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According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), "handbooks should be reviewed no less frequently than annually." The year's first quarter is a great time to think about the 2024 employee handbook updates you'd like to (or must) include in your latest version.
In this post, we'll explore a few key 2024 employee handbook updates for companies to consider as they're refreshing their policy documents. Keep in mind that this list is not all-inclusive, and state and local laws may differ. Experienced HR compliance experts can help ensure that your handbook is compliant based on your company size, geographic location(s), and other unique factors.
Here are a few of the 2024 employee handbook updates to keep on your radar:
2024 has been a popular year for artificial intelligence ("AI"). Whether you've explicitly allowed it or not, your employees may be using generative AI tools like ChatGPT during their work. A handbook policy outlining your restrictions and guidelines on the use of AI tools may be helpful, especially if your organization deals with customers' sensitive information or clients' personal data.
Many organizations permit the use of AI tools but want to implement restrictions to prohibit the misuse of company information and the potential for plagiarism and inaccuracies. While legal liability for using output from an AI tool as one's own work may be low to nonexistent, many employers still prefer to avoid associating their brand with the use of obviously inhuman and often incorrect AI-written material. If this is your company's goal, your 2024 employee handbook updates should include policies to reflect it.
A good strategy is to include a handbook policy that requires AI tools to be used solely for internal research purposes. This allows employees to use tools like ChatGPT to gather information, but not to pass off work produced by AI as their own. You might also consider including prohibitions on the input of company confidential information and client or customer data into any AI tool. Many AI tools use inputted information to improve responses for all users, meaning data inputted by employees may not be kept private.
Non-competition agreements, often referred to as “noncompetes,” are one of many common types of restrictive covenants. In the employment context, a restrictive covenant is a promise by an employee not to do certain things either during or after the employment relationship. Other types of restrictive covenants include non-solicitation, non-disparagement, non-recruitment, and non-disclosure agreements.
A non-competition agreement is a legally binding contract that forbids an employee from starting a competing business or entering into other employment agreements with competitors for a specific period of time and within specific geographic bounds. These types of agreements have their place in an employer-employee relationship and can ensure your efforts, time, and resources spent training an employee aren’t in vain and your trade secrets are kept under wraps.
In 2023 and 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been focusing intensely on non-competition agreements and their effect on employees. In May of 2023, the NLRB issued a memorandum cautioning employers to refrain from restricting “an employee or group of employees’ rights to seek employment within the scope of their noncompete agreements,” and that noncompetes must reflect a “legitimate business interest” to be deemed enforceable.
More than ever, it’s advisable to separate your noncompete and any other restrictive covenants from your employee handbook and put the agreements into a separate document—with a separate signature line.
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Including your anti-harassment standards is always a best practice when creating or updating an employee handbook. In 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) passed proposed guidance laying out a guide for employers to effective anti-harassment policies. The new guidance suggests that policies should minimally cover the following information:
The 2022 Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act updated the existing Break Time for Nursing Mothers law and took effect in late December of the same year. Many small businesses (or businesses that are growing) may not be aware of the obligations the PUMP Act imposes.
Under the PUMP Act, employers must provide an area for employees who are nursing mothers to express breast milk. The space must be provided for a year after the birth of the employee’s child, but employers may choose to extend the time or make the space permanent. To be clear, permanent space is not needed for new mothers; rather, a space can be set up to meet an actual need. The space also doesn’t have to be solely dedicated to new mothers, but it must be available when an employee needs it.
The space must be a private area (other than a bathroom) that is shielded from view and free from possible intrusion from both the public and other employees. The space should be functional for the purpose of expressing breast milk—which means you should consider both comfort and practicality. A soft chair, a miniature refrigerator, a reliable supply of electricity, and a door lock are a great place to start when outfitting your space.
While PUMP Act-related employee handbook updates aren’t federally mandated, including your policy in your handbook can be helpful for employees who are planning to start a family.
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Passed initially by California in 2019, the CROWN Act expands the definition of race in the Fair Employment and Housing Act to extend protections against discrimination against employees for their hair types and textures. Since 2019, the CROWN Act has been signed into law in a total of 24 states, including:
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
While reference to the CROWN Act doesn’t need to be made explicitly in your handbook, it does require you to double-check any existing policies or handbook inclusions to ensure you comply. As you’re going through your 2024 employee handbook updates, review your policies for any dress code or grooming standards that may subtly show a preference toward standards of traditionally white practices.
For example, if your current policies include restrictions on hairstyles such as cornrows, locs, Bantu knots, twists, braids, and/or Afros, these portions of your policy should be reconsidered. As you’re reviewing your compliance with this Act, ensure your practices don’t reflect an unconscious bias—i.e., a greater portion of employees with the aforementioned hairstyles working in the “back of the house” rather than the “front of the house.”
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Are you revising your company’s handbook or creating a new document from scratch? The process can be overwhelming, and there are some items you may need to consult with an expert on to get it right.
Axcet HR Solutions is a full-service certified professional employer organization (PEO) that can provide the assistance you need. Axcet can examine your current policies for completion, compliance, and culture fit; help with administration and rollout; work with you to design training on your new policies, and so much more. Schedule a consultation today to find out how we can help.
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