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LEGAL UPDATE
facility's policy on taking time off during the day for personal matters, and explain if and when they are eligible for overtime pay.
Paid time off might be the most frequently discussed aspect of employment policy. Does your manual specify how many vacation days and sick days employees are entitled to, how they accumulate them and how they can use them? How much notice must be given in advance of vacation days? Whether a doctor's note is required following sick days? If employees can roll over a year's unused days into the following calendar year, or receive compensation for unused days?
On-the-job injuries are a serious matter. The manual should detail your policies and procedures regarding workers' compensation. It should also define the eligibility for the benefits offered to employees, including health insurance, retirement plans, and life and/or disability insurance. Although you should retain the right to fine-tune the details of your facility's benefits package, the manual is a good place to review what's offered.
3. Confidentiality
Recent changes that have strengthened HIPAA's privacy requirements — and its penalties for failing to comply with them — make the confidentiality of patient information a particularly urgent area for a manual to address. Now is the time to adhere to the federal regulations. The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that its Office of Civil Rights will be stepping up its HIPAA compliance audits of medical practices. It's expected to enforce compliance with fines. As such, make your employees aware that they may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination, in the event that they inappropriately disclose protected health information.
You'll want to protect your facility's own business information, too. To ensure that your trade secrets, including billing, general processes
