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Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Protect Your At-Will Status
• Always Insert Disclaimers
• Audit Your Handbook
• The 10 Most Common Mistakes

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL?

• Consider the Jury
• Handbooks As Exhibit A
• A Dangerous Book

A LOOK AT THE LAW

• The At-Will Doctrine
• Chipping Away
• Your Handbook and the Union
• Disclaimers and Receipts
• What the Courts Consider

MOST COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY EMPLOYERS

• Using Form Handbooks
• Meshing Policies and Procedures
• Including a Probationary Period
• Being Too Specific
• Inconsistency With Other Documents
• No Disclaimer, or Not Enough in the Right Places
• Sabotaging Disclaimers by What You Do or Say
• Not Adapting the Handbook for Each State's Laws
• Failure to Update Frequently for Changing Laws
• Being Unrealistic

AUDITING YOUR HANDBOOK

• Where to Start
• A Checklist of Topics
• What Not to Include
• Outsourcing Your Handbook
• Binding Your Handbook
• Use Plain English
• Presenting Your Handbook
• One Company's Story

RECENT COURT RULINGS

• Circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals
• Handbooks As Contracts
• Oral Promises
• Grounds for Termination
• Arbitration Clause
• Just Cause
• Disclaimers
• Changing the Handbook
• Other Terms in Handbooks