Employee Handbooks: Every Word Counts
Employee handbooks are powerful tools for communicating policies to employees and supervisors and administering employee relations; however, they also can also be a source of employment law liability. This session will offer helpful advice on deciding what to include in (and delete from) your employee handbook. Cutting-edge policies you should consider adding or revising, including those involving: e-mail; voicemail; blogging; social networking; cell phone and electronic communication policies; weapons and dress code policies; professional and courtesy conduct requirements; confidentiality policies; media contact rules; and many other workplace regulations will also be discussed including advice on how non-union employers can stay out of handbook trouble with the NLRB. This session will show you how to:
· Eliminate express or implied contractual obligations.
· Comply with recent changes in the law.
· Use the employee handbook as an effective employee relations communications piece.
· Utilize the handbook to reduce legal risks.
Allan H. Weitzman, JD
Allan H. Weitzman is the head of the Labor and Employment Law Department in the Boca Raton office of Proskauer Rose LLP, and is Board Certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in Labor and Employment Law with over forty-one years’ experience – all at Proskauer.
Based on a peer-review study, Allan has been named in the 2005 through 2015 editions of Best Lawyers in America, the nation’s definitive guide to legal excellence. He is particularly proud that he was named by Best Lawyers as the 2013 Lawyer of the Year for Employment Law in South Florida. From 2007 through 2015, Allan has earned a first tier Chambers ranking for his outstanding employment law work. In 2009 and 2011 through 2015, Allan was named by Human Resource Executive magazine as one of the nation’s top 100 corporate employment attorneys. He is also a fellow in the prestigious College of Labor Employment Law Attorneys.
Among his notable achievements, Allan submitted the amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Society for Human Resources Management in the Faragher case. The employer’s “affirmative defense” that was adopted by the Supreme Court in Faragher was based on an argument made by Allan and his firm.
Allan is graduate of the Cornell Law School where he was an Editor of the Cornell Law Review, graduating with distinction and was a member of “The Order of the Coif.”