Looking Ahead To 2023 - 3 Reasons to Update Employee Handbooks Now

1. Employers returning teams to the office (hybrid or full-time)

• State employment laws may have new requirements, including COVID-related medical leave
• Telework policies to include expectations for work product; availability for meetings, camera utilization, dress code; response time to questions from managers, clients, customers, teammates; cyber safety
• Employee handbook policies that are compliant in every state where employees work. Employees living and/or working in other states, or those who regularly travel to different states, may be subject to local and state laws

2. Department of Labor (DOL) audits

• The DOL announced a few times that in 2022 (and beyond), it intends to audit and regulate more organizations in every industry. If the DOL opens an investigation on an organization, they can review every employment practice in auditing for possible wage and hour, FMLA or OSHA violations

3. Non-COVID legislation

• Organizations keeping up with employee handbook updates concerning COVID may have missed other new employment laws passed since 2020. States have passed new laws regarding:

    * Anti-Harassment and harassment prevention training
    * Protections against discrimination concerning sexual orientations, pregnancy, and gender expressions
    * Paid Family Medical Leave programs
    * State-specific Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requirements
    * Unionization

If you're interested in updating your employee handbook find out more about the ways Excelerator Can Help by visiting our website at 

https://exceleratorconsulting.com/services/handbooks