Creating Your Employee Handbook: A Do-It-Yourself Kit For Nonprofits With Software

Sponsored by The Management Center

At last, busy nonprofits can produce their own employee handbooks without the usual worries or frustrations. And employees can finally look to a single source for all the policies and procedures that bear on their day-to-day work. This unique book-and-disk set has everything you need to craft an employee handbook that is tailored to your organization's mission, culture, and goals. It is The Management Center's most comprehensive human resources toolkit for nonprofits across the country--filled with sample policies and examples of how to adapt each policy to your specific objectives.

Flexible and user-friendly, Creating Your Employee Handbook offers a unique three-level approach, capturing the complexity and diversity of your nonprofit. Many of the sample policies appear in versions that correspond to large, medium-sized, or small nonprofits. Sample policies also reflect different organizational cultures. For each policy,you can choose--mixing or matching as needed--the language, form, and style that best reflect your purpose and work culture. Topics include: employment and employee development, benefits, workplace healthy and safety, standards of conduct, work hours and pay, and much more. You can create a new employee handbook from start to finish, update existing policies, or identify new ones.

This hands-on manual can also help you gain insight into why certain policies are legally necessary. Such important policies are tagged throughout the handbook and there is even a state-by-state listing of specific statutes and mandates to help broaden your knowledge of employment law. Above all, Creating Your Employee Handbook shows how to make your handbook an effective employee communications tool.

Use the Disk for Easy Customization and Implementation

The do-it-yourself kit includes a computer disk complete with all of the sample policies in PC format. The policies are organized into folders that correspond to the size of your nonprofit. You can select or combine the policies according to your specific requirements. Also included are sample forms that can be copied or saved for future use. The guide and disk make the normally daunting task of creating an employee handbook that simple!

LEYNA BERNSTEIN is a consultant and trainer with expertise in organizational development and human resources management. She is a principal with Bernstein & Associates in San Francisco and serves as an affiliate consultant in human resources with The Management Center. Bernstein has provided consulting and training services to organizations since l993, and now works exclusively with the nonprofit sector. Prior to founding her own firm, she spent over a decade as a human resources executive with some of the Bay Area's leading socially responsible companies.

Introduction: How an Effective Employee Handbook Can Improve Your Organization.

STARTING YOUR HANDBOOK OFF RIGHT.

Policies for a Good First Impression.

PRESENTING CLEAR EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES.

Employment and Hiring Policies.

Employee Development.

CREATING WELL-CRAFTED BENEFITS POLICIES.

Health, Wellness, and Employee Assistance.

Paid Time Off.

Unpaid Time Off and Leaves of Absence.

DEVELOPING FAIR, STRAIGHTFORWARD POLICIES FOR WORKPLACE STANDARDS AND PRACTICES.

Work Hours and Pay.

Workplace Health and Safety.

Work Practices and Environment.

Information and Communication.

Standards of Conduct.

CLARIFYING END OF EMPLOYMENT POLICIES.

Ending Employment.

Resources.

Appendix A. List of Legally Required Policies.

Appendix B. State by State Provisions for Selected Policies.

Appendix C. Sample Forms Employee Acknowledgement Written Warning Document Job Description Position Description Form Performance Evaluation Form.

Appendix D. The Management Center Human Resources Assistance.