Employee Handbook (US) by OCS
US employee handbook covering the full employment lifecycle, built around at-will employment with a state and local supplement framework in Exhibit B for the requirements that vary by work location.
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
United States
Note: This Handbook is a set of workplace policies. It is not an employment contract, and it does not set compensation, equity, benefit levels or restrictive covenants: those live in the offer letter, the plan documents and the confidentiality and invention assignment agreement. The Handbook is arranged in seven Parts, listed on the contents page, and each Section is written to stand alone so that any single policy can be published on its own, and Section 1.5 sets out what has to travel with an extract. Complete every yellow field, choose one Option in each Option block and delete the others, then complete Exhibit A. Exhibit B lists the topics on which a state supplement is required before rollout. Federal law is the floor throughout: state and local law is frequently more generous and sometimes prescribes the exact wording, so complete Exhibit B before this Handbook is issued to anyone.
CONTENTS
Part I: Onboarding
1. About This Handbook
2. At-Will Employment
Part II: Equal Opportunity and Accommodation
3. Equal Employment Opportunity
4. Anti-Harassment
5. Accommodations
Part III: Pay, Classification and Time Off
6. Pay, Hours and Timekeeping
7. Time Off
Part IV: Benefits
8. Benefits
Part V: Conduct and Property
9. Standards of Conduct
10. Confidential Information and Company Property
11. Company Systems, Social Media and Artificial Intelligence
12. Workplace Conduct
13. Health, Safety and Substance Use
14. Privacy and Monitoring
Part VI: Separation
15. Separation of Employment
Part VII: Rights and Administration
16. Protected Rights
17. Administration
Exhibits
Exhibit A: Key Terms and Contact Information
Exhibit B: State and Local Law Supplement
Exhibit C: Acknowledgement of Receipt
PART I: ONBOARDING
1. ABOUT THIS HANDBOOK
1.1 Purpose. This Handbook describes how [full legal name of the company] (the "Company") operates and what it expects of employees. It applies to all employees in the United States.
1.2 Not a contract. This Handbook is not a contract of employment, express or implied. It does not guarantee employment for any period, and it does not create any contractual right to any procedure, benefit or payment. Except for the at-will statement in Section 2.1, which may be changed only in a signed writing as described there, the Company may amend, suspend or withdraw any part of this Handbook at any time. Where this Handbook conflicts with a signed agreement between you and the Company, or with a benefit plan document, that agreement or plan document controls.
Note: The carve-out for the at-will statement is the point of this paragraph. A handbook that reserves the right to change everything, including at-will status, undercuts the at-will provision it is trying to protect. Reserve broad amendment rights over the policies and a narrow, signature-controlled route for changing at-will status. Note also that Montana operates differently: see Section 2.2, where a written personnel policy is not just evidence, it is a source of enforceable obligation.
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