How Is It Fair To Change An Employee Handbook

I think it is fair for an employer to change or modify the handbook at their discretion. The employee handbook is a means for the company to protect themselves and ensure longevity for the company and the employees. The handbook was designed for several reasons: to describe rights and responsibilities, improve employee morale, provide consistent personnel decisions, explain employee-employer relations, and promote corporate image (Johnson, & Gardner, 1989). The information in the handbook includes: the company’s history, mission, and services provided, company policies like equal opportunities, vacation and sick time, probation, seniority, promotions, promotion standards, disciplinary policies, and grievance procedures (Johnson, & Gardner,

Once terminated, these employees filed complaints, lawsuits, and attempted to draw unemployment. They were disgruntled and wanted to cause trouble for the company any way they could. Some, hoped for a settlement or a large sum of money due to their perceived unfair treatment by the company. Past court cases have been shown that employees who sued for punitive damages and won, the judge cut the awarded amount of money in half. The disgruntled employees also made false statements about the company and attempted to get them in trouble with regulatory bodies. If these false statements were believed by the attorneys or regulatory bodies, the company could be forced to pay large fines or expensive court costs. False statements, even if untrue, can have adverse effects on a company. It can ruin their reputation and cause loss of customers and revenue. Companies must protect themselves from being used and taken advantage of. If that means changing their policies or the handbook, it should be their right. However, there are times it would be unacceptable to change company policies. These would include taking advantage of employees or customers or avoid legal and ethical