Comments on: 7 things that should never go in a handbook

By: Chris Davis

Chris Davis — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:38:45 +0000

My criminal record both overqualifies me and disqualifies me…that is my attempt at H/R humor.

By: Bronson Levy

Bronson Levy — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:45:41 +0000

Chris for president

By: FMLA law Family Medical Leave Act update, Latest cases on FMLA Law : FMLA Law News Update Nov 13

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:11:11 +0000

[...] 7 things that should never go in a handbook By Sam Narisi Vague FMLA language — Policies on FMLA should lay out all of the law’s eligibility rules. Otherwise, employees who wouldn’t have qualified for leave may still be able to sue the company. Also, make sure you’re specific about how FMLA … HRLegalNews.com – http://www.hrlegalnews.com/ [...]

By: Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:20:32 +0000

Think about the word probationary what is the antonym “permanent”. So if one is not probationary and becomes a permanent employee after 90 have you implied a contract and guaranteed a life time position. Far fetched you think? Maybe not. Although I choose not to use any of the terms such as probationary, permanent, etc., I much prefer introductory period.

By: Amber

Amber — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:49:33 +0000

When I started, the first 90 days was an “orientation period”. Now, it is an “introductory period”, which I like – we also do an evaluation and raise at the end of 90 days. It helps the employee and the company make sure the employment is working out for everyone.

By: Chris Davis

Chris Davis — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:10:43 +0000

Orientation period does not effect the employee feeling like they are part of the company because all of their benefits start before then. We are committed to have everyone feel part of our organization from day 1. The employees seem to expect a “probationary period” and like I stated earlier it increases the accountabiltiy to the managers to get that employee up to speed.

By: Lou DuBon

Lou DuBon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:24:45 +0000

The 90 day orientation period would also make sense if you are excluding these new employees from being immediatley covered under the Company’s progressive Employee Corrective Counseling policy.

By: Gina

Gina — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:09:29 +0000

We have a 90 day period for new hires. It gives us a chance to see if the new employee can actually do the job hired for and we do a performance review at the end of the 90 days, usually resulting in a raise. I like it as an employer.

By: Angel M

Angel M — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:27:36 +0000

I dont like probation, introductary or orientaton periods. An employee is an employee from day one, not from day 91, thats the benefit of at will.

By: Keith Hamm, SPHR

Keith Hamm, SPHR — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:10:56 +0000

We put our salary bands in our handbook. Saves a lot of headache. We also put the at-will statement in there several times, particularly around our probationary (which we call an Introductory) period, anything related to discipline, and performance reviews. Also, we use “this is for informational purposes only and may not cover all examples or situations” statements throughout the handbook. One other thing to mention – if you have anything to do with company benefits listed on your website, be sure to update that whenever anything changes or at least put a disclaimer in the page. No fun having your new hire claim a benefit based on what they saw online that no longer exists! And – if you can’t or won’t enforce it – don’t have it in there to begin with.