Aren't Employee Manuals a Legal Thing? -Reply

[Bill Sullivan <bsullivan -at- SMTPLINK -dot- DELTECPOWER -dot- COM>]

Amy Corrigan asks:
>A recent question sparked this in my mind.  Aren't employee manuals
a legal thing?  Can't employees sue companies based on what is in
them?  Don't they have to be reviewed carefully by those in a
position to speak for a company as well as the legal representative
for the company?

According to my wife, who has a background in personnel work,
employees absolutely can sue over the language not only in personnel
manuals but also in job advertising. As a matter of fact, when I
served as Voice of the San Diego STC Job Hotline for a couple of
years, and I recorded job listings every week, I made it a point to
always say the job was a Regular job and not Permanent. Regular, I
was told, is the preferred term. Apparently, if you call a job
permanent, you could have some serious explaining to do if a person
is hired to and fired from that job. No lawsuits for the San Diego
STC during my watch!!

Bill Sullivan
bsullivan -at- deltecpower -dot- com
San Diego, California

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