While your relationship with many of your employees may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement, your cemetery could benefit from a handbook for your non-union employees. There is no law that requires an employee handbook. However, it can provide your cemetery with substantial benefits. It lets management inform employees about workplace rules in a uniform manner. A handbook can provide for an at-will policy and provide a valuable defense against a breach of contract claim. Handbooks also can provide a handy place for various policies that should be in writing, such as policies on vacation, family and medical leave smoking and drug testing. In addition, in the absence of policies in a handbook, past and present activities can become policies and provide fodder for among other things, discrimination lawsuits.

While a comprehensive explanation of the advantages of an employee handbook is beyond the scope of this article, suffice it to say that the benefits of having a handbook far outweigh any detriment.