Have You Actually Read the Employee Handbook?

Well, have you? If your employer provides an employee handbook, do you have a copy, and if you've been given one do you even know where it is? For me, it's a white one inch binder with about forty double sided pages of interesting information that's been gathering dust on a bookshelf. Interesting now, though it should have been from the get go. Posting on Church Staff 101, you would think I'd be on top of things like this. Ha! This one has been a real "duh" moment. I've been at my current employer for just over three years, and a couple of weeks ago was the first time I had actually read it. What a shame.

What's even more ridiculous is the fact that most of my current colleagues have not read it either.

And so I challenge you, read those employee handbooks! Really, take some time to read through it. You may find there is information in it incredibly important to you. I realized anything I create while using the laptop the church has provided for me becomes their property, thus the reason I don't post from my laptop. Also, they have some explaining to do concerning my (and other staff's) vacation time; I believe according to the employee handbook, I should be receiving more time off.

It's important to know what the boundaries and policies are that govern you on the job. It's also necessary to know what you should expect from your employer; most times it's spelled out in the handbook. So take a moment and read through this short list of Six Employee Handbook To Do's, hopefully they'll be of help to you.

Six Employee Handbook To Do's:

1. Ask for a copy before you accept a position and read it.
2. Already at a job, then obtain a copy asap and read it.
3. Make note of information that is pertinent to you; vacation time, sick and personal leave, full or part time designations, dress code, even romantic relationships between staff members.
4. If you have questions, then ASK!
5. Put it someplace you'll remember. My last two jobs have made sure to remind me the employee handbook belongs to the church. When I resign, I'll have to return it.
6. Get the other staff to read their's also.

So, next time you're at a ministry network meeting or lunching with the other staff folk at your church, go ahead and ask them, "Have you actually read the employee handbook?" And when they look at you with the "yeah right" look, help them see the light by telling them why it's important.

Wayne