Let's be honest – no one gets excited about spending time or money working on their employee handbook. Many employers think that their ten-year-old handbook is fine, and they take the approach of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Right? Wrong. I can almost promise you that something in your handbook is broken – and you just don't know it – yet.

Employment laws continue to change and evolve. Your organization continues to change and evolve. If you have not updated your handbook to meet those changes, then you may be in peril.

Having overhauled a dozen handbooks just since the pandemic began, here are my top 10 issues that I commonly see with employee handbooks that can become problems if not addressed:

1. Does your handbook expressly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity? It better following the Supreme Court's 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County that brought sexual orientation and gender identity under the protections of Title VII.
2. Do you give light-duty accommodations for employees who suffer workplace injuries so they can still work? If so, then you may consider providing the same type of light-duty accommodations for pregnant employees, as well as expressly addressing pregnancy accommodation in your handbook.
3. Do you pay employees for short-term absences related to things like jury duty and bereavement but not for short-term military service? If so, then you may be violating federal law.
4. Does your handbook state that employees who...

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