Employment Law Compliance: The Value of a Comprehensive Employee Handbook
Among the many other hats we wear, camp operators often serve as the head of human resources for their organization. This is no small feat considering that a typical mid-size camp may have 100+ employees each summer!
Many camps have a vague sense that they should be complying with various state and federal employment laws and regulations, and they do their best to comply with those laws they know about, but they haven't done a comprehensive assessment of what their obligations are.
This is why I recommend that every camp has a comprehensive employee handbook to ensure compliance with the various state and federal laws that govern our relationship with staff.
Just as it's impossible to keep every camper happy, no matter how well we run our camps, it's also impossible to keep every staff member happy. The vast majority of our staff may have a wonderful experience and leave camp excited to come back the following year, but it takes just one disgruntled staff member (perhaps someone we separated for performance reasons) to raise alarm bells regarding our employment law compliance.
While many camps are quite proactive about their obligations, many others only start to fix compliance challenges when a minor (or more-than-minor) problem comes up with a staff member.
For example, the parent of a young staff member may start pressing a camp on questions concerning minimum wage: "Why is my child making so little as a staff member? I did the math and they're only earning XYZ per hour!" Of course, camps are often exempt from minimum wage obligations, but you may be surprised to learn that, at least in some states, the exemption applies only to certain staff members (e.g., counselors may be exempt while maintenance staff are not).
Likewise, an unhappy former staff member may contact the state Department of Labor to lodge a complaint against the camp. They may claim they haven't gotten sufficient rest and meal breaks in violation of state law. Although you separated this person for egregious performance reasons, suddenly a DOL staffer turns up on site and requests to see your rest break policy (among others).
Whatever the precipitating event, piecing together employment law compliance only after an issue arises is not a good strategy. Just as we know the state camp inspector is coming and we need to comply with innumerable obligations for the inspection, we should know that, sooner or later, an unexpected employment law issue will arise -- it's a numbers game, after all -- and we'll be much better positioned to respond if our employment law compliance is buttoned up.
So what areas should we be thinking about in our employee handbook? Employment law encompasses a wide range of federal and state obligations. Here are some of the key considerations, using New York as a representative state:
minimum wage and overtime (and camp-specific exemptions);
mandatory wage rate notification forms (in certain states, like New York);
mandatory meal and rest break laws in certain states;
compliance obligations for employees who are under 18;
family, medical, and pregnancy leave entitlements;
home office expense and technology reimbursements;
antidiscrimination laws and policies;
include a review of your staff application and interview questions to make sure you're not asking questions that you shouldn't be asking;
include a review of your separation and employee discipline policies to make sure the process is properly documented (good real-time documentation regarding performance issues is often a very strong defense to various types of claims regarding unlawful termination);
training requirements, such as New York's mandatory anti-harassment training;
mandatory policies, such as New York's paid family leave policy;
mandatory workplace notices and posters;
unemployment insurance, workers compensation insurance, and disability insurance obligations;
criminal background check compliance and mandatory consent and disclosure forms;
contract law considerations, including a review of your employee offer letters.
Of course, this is a lot to take in, and different states have different obligations. My recommendation for camps is to put in place a comprehensive employee handbook that sets forth all of your employment law policies and procedures, takes into account the considerations above, and serves as your employment law compliance document. Once the handbook is written, it's a good practice to periodically update it to reflect changes in the law. Drafting a strong handbook should go hand-in-hand with reviewing your offer letters, staff application, and interview questions. Doing this now will serve you well if (or, perhaps, when?) an unexpected employment law challenge arises.