Company policies and procedures should identify desired employee conduct as opposed to promised conduct of management. And while there is no cookie cutter approach that will apply across the board, there are certain policies that are critical for every company to implement. At a minimum, companies should have policies that address the following critical areas: 

• At-will employment provision
• Equal employment opportunity policy
• Anti-discrimination, harassment, and offensive behavior policies
• Complaint and reporting procedures
• Reasonable accommodation policy
• Family Medical Leave Act and/or Minnesota Parenting Leave policy
• Overtime compensation and job classification policy
• Confidentiality and non-disclosure of trade secrets
• Personnel records policy
• Attendance policy
• Employee discipline and grounds for termination
• Acknowledgment of receipt of employee handbook
• Notice of employee rights and remedies under the Wage Disclosure Protection law

Each one of these policies should be tailored to your specific business, including clear direction on who at the company to contact and how.  It is just as important to ensure that each employee is given an actual copy of the employee handbook to use as a reference at any time. Many employers make the mistake of simply making the handbook available or showing the handbook to employees on the first day of work and then never again. Under such circumstances, it is not at all surprising that many employees routinely testify in litigation that they only skimmed the handbook or, worse yet, that they do not recall ever actually receiving or reading the handbook. Take the time to go over the handbook with each new hire, allowing sufficient time to answer questions and go over critical aspects of it. 

On January 11, 2016, the Department of Labor's Final Rule on pay transparency among federal contractors took effect. This Final Rule implements Executive Order 13665, issued by President Obama in 2014, promoting pay transparency and openness, allowing employees and job applicants to openly share information about their pay and compensation without threat of discrimination. The new rule generally prohibits federal contractors from discharging or otherwise discriminating against applicants and employees who inquire about, discuss, and/or disclose their own compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants. The new rule also includes new requirements for federal contracts, employee manuals and handbooks, and mandated postings.

This rule applies to federal contractors who enter into new federal contracts or subcontracts, or who modify existing federal contracts, on or after January 11, 2016. These new regulations apply to business and organizations that: (1) hold a single federal contract, subcontract or federally-assisted construction contract in excess of $10,000; (2) hold federal contracts or subcontracts that have a combined total in excess of $10,000 in any 12-month period; or (3) hold government bills of lading, serve as a depository of federal funds, or are an issuing and paying agency for U.S. savings bonds and notes in any amount. The rule prohibits these contractors from discharging or discriminating against employees or applicants due to their inquiries about, discussions or disclosures of their own compensation or the compensation of another employee or applicant. The rule also prohibits these contractors from having polices that prohibit or tend to restrict employees or applicants from discussing or disclosing their compensation or the compensation of others.

Based on the definition provided by the Rule, "compensation" includes overtime pay, shift differentials, bonuses, commissions, vacation and holiday pay, allowances, insurance and other benefits, stock options and awards, profit sharing, and retirement, in addition to an employee's salary or wages. There are limitations to the rule, however. For instance, disclosure of compensation information obtained by certain employees (e.g., human resources professionals) through their essential job functions is generally not protected under the rule. And contractors may pursue a general defense to an allegation of discrimination if they are applying a consistently and uniformly applied policy or practice, provided that the policy or practice does not prohibit discussions of compensation.

Under this new rule, covered federal contractors and subcontractors are now required to:

• Ensure the equal employment opportunity clauses in new and modified covered federal contracts and subcontracts include certain non-discrimination language;
• Incorporate a prescribed nondiscrimination provision (found on the Department of Labor's website) into their existing employee manuals or handbooks and disseminate the nondiscrimination provision to employees and to job applicants; and 
• Disseminate the same non-discrimination language either by electronic posting or printing and posting a copy in conspicuous places available to applicants and employees. 

Failure to comply with the new rule may result in, among other sanctions, the Department of Labor: (1) seeking strict enforcement of the terms of the contract; (2) cancelling, terminating, or suspending the offending contractor's contracts; or (3) prohibiting any contracting agencies from entering into further contracts with the offending contractor. 

The Minnesota legislature also recently passed a law, found at Minnesota Statute Section 181.172, extending this type of pay transparency to Minnesota employers as a whole. Under this law, no employer may prohibit employees from disclosing their own wages. And employers that provide an employee handbook must also include a notice of the employee rights and remedies under the Wage Disclosure Protection law.