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Employee Handbook Review

Employee handbook review for employment counsel that checks each policy against the law of each place the client employs people, and redlines it with the rule in the margin.

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The problem

Each policy read against a stack of state surveys and city ordinances

Once a year the client's handbook goes back to an associate, who reads it front to back with a state survey open for each topic and checks each city ordinance on its own. Tracked changes get typed by hand, state supplements get written from scratch, and the cover memo comes last.

The usual shortcut is one national policy written to the strictest state. It costs the client money where the law asks for less, and it still misses the city rules. When a law changes mid-year, nobody can say which sentence of which client's handbook it touches, and the fixed fee pays for the hours either way.

Built forEmployment counselEmployment partnersParalegalsClient people teams

The Problem Today

Paid leave, pay transparency and cannabis rules differ by state and by city, and one handbook has to fit them all.

19
states have passed paid sick leave laws published
32 hours
of separate unpaid safe and sick time one city now requires published

Checked one at a time today

  • Policies
  • States
  • Cities
  • Redlines
  • Weeks per reviewEach policy read against each state survey and ordinance
  • One policy for every stateToo generous in some places, still wrong in others

The Solution

  1. Each policy, each placeChecked against national, state and city law, by headcount
  2. A rule on each changeEach tracked change shows its rule and place in a margin chip
  3. Addenda where law differsState and city addenda in place of one national policy
  4. Counsel decides each changeCounsel rules on each redline; the partner signs the memo

Built-in controls

  • No memo goes to the client before the partner signs
  • Headcounts by place only, never employee names
  • No model learns from the client's handbook or census

What You Get

Firms deliver a multistate review at a fixed fee, with each business choice left to the client.

12 hours
per 12-state review, against 40–60 today our estimate
  • New laws open a new redlineThe signed handbook is not edited behind counsel's back
  • A signing plan by placeWho signs which addendum, in English or Spanish, by when
  • A summary HR can readPlain words for the client; citations in the cover memo
From census to signatures

How an employee handbook review runs, census first and signatures last

Screens follow the review as it runs. Under each sits a feature, its moving parts, and whose desk it lands on at the firm or the client.

  1. 01Locations and the laws that apply

    A headcount map that picks which state and city laws apply

    How it works

    • The census arrives as counts by place, never employee names
    • 1,600 employees across 12 states and 5 cities, each state lit by headcount
    • Each place lists the laws that apply there and whether it needs an addendum

    ParalegalTurns the client's census into the exact list of places the review must cover, without retyping a spreadsheet.

  2. 02Policies by topic

    A policy matrix that checks every policy in every place staff work

    How it works

    • 46 policies by topic in rows; national law, 12 states and 5 cities in columns
    • 524 cells clean, 42 redlined in the core and 46 covered by an addendum
    • Filters narrow it to the 17 policies with redlines or the 29 that are clean

    Employment counselSees at a glance which policy is wrong and where, with no separate survey to pull for each topic and each state.

  3. 03Law changes since the last edition

    A law-change timeline that ties each new rule to its redline

    How it works

    • All 11 law changes since the client's last edition, with where each applies
    • Each entry links to the redline or addendum it caused
    • A city's new 32-hour unpaid bank links straight to R-03
    • Laws passed but not yet in force sit on a watch list

    Employment counselKnows which sentence of the handbook each new law touches, the question nobody can answer when a rule moves mid-year.

  4. 04The redline

    Tracked changes inside the handbook, each chip naming its rule and place

    How it works

    • Struck and inserted text sits in the handbook page itself
    • Paid sick leave alone draws four redlines: accrual, doctor's notes, carryover and a city bank
    • The outline counts redlines per policy: 23 changes in 17 policies

    Employment counselReviews the redline in the document the client already knows, with the authority for each change one click away.

  5. 05The rule behind R-03

    A rule panel quoting each law, its effective date and reach

    How it works

    • Clicking a margin chip opens the rule, quoted from the firm's law library
    • The panel shows where it applies, when it took effect and the 120 employees it reaches
    • Counsel accepts, edits or turns it down right there, giving a reason to reject

    Employment counselChecks the authority behind a proposed change before accepting it, without opening a separate research tab.

  6. 06The new city addendum

    A city addendum drafted from a margin chip, leaving the core untouched

    How it works

    • Generated from the city rule's margin chip on the redline
    • 3 sections over 2 pages, each section cited to its city rule
    • Only the 120 staff in that city get it; the core policy stays as written

    Employment counselCovers a city rule only for the people it reaches. Written into the national policy, the same rule would cost the client money in every other place.

  7. 07State and city addenda

    An addenda board with a written reason wherever none applies

    How it works

    • One core handbook, written to the head-office state's law
    • 8 state and 3 city addenda: 55 sections and 36 pages, each accepted by counsel
    • Six places without an addendum each carry the reason in one line

    Employment partnerHas the reason ready when the client asks why one state got a supplement and another did not.

  8. 08Change summary for HR

    A plain-words change summary for HR, with the client's own choices

    How it works

    • Drafted from the accepted redlines and the addenda, in plain words
    • Changes grouped by what they mean: time off, hiring, store managers, what people may say
    • Four business decisions laid out as options, each showing what it costs and risks

    Client VP of PeopleReads what changes for store managers in plain words, and makes the calls the law leaves to the business.

  9. 09Employee acknowledgment plan

    An acknowledgment plan matching each employee to the addenda they sign

    How it works

    • 1,600 sign the core, 1,025 also a state addendum and 285 a city addendum
    • 310 employees receive Spanish versions; 140 sign at a kiosk in the distribution center
    • Four waves by location, each store manager seeing only their own store's list

    ParalegalBuilds the signing plan from the census rather than a mail merge, so each employee signs the addendum for where they work.

A pay-secrecy line and a city sick bank among four old lines redlined

Lines the old handbook carried, each now a cited redline or a choice for the client.

A separate unpaid bank in one city

One city now requires 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time, tracked apart from paid leave. Checked city by city on its own, it is easy to miss; here it becomes R-03 and a city addendum.

Pay talk and negative posts banned

The confidentiality policy told staff not to discuss pay, and the social media policy banned anything negative about the company. Labor law protects both, so R-10 strikes one and R-11 narrows the other.

Vacation forfeited at termination

The handbook said unused vacation is lost when someone leaves. The law already requires payout for 885 staff, so R-23 changes the core, and paying out everywhere goes to the client as a choice.

Cannabis rules that differ state by state

The drug and alcohol policy tested and acted on cannabis use everywhere. Three redlines limit testing and discipline where state law protects off-duty use or bars a pre-hire test, and stopping pre-hire tests elsewhere is left to the client.

Around the redline

Six more employee handbook review screens, from rejection to retention

Where counsel, the paralegal and the partner work beside the redline.

A rejection carries its reasonRejecting a change asks why. The reason is logged and printed in the cover memo, so no redline closes silently.
The city addendum, built step by stepThe builder finds 3 rules that differ, drafts 3 cited sections and finds no conflict with the state addendum: 2 pages, 120 employees.
The largest state addendum9 sections over 6 pages for 240 staff, from paid sick leave to voting leave, each with its rule chip in the margin.
The policy as one city's staff read itWith the four sick-leave changes accepted, the clean text shows what a worker in that city gets, with the city addendum's section printed below.
Who changed and approved whatAgent steps, acceptances, edits and rejections, time-stamped and named, and retained 7 years past closing.
The group's review rulesA law library refreshed weekly, a core raised only when counsel chooses, who may accept and sign, and what agents may never do.

Counsel accepts each redline, and four business calls go to the client

Agents prepare the review. What changes, what gets signed and what the business chooses belong to people.

Accepting a redlineCounsel rules on each change, and a rejection is saved with its reason. A paralegal prepares the review but cannot accept.
Signing the cover memoThe employment partner signs before anything reaches the client.
The client's business choicesThe non-compete, vacation payout, cannabis testing and a family leave top-up are set out as options. The client picks.
Raising the coreA policy written to the strictest state for everyone comes only by counsel's choice.
Who drafts what

Map, check, draft, watch: the agents behind each handbook review

Each hands its work to counsel. None accepts a change, signs the memo or makes a choice for the client.

Policy mapper

Reads each policy and maps it to the topics the law regulates: 46 policies to 31 topics.

  • Never rewrites a policy
Jurisdiction checker

Checks each policy against national law and the law of each state and city where staff work, by headcount.

  • Applies no rule that lacks an effective date and a quoted source
Redline drafter

Drafts tracked changes, each with a margin chip citing the rule and where it applies.

  • Never deletes client text without showing it struck
Addenda builder

Builds a state or city addendum only where local law differs from the core.

  • Never raises the core to the strictest state without counsel's choice
Change watcher

Finds the law changes since the last edition, and watches laws passed but not yet in force.

  • Never edits a signed handbook; it opens a new redline
Memo writer

Drafts the HR change summary, the cover memo and the acknowledgment plan, and lists the client decisions.

  • Contacts neither the client nor its staff

Employee handbook review, asked and answered

What is an employee handbook review?

An employee handbook review checks each policy in a client's handbook against the law of each place the client employs people. This solution maps the policies, drafts a cited redline, builds addenda only where local law differs, and drafts the HR summary and cover memo for counsel to approve and the partner to sign.

Does each state need its own handbook?

No. The core handbook is written to the head-office state's law, and a state or city addendum is added only where local law differs. Places that need none are listed with the reason.

Does it check city ordinances as well as state law?

Yes. The law library holds city rules beside state and national ones, each with its effective date and source. A city rule gets its own margin chip and, where it applies, a city addendum for the staff who work there.

What happens when a law changes after the handbook is signed?

The change watcher opens a new redline on the signed handbook instead of editing the signed version, so counsel decides the change like any other.

Who decides what goes to the client?

Counsel rules on each redline and records why when rejecting one. The employment partner signs the cover memo. Business choices, such as a non-compete or vacation payout, are set out for the client to make.

Does the solution see employee names?

No. The census holds headcounts by place, never names, and the handbook text stays in the firm's matter workspace.

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Run last year’s handbook
through this year’s law.

Start from a handbook your group reviewed last year: the redline, the addenda and the HR summary come back built from it.

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