but the policy does not impose a time limit to support working women who continue breastfeeding for longer periods.
Including the policy in the Employee Handbook is not required but is recommended.
UPDATE: Connecticut Family and Medical Leave
This policy has been updated to correct a grammatical error.
NEW: South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added this policy to the South Carolina Handbook Builder. The South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations Act requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for medical needs arising from pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions to job applicants and employees and prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. The Act applies to employers with at least one employee in South Carolina and 15 or more employees nationally.
NEW: New York City Temporary Schedule Change
New York City’s Temporary Schedule Change Law provides covered employees the right to temporary changes to their work schedule for certain “personal events," which are explained in the policy. This law applies to all employers who have one (1) or more employees in New York City.
Including this policy in your handbook is optional, but employers’ policies must meet or exceed the requirements of the Temporary Schedule Change Law. In addition, employers must post a notice in the workplace explaining rights under the law.
NEW: Washington Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added this policy to the Washington Handbook Builder. The Washington Healthy Starts Act requires workplace accommodations for pregnant employees. The Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees nationally and at least one (1) employee in Washington.
Including this policy in the employee handbook is optional. Although the Act also does not require employers to provide notice of employee rights under the law, employers are advised to do so. Please be sure to review the advisory notes behind the "Explain this to me" tab.
Please Review and Update Number of Employees in Interview Section
It is critical that employers make sure the number of employees is correct in all the classifications shown,
i.e., total (national) and by location (state, city, county, town, etc.) because increasingly, state and local laws that apply to employee handbook provisions base requirements on total number of employees and/or number of employees in a state and/or other municipality.
The type of information in policies linked to number of employees includes leaves of absence, length of leaves, paid or unpaid sick leave, and pregnancy accommodations, among other topics.
The most common example is the Family and Medical Leave (FML) policy. The policy, which is required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act applies to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. Some states also have their own FML laws that apply even if an employer has fewer than 50 employees. If your employee counts are incorrect, you may miss the cut-off and a state- or federally-required policy will not appear in your handbook builder, which can cause compliance issues.
In addition, as we introduce new policies, we want to make sure you are receiving those that are applicable based on the size and location of your organization. Therefore, we recommend that employers regularly review the “Number of Employees” entered in the Interview section of their Handbook Builder and confirm or update the counts as appropriate.
NEW: West Virginia Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added Pregnancy Accommodations to the West Virginia Handbook Builder. The West Virginia’s Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act requires a covered employer to make a reasonable accommodation for health conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions of a job applicant or employee, unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the operations of the Company.
Including this policy in the employee handbook is optional. The Act applies to employers employing 12 or more employees within West Virginia for 20 or more calendar weeks in a calendar year.
NEW: Vermont Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added this policy to the Vermont Handbook Builder. According to Vermont law (21 V.S.A. § 495k) effective January 1, 2018, Vermont employees with pregnancy-related conditions have a right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace to perform their job. The law applies to all Vermont workplaces and all pregnant employees.
Including this policy in the employee handbook is optional. Employers must post notice of the law in a place conspicuous to employees at the employer's place of business.
NEW: Utah Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added this policy to the Utah Handbook Builder. It applies to employers with 15 or more employees in Utah, and requires covered employers to make a reasonable accommodation for an employee for pregnancy, child birth, breastfeeding or a related condition upon the employee’s request unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the operations of the employer.
NEW: Nevada Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added this policy to the Nevada Handbook Builder. This policy applies to employers with 15 or more employees nationally and at least one (1) employee in Nevada.
Under the Nevada Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act (the “Act”), effective October 1, 2017, Nev. Rev. Stat § 613.335(2) - (8), employees have the right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace for pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.
Including this policy in the employee handbook is optional. The Act requires employers to provide notice to all new employees at the time of hire and also requires employers to post a notice in the workplace and give notice within 10 days after employees report to an immediate supervisor that they are pregnant.
NEW: New Jersey Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added this policy to the New Jersey Handbook Builder. New Jersey law prohibits all employers from treating an employee affected by pregnancy or breastfeeding in a manner less favorable than the treatment of other persons not affected by pregnancy or breastfeeding but who are similar in their ability or inability to work. Employers also are required to provide reasonable accommodation to women affected by pregnancy unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the business operations of the employer.
Including this policy in the employee handbook is optional.
NEW: Nebraska Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added this policy to the Nebraska Handbook Builder. The law covers employers with 15 or more total employees and at least one (1) employee in Nebraska. Nebraska law requires reasonable accommodation to the known physical limitations of any individual who is pregnant, has given birth or has a related medical condition unless the employer can demonstrate doing so would pose an undue hardship.
Including this policy in the employee handbook is optional.
NEW: Minnesota Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added a Pregnancy Accommodations policy to the Minnesota Handbook. The Women’s Economic Security Act, Minn. requires a covered employer to make a reasonable accommodation for health conditions related to an employee’s pregnancy or childbirth upon the employee’s request, with the advice of her licensed health care provider, unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the operations of the Company.
Including this policy in the employee handbook is optional. Provisions regarding pregnancy accommodations are only applicable if the employee is employed in Minnesota and the Company has 21 or more employees at any single work site.
UPDATE: Maryland Pregnancy Accommodations
This policy has been updated to correct a grammatical error.
UPDATE: Colorado Pregnancy Accommodations
We have updated the Pregnancy Accommodations policy in the Colorado Handbook Builder. We added an interview question to identify the contact for requesting an accommodation.
UPDATE: Delaware Pregnancy Accommodations
We added an interview question for this policy that allows you to identify a contact for questions or accommodation requests.
Also, please note that this policy applies to employers with four (4) or more employees in Delaware. Please make sure that the number of employees in Delaware is correct in the Interview section of the Handbook Builder.
UPDATE: Hawaii Pregnancy Accommodations (formerly Maternity Leave)
We updated the former Hawaii Maternity Leave policy to:
- Include pregnancy accommodations, resulting in significant content changes to the policy and new advisory notes behind the “Explain this to me” tab;
- Change the title to Hawaii: Pregnancy Accommodations;
- Add an interview question about the contact for questions or accommodation requests; and
- Relocate the policy from the “Leaves of Absence” section of the Handbook Builder to the “Governing Principles of Employment” section.
UPDATE: Rhode Island School Involvement Leave
We have updated the advisory notes (Explain this to me) to clarify that the law applies only to private employers with 50 or more employees and at least one (1) employee in Rhode Island.
Please make sure the Rhode Island employee counts in your handbook are up-to-date in the Interview section (“Number of Employees”). If the “Number of Employees” is 0 for Rhode Island and if "Total Number of Employees" is 49 or less, the updated policy will not be generated.
UPDATE: San Francisco Family Friendly Workplace Policy
The San Francisco Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance applies to employers with one (1) or more employees in San Francisco and 20 or more total employees, regardless of location.
Please make sure the San Francisco employee counts in your handbook are up-to-date in the Interview section (“Number of Employees”). If the “Number of Employees” is 0 for San Francisco and if "Total Number of Employees" is 19 or less, the updated policy will not be generated.
UPDATE: New York Jury Duty Leave
We have updated Jury Duty Leave in the New York Handbook Builder.
The payment requirements (in the first sentence of the last paragraph) now link to the number of employees in New York, such that:
- Employers with 10 or more employees will see the text: The company will compensate the juror with a fee of $40 or the juror’s regular wage (whichever is lower) for the first three (3) days of jury service.
- Employers with nine (9) or less employees will see the text: The company will not compensate non-exempt employees for time off while on jury duty leave.
Of course, you can edit the text to match your company policy.
UPDATE: Massachusetts Earned Sick Time
This policy has been updated to correct a grammatical error.
UPDATE: Massachusetts Small Necessities Leave
As of May 1, 2018, Small Necessities Leave was deleted from subscriber handbooks if a subscriber was not FMLA-eligible.
The policy only is applicable if an employer has Massachusetts employees who are eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), i.e., they work at worksites with 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius.
In the past, some employers included this policy in their handbooks even though they did not meet the FMLA criteria. Please revisit the Interview section of the Handbook Builder and confirm or update the total number of employees in your company and the number in Massachusetts to ensure the right policy content is generated in your Employee Handbook.
If you wish to keep Small Necessities Leave in your handbook even if the Company does not have any Massachusetts employees covered by the FMLA, you must create a custom policy (Add Provision) that includes the Small Necessities Leave policy language. Please contact Technical Support at 844-687-0479 or techsupport@blr.com if you need help creating a custom policy.
UPDATE: New York City Supplemental Gender Discrimination
This New York City policy has been updated to include the expanded definition of gender that takes effect May 11, 2018.
It applies only to employees located in New York City. The policy is optional but we strongly recommend including it in your handbook due to enforcement guidance issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Be sure to read the “Explain this to me” advisory notes.
UPDATE: Job Postings
We corrected a grammatical error in the policy.
UPDATE: MD Montgomery Co. Earned Sick & Safe Leave (For Employees Covered Under MD Healthy Working
We have updated Montgomery County Earned Sick and Safe Leave based on the preliminary guidance recently issued by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
The requirement for whether leave must be paid or unpaid is based on the number of employees in Maryland and in Montgomery County. Note too, Montgomery County employers only need the Montgomery County Earned Sick and Safe Leave policy and may delete the Maryland Earned Sick and Safe Leave policy.
Please revisit the Interview section of the Handbook Builder and confirm or update the number of employees in Maryland and in Montgomery County to ensure the right policy text is generated in your Employee Handbook. We also updated the guidance provided behind the “Explain this to me” tab, so be sure to read this as well.
UPDATE: Maryland Earned Sick and Safe Leave
We have updated Maryland Earned Sick and Safe Leave based on the preliminary guidance recently issued by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
The guidance says that employers with 15 or more employees in Maryland must provide paid ESSL; employers with 14 or fewer employees in Maryland are required to provide unpaid ESSL. Previously, the policies considered total number of employees, whereas now the trigger is number of employees in Maryland. In addition, the guidance specifies that the accrual date is based on the effective date of the law, which is February 11, 2018.
Please revisit the Interview section of the Handbook Builder and confirm or update the number of employees in Maryland to ensure the right policy text is generated in your Employee Handbook. We also updated the guidance provided behind the “Explain this to me” tab, so be sure to read this as well.
NEW: Massachusetts Pregnancy Accommodations
Massachusetts Pregnancy Accommodations has been added to the Massachusetts Handbook Builder. This policy reflects the provisions of the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that takes effect April 1, 2018. The Act prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy and related conditions and requires reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers.
This policy applies to Massachusetts employers with six (6) or more employees and to other employers with six (6) or more employees nationally that also have one (1) or more employees in Massachusetts.
Please revisit the Interview section of the Handbook Builder and confirm or update the number of employees in Massachusetts to ensure the right policy text is generated in your Employee Handbook. Also, please answer the new interview question for the policy and read the guidance provided behind the “Explain this to me” tab.
NEW: Connecticut Pregnancy Accommodations
Connecticut Pregnancy Accommodations has been added to the Connecticut Handbook Builder. It reflects the provisions of Public Act No. 17-118 Concerning Pregnant Women in the Workplace that took effect October 1, 2017. The Act prohibits employers from discriminating against pregnant workers and requires reasonable accommodation of their pregnancies. Employers are required to provide notice of the Act as of January 28, 2018.
The policy applies to Connecticut employers with at least three (3) employees in Connecticut and to other employers with at least three (3) employees nationally and one (1) or more employees in Connecticut. This handbook policy is not required but is considered a good practice to inform employees of their rights and obligations under the Act.
Please revisit the Interview section of the Handbook Builder and confirm or update the number of employees in Connecticut to ensure the right policy text is generated in your Employee Handbook. Also, please answer the new interview question for the policy and read the guidance provided behind the “Explain this to me” tab.
DELETE: Spokane Earned Sick and Safe Leave
We will remove the Spokane Earned Sick and Safe Leave policy from the Employee Handbook Builder effective March 6, 2018. The Spokane Earned Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance expired on December 31, 2017, and the Washington paid sick leave law now applies to Spokane employers instead.
Spokane employers should implement the Washington Paid Sick Leave policy and may choose to allow employees to carry over paid sick and safe leave accrued under the Spokane Earned Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance for use under the Washington Paid Sick Leave policy, but are not required to do so.
Please refer to the new Washington: Paid Sick Leave policy for further information and to create a new policy.
NEW: Washington Paid Sick Leave
This new policy, effective January 1, 2018, includes the paid sick leave requirements created by Washington Initiative 1433. This new policy applies to all non-exempt employees in the State of Washington. The new State law also prompted changes in the sick leave policies for Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane. Please see the posts for those cities if you have employees in the cities.
Be sure to answer the interview questions associated with this policy and also read the advisory notes behind the Explain This to Me tab.
UPDATE: Tacoma Paid Leave
Tacoma Paid Leave has been updated to reflect changes made to the Tacoma paid leave ordinance to incorporate the new State requirements, but the Tacoma ordinance also covers exempt employees. Tacoma employers should maintain the updated policy and if there are employees in other parts of Washington, add the Washington policy.
Be sure to review and answer the interview questions for the policy, and review the guidance provided behind the “Explain this to me” tab.
NEW: California New Parent Leave
The California New Parent Leave Act (CANPLA) applies to employers with 20 or more employees (nationally), and technically requires a handbook policy for all covered employers. However, since there must be 20 employees within a 75-mile radius for any California employees to be eligible, if this is not the case, potential risks of not including this policy in the handbook are minimal. This policy does not apply if there are 50 or more employees within 75 miles of all California employee worksites as these employees are covered by FMLA and CFRA.
NEW: Berkeley, CA Paid Sick Leave
This new policy, effective 10/1/2017, has been drafted to comply with California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act. This handbook policy is optional, although we strongly recommend including it in the handbook. The model notice was not yet available when this advisory was drafted. Check the city's minimum wage ordinance web page for updates.
UPDATED: Oregon Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault or Stalking Leave
We have updated this policy to clarify that all employers who employ six (6) or more employees in Oregon are obligated to provide leave to an employee regardless of how many hours that employee works.
UPDATE: Minnesota Crime Victims Leave
The policy was updated to clarify that leave is unpaid.
UPDATED: San Diego Earned Sick Leave
The agency enforcing sick leave ordinances recently clarified that sick leave is intended only to apply to non-exempt employees in San Diego. Accordingly, we have updated the chart listing all California sick leave policies and, where applicable, we have updated the San Diego interview questions, policy text and the advisory notes (Explain this to me).
UPDATED: Emeryville Paid Sick Leave
The agency enforcing sick leave ordinances recently clarified that sick leave is intended only to apply to non-exempt employees in Emeryville. Accordingly, we have updated the chart listing all California sick leave policies and, where applicable, we have updated the Emeryville interview questions, policy text and the advisory notes (Explain this to me).
NEW: Chicago/Cook County Earned Sick Leave
NOTE that the list of Cook County municipalities that opted out of compliance with the ordinance was updated on 7/7/17.
We have added Chicago/Cook County Earned Sick Leave to the Illinois Handbook Builder. This policy is effective July 1, 2017. This policy can be used for purposes of compliance with both the Chicago ordinance and the Cook County ordinance.
Note that more than one-third of the municipalities within Cook County have “opted out” of complying with the ordinance. The “Explain this to me” advisory notes contain a list of the municipalities that have opted out to date.
NEW: St. Paul, MN Earned Sick and Safe Time
This new policy applies to all employers, but the effective date is dependent on the number of employees in St. Paul. For employers with 24 or more employees in St. Paul, the effective date is July 1, 2017; for employers with 23 or fewer employees in St. Paul, the effective date is January 1, 2018.
Additionally, the ordinance permits delayed implementation for employers who are “new” to this city. Review the “Explain it to me” notes for further information.
NEW: Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time
As a result of recent local legislation, this new policy has been added to the Minnesota Handbook Builder and is effective July 1, 2017.
Employers with six (6) or more employees (nationally) must provide paid Sick and Safe Time (SST); employers with five (5) or fewer employees must provide unpaid SST unless they choose to provide a greater benefit.
Be sure to read the advisory notes (Explain this to me) and answer the interview questions that precede the policy.
UPDATED: Los Angeles Paid Sick Leave
Effective July 1, 2017, employers in the City of Los Angeles are covered under the ordinance regardless of the number of non-exempt employees they have.
As a reminder, we also drafted this policy to comply with California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (in addition to the Los Angeles ordinance) for eligible (non-exempt) employees. NOTE that the agency enforcing this ordinance recently clarified that it is intended only to apply to non-exempt employees. We have updated the policy text and the advisory notes (Explain this to me) to address this clarification, so be sure to read both carefully. In addition, please re-answer the interview questions that precede the policy.
Paid Maternity Benefits
We have retitled the former Maternity Leave policy in the Benefits section of your Handbook Builder. The new title is Paid Maternity Benefits, which better describes the policy content.
This policy is optional and provides for pay during a period of maternity leave. If this optional policy is used, it should be modified to match Company practices and integrated with any existing salary continuation or short-term disability policies.
While the paid maternity benefits policy is optional, certain state laws require employers to provide employees with time out of work due to pregnancy-related disabilities. To the extent state law mandates employers to provide maternity leaves (separate and distinct from Family and Medical Leave), the Employee Handbook Builder contains state-specific policies.
New York City Pregnancy Accommodations
Please note, we recently corrected a technical issue in this policy and suggest you update the policy in your handbook builder.
This policy has been added to the New York Handbook Builder. It applies only to employees located in New York City. The policy is optional but we strongly recommend including it in your handbook due to enforcement guidance issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
UPDATED: Santa Monica Paid Sick Leave
We added an interview question that allows users to choose a grant or accrual method for providing leave. The advisory notes and policy content were updated accordingly and some additional edits were made for consistency with recently updated sick leave policies.
UPDATED: California Paid Sick Leave
We added an interview question that allows users to choose a grant or accrual method for providing leave. The advisory notes and policy content were updated accordingly and some additional edits were made for consistency with other recently updated sick leave policies.
UPDATED: Illinois Sick Days
Illinois enacted the Illinois Sick Leave Act effective January 1, 2017. The new law requires employers to allow employees to use employer-provided personal sick leave to care for an ill or injured family member or to attend to a medical appointment with a family member. For employers who operate in Chicago and/or Cook County and will be covered under the paid sick leave ordinances that will go into effect in those localities on July 1, 2017, the provisions of this policy will no longer apply once the local ordinances go into effect. In other words, the Chicago and Cook County ordinances will permit employees to use any amount of sick leave to care for covered family members.
Please be sure to read the advisory notes (Explain this to me).
South Carolina Cover Pages
It is the public policy of South Carolina (SC) that a handbook, personnel manual, policy, procedure, or other document issued by an employer shall not create an express or implied contract of employment if it is conspicuously disclaimed. A disclaimer in a handbook or personnel manual must be in underlined capital letters on the first page of the document and signed by the employee.
In the conversion to BILD 2.0, the SC-mandated acknowledgement may have failed to transfer to your SC handbook. We have corrected this oversight and ask that you republish your handbook and ask employees to sign the cover pages. Employees should sign and keep the first cover sheet and the second should remain with the printed handbook.
NEW: California Safe Harbor Policy for Exempt Employees
We have added this policy to the California Handbook. While the federal safe harbor policy is lawful in California as drafted, this new policy spells out some of the small differences between California and federal law.
Please be sure to answer the new interview question regarding the contact for escalating the issue.
UPDATED: Oakland Paid Sick Leave (Oakland Ordinance only)
The policy and the advisory notes (Explain this to me) have been updated for best practices.
UPDATED: Oakland Paid Sick Leave (Integrated Policy)
The policy and the advisory notes (Explain this to me) have been updated for best practices.
UPDATED: San Francisco Paid Sick Days
The policy and the advisory notes (Explain this to me) have been updated to more closely align with state law. The amendments to the ordinance, and consequently, the revisions to this policy, are effective January 1, 2017.
Please review all of the interview questions that precede the policy. In addition, be sure to read the advisory notes (Explain this to me).
UPDATED: San Francisco Paid Sick Leave (Integrated Policy)
The policy has been updated, based on amendments to the ordinance, effective January 1, 2017, to include bone marrow and organ donation as covered reasons for taking paid sick Leave. In addition, the policy and the advisory notes (Explain this to me) have been expanded for best practices.
Please review all of the interview questions that precede the policy. In addition, be sure to read the advisory notes (Explain this to me).
UPDATED: Massachusetts Parental Leave
This policy has been updated to clarify the parameters of the leave.
NEW: Paid Sick Leave for Covered Federal Contractors and Subcontractors
Executive Order 13706 established Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. It requires certain parties that contract with the Federal Government to provide their employees with up to 56 hours of paid sick leave annually.
UPDATED: Utah Equal Employment Opportunity
We have updated the policy to reflect recent EEOC guidance on retaliation.
Updated: All Family and Medical Leave Policies
Following an extensive review of all Family and Medical Leave policies, we have updated the policies to include content changes and also to link policy content to interview questions. Be sure to answer the interview questions that precede the policies.
NEW: Florida Domestic Violence Leave
We have added Domestic Violence Leave to the Florida Handbook Builder. This policy applies to Florida employers with 50 or more employees. Including this policy in your handbook is optional.
Be sure to answer the questions that precede the policy and read the advisory notes that accompany the poicy (Explain this to me).
NEW: Illinois Child Bereavement Leave
Illinois employers with at least 50 employees must provide employees who suffered the loss of a child with up to two weeks (10 work days) of unpaid leave under the new Child Bereavement Leave Act. The new law took effect immediately upon Governor Bruce Rauner’s signature on July 29, 2016.
This policy applies to all employees working in Illinois who are covered by the FMLA. Including the policy in the handbook is optional.
Maine: Family and Medical Leave
The U.S. Department of Labor requires that the following sentence be included in the policy regardless of whether or not the employer is an airline: Special hours of service eligibility requirements apply to airline flight crew employees.
We have added that sentence in the Eligibility section.
NEW: Wisconsin Leave for Emergency Responders
At our subscribers’ request, we have added Leave for Emergency Responders to the Wisconsin Handbook Builder. Including this policy in your handbook is optional.
Nebraska: Family Military Leave
At the request of subscribers, we have added Nebraska Family Military Leave to the Thompson Handbook Builder. There is no per se requirement to include this policy in the employee handbook; however, we are providing this as a model policy for employers that wish to include it.
Be sure to answer the interview question that precedes the policy as it populates the leave eligibility in the first paragraoh in the policy.
Colorado: Overtime
We have added a Colorado-specific Overtime policy to the Colorado Handbook Builder.
Be sure to read the “Explain this to me” advisory notes.
Confidential Company Information
We have updated the Confidential Company Information advisory notes (Explain this to me) and policy content.
The revised advisory notes highlight the importance of a stand-alone agreement and provide specific language an organization should include in its policy to maximize its rights to seek damages under the recently enacted Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016.
We also used this update as an opportunity to further safeguard the policy from potential NLRB challenge.
Use of Social Media
We have updated the Use of Social Media policy and advisory notes (Explain this to me).
Wisconsin: Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Leave
We have added an Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Leave policy to the Wisconsin Handbook Builder. This law applies to employers operating in the state of Wisconsin with at least 50 employees on a permanent basis. There currently is no per se requirement to include a policy in the employee handbook, but the law does impose a posting requirement for covered employers, and a model poster will soon be available for this purpose by the state’s Department of Workforce Development.
Montana: About This Handbook/Disclaimer and General Handbook Acknowledgement
We have added a Disclaimer that applies to Montana only. The Disclaimer for Montana differs from all other states as Montana is the only state in the nation where employees are not at will for the duration of their employment (absent a collective bargaining agreement).
In addition, you must accept the new General Handbook Acknowledgement for Montana and ask employees to sign and return the Receipt. This document is vital because the employees' signature is an acknowledgment of their receipt of the handbook, their obligation to comply with its terms and their acknowledgment of their at-will status, subject to the provisions of the Montana Wrongful Discharge Act. Procedures should be implemented to ensure that such signed acknowledgments are collected and retained in employees' personnel files.
California: Time Off For School Related Activities
This policy has been updated to reflect recent amendments to the Family-School Partnership Act (SB 579). This law expands the reasons for which an employee may take job-protected leave under the Family School Partnership Act.
Employers with 25 or more employees working at the same location must allow employees to use up to 40 hours of unpaid time to participate in certain school or childcare related activities. Now, employers also must allow employees to take job-protected time off to find, enroll or reenroll their children in a school or licensed day care.
Be sure to answer the interview questions that precede the policy.
Philadelphia Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault or Stalking Leave
This is an optional policy that Philadelphia employers may wish to include in their handbook. All employers are covered under the ordinance, regardless of size. The ordinance requires employers to provide leave for this purpose, but the leave entitlement depends on the number of employees. The entitlement is eight (8) workweeks if an employer has 50 or more employees nationally (currently or in the prior calendar year). If the number of employees is less than 50 nationally, in both the current and the prior calendar year, the entitlement can be reduced to four (4) workweeks.
Be sure to answer the interview questions that precede the policy.
Minnesota: Family Military Leave
At the request of subscribers, we have added Minnesota Family Military Leave to the Employee Handbook Builder. There is no per se requirement to include this policy in the employee handbook; however, we are providing this as a model policy for employers that wish to include it.
Maine: Family Military Leave
At the request of subscribers, we have added Maine Family Military Leave to the Employee Handbook Builder. There is no per se requirement to include this policy in the employee handbook; however, we are providing this as a model policy for employers that wish to include it.
Indiana: Family Military Leave
At the request of subscribers, we have added Indiana Family Military Leave to the Employee Handbook Builder. There is no per se requirement to include this policy in the employee handbook; however, we are providing this as a model policy for employers that wish to include it.
Wisconsin: Family and Medical Leave
The U.S. Department of Labor requires that the following sentence be included in the policy regardless of whether or not the employer is an airline: Special hours of service eligibility requirements apply to airline flight crew employees.
We have added that sentence in the Eligibility section.
Rhode Island: Family and Medical Leave
The U.S. Department of Labor requires that the following sentence be included in the policy regardless of whether or not the employer is an airline: Special hours of service eligibility requirements apply to airline flight crew employees.
We have added that sentence in the Eligibility section.
Maryland: Family and Medical Leave
The U.S. Department of Labor requires that the following sentence be included in the policy regardless of whether or not the employer is an airline: Special hours of service eligibility requirements apply to airline flight crew employees.
We have added that sentence in the Eligibility section.
Camera Phones/Recording Devices
We have updated the Camera Phones/Recording Devices provisions to reflect issues concerning such policies raised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB has taken the position that such a policy can restrict protected concerted activity. The model policy builds in confidential information protections to help defend against any argument brought by the NLRB, but it is not a fail-safe.
While an employer may wish to have the policy for business reasons there is a major risk with NLRB, especially if the employer cannot support legally and practically a total ban on cell phones and other recording devices on premises.
NEW - Pay Transparency Policy Statement
The Pay Transparency Policy Statement is a required policy for federal contractors that enter into new contracts after January 11, 2016. Per guidance from the government, the language should not be modified.
UPDATED - Rhode Island Overtime
We have updated the Rhode Island Overtime policy to provide guidance pertaining to retail and non-retail establishments. Be sure to review the “Explain This To Me” content.
NEW - Rhode Island: Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added a Rhode Island Pregnancy Accommodations policy to reflect provisions of a new law requiring Rhode Island employers to provide workplace accommodations for pregnant workers. The new law obligates employers to provide a reasonable accommodation for any condition related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.
Updated - Massachusetts Overtime
We have updated the Overtime policy in the Massachusetts Handbook Builder to provide guidance pertaining to retail establishments. Be sure to review the “Explain This To Me” content.
NEW - DC Pregnancy Accommodations
We have added a Pregnancy Accommodations policy to the District of Columbia Handbook Builder to reflect provisions from the Protecting Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2014 ("PPWFA" or "Act").
While there is no per se requirement to include a policy in your employee handbook, we are providing this policy for employers that wish to include it in their handbook.
The PPWFA covers all employers in the District of Columbia regardless of size. It prohibits employers from requiring an employee to take leave if it is possible for the employee to continue working with reasonable accommodation.
The PPWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions. Under its provisions, employees needing a pregnancy-related accommodation — such as limited time on their feet and frequent restroom breaks — are entitled to those accommodations.