5. DRAFTING EMPLOYER HANDBOOKS & EMPLOYEE AGREEMENTS

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR HANDBOOKS

1. Why You Should Create an Employer Handbook

2. Notes for Employer Handbooks (Small Business Administration)

3. RUBRIC: EMPLOYER HANDBOOK

SPECIALTERMS/CLAUSES FOR EMPLOYEE AGREEMENTS

1. Negotiating employee agreements (FORBES)

2. POTENTIAL TERMS TO ADD TO AN EMPLOYEE AGREEMENT:

a. Non-solicitation

b. Covenant not to compete

c. Non-disclosure

d. Work for Hire

5. RUBRIC: EMPLOYEE AGREEMENT

SOME STATUTORY CONSIDERATIONS

1. Presumption in Maryland: EMPLOYMENT AT WILL

2. Some exceptions:

STATE OF MARYLAND

A. MD Code, Health - General, § 17-214 (Controlled substance testing by employer)

B. Maryland labor laws

FEDERAL LAW

There are SEVEN (7) important federal laws appertaining to fair hiring practices that you should know. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces all of these laws. EEOC also provides oversight and coordination of all federal equal employment opportunity regulations, practices, and policies.

1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;

2. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;

3. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;

4. Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended in 2008 (the "ADA)", which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments;

5. Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government;

6. Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about an applicant, employee, or former employee; and

7. The Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.

There are also THREE (3) important federal laws appertaining to employer/employee relationships of which you should be aware"

1. Family Medical Leave Act

2. Americans With Disabilities Act (includes other disability-related statutes, issued by the Dept. of Justice)

3. Equal Opportunity Act

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES/CASES/ETC.

• 1. SPACESAVER SYSTEMS, INC. v. Carla ADAM, 440 Md 1 (2014) Employment contracts can be broken into three categories, those with: (1) specific temporal duration, terminable before the expiration only for cause; (2) no specified temporal duration, but containing a clear for-cause termination provision; and (3) no temporal duration, and no for-cause termination provision, which are terminable at will.

  2. Castiglione v. Johns Hopkins Hosp., 69 Md. App. 325, 517 A.2d 786 (1986). Employee handbook set forth "due process" grievance procedures, which were not ultimately followed. Handbook, however, also had a disclaimer that its contents were NOT contractual. HELD: Rule that employment contracts of indefinite duration can be legally terminated at any time (i.e., rule that they are "employment at will") is inapplicable where employee is discharged for exercising constitutionally protected rights. Also, provisions in hospital employee handbook pertaining to evaluation procedure were not contractual undertakings by hospital that were enforceable by discharged employee, considering express disclaimer in handbook that any of its provisions constituted a contract.

  3. Marijuana law. Also, see this recent article: Updates in the law

TEMPLATES

(DO NOT USE THESE TO CREATE YOUR EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK)

HANDBOOK GENERATOR (ODAFF)

SAMPLE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS / RESOURCES

SAMPLE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK (National Federation of Independent Business)