Reviewing your employee handbook—that central document every school employee is expected to read and comply with—mid-year while you can see your school’s policies in action is always a smart idea. While you may already have some adjustments in mind for next year’s edition, we’d like to point out three policy pain points to keep in the back of your mind during your review.
1. Copied policy from a template.
While it’s easy and even efficient to copy someone else’s policy instead of crafting something unique for your school, such practices can quickly plunge your school into hot legal water. Consider the private school that fired a principal in December 2013 for lifestyle choices that conflicted with the school’s religious mission. The school quickly found itself fighting a lawsuit, as its handbook and website’s notice of anti-discrimination protected the lifestyle for which the former principal was fired.
While a private-independent school can generally fire any at-will employee for any reason, at any time—barring federally protected classes—that boilerplate notice of non-discrimination hurt the school it was supposed to protect.
2. Policy that will never be enforced.
There’s a difference between what rules are considered important, and therefore enforced, and which rules exist without policing. If your administrators don’t intend to enforce specific rules, then having such policies in your handbook will create a disconnect within the community.
So, while reviewing your handbook, consider trimming some of the older, outdated policies or those which no longer seem to have a "place" within the framework of your school and its programs. Where necessary, replace the old rules with newer policies that are clearer and more relevant to the broader school community.
3. Regulations that are against state or federal law.
While private-independent schools are exempt from much federal oversight regarding curriculum, standardized testing, and other regulatory burdens, they are still employers and must abide by both state and federal employment regulations. Therefore, hourly employees must be paid overtime and for any time spent "volunteering" for events, schools in certain states cannot enforce "use it or lose it" vacation policies, and no school may discriminate against any federally protected classes.
If you’re concerned that your handbook conflicts with local regulations, it’s always a good idea to have the document reviewed by your school’s legal counsel. Better to catch a slip now than to have it found later by litigious employees.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Business Managers Vol. 11 No. 8 Top Eight Employee Handbook Mistakes
The Source for Development Directors Vol. 9 No. 2 The Perils of 'Requiring' Employees to 'Volunteer' for After-Hours Events
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 35 No. 2 When Is a Volunteer Not a Volunteer
I&P Vol. 34 No. 14 School Head and Board Roles in Shaping an Effective Employee Handbook
I&P Vol. 32 No. 6 Review Your Employee Handbook: Protect Your School and Promote Your Culture
