This is a story about a small business owner.  When Diane started in business she worked long hours by herself.  As the business grew, she needed more help and hired her sister Jenny to work part time, then later, her niece Anna.  The business continued to grow and it became time once again to look for additional help.  This time, however, she needed to widen her search beyond her family so she placed an ad in the local paper for a full time employee.  When she found Seth, she knew that he could help her take her business to the next level and had the background she really needed.

At first, things were going pretty well, with all four staff members getting along.  Seth was very efficient, technology savvy and customers loved him. This did not go unnoticed by Jenny and Anna whose skills could not compare with Seth’s.  As a result, they grew jealous of Seth and began to make small derogatory comments toward him.  Soon, Seth tired of the toxic atmosphere in the office and began dreading coming to work. He felt uncomfortable reporting the harassment to Diane, however, fearing she would side with her family.

Eventually, Seth quit and on the way out the door slapped the company with a discrimination lawsuit citing the harassment he experienced from his co-workers.  The first question Diane’s attorney asked her was, “May I have a look at your employee handbook?”  After an awkward silence, Diane shared that she didn’t have one and thought they were just for big companies.

Had Diane created an office manual this unfortunate situation might never have happened.  Her manual would have set clear expectations for her employees regarding the company’s policy on harassment as well as how a complaint would be handled. Having an employee handbook, ie. office manual, is good to have before you hire your first part time employee and does not need to be difficult to create.  There are many good free resources to help you get started.