Answer:

To maintain compliance with oft-changing employment laws, it’s important to regularly review and update your employee handbook. That doesn’t mean you need to be constantly updating it, though.

You should go through your handbook every 3-5 years at least. You should also review it during changes in administrations and when related legislation takes effect.

Policies related to social media use, drug testing, sexual harassment and parental leave need to be updated sooner rather than later, and may be worth reviewing right now in case they are currently out of date.

Make sure your sexual harassment policies detail not only what is and is not acceptable, but what the process is for dealing with inappropriate behavior or filing a complaint.

Your parental leave policies may be out of date if they still only apply to women or if they do not comply with applicable state law guidelines. Approximately 14 states now have mandatory paid family leave laws and/or insurance funds, so employers will want to make sure their handbooks and practices comply.

You should also ensure that your handbook is available electronically. With more employees working virtually, electronic handbooks are crucial so that remote employees have equal access, and they are cheaper and easier to update. 

Employee handbooks are vital, but complicated documents that are best created and updated with the guidance of appropriate, knowledgeable legal counsel.