WIRTW #812 (the 'shiny and new' edition)
Your brain is built to notice what's new. That's not a flaw. It's a feature.
Novelty grabs attention and makes people curious. Wharton researchers Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman, and Jason Riis describe a "fresh start effect": people are more motivated to act after a clean break, like a new year, a birthday, or a Monday.
The Ohio Employer Law Blog is 19 years old. I built this website in 2007, and it looked like it.
This week, it got a new look. Same content and same opinions, just easier to navigate with better mobile responsiveness.
Your handbook has the same problem. It hasn't been refreshed in years. Nobody notices it anymore. It's faded paint. Your employees walk past it every day without seeing it. And that faded paint has a cost.
1. Employees stop reading it. A policy no one reads is a policy no one follows.
2. Managers stop enforcing it. The handbook says one thing. The practice says another. A policy you don't follow can become evidence of pretext. Plaintiffs' lawyers love that gap. It's their Exhibit A.
3. The law moves on without it. Remote work. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. AI. If your handbook still reads like 2015, it's missing today's rules and today's risks.
4. Patching piles up contradictions. Add-on memos and one-off updates collide with each other. A clean rewrite lets you cut what you don't follow and clarify what you do.
Pick a policy at random.
Can your managers explain it without opening the handbook?
Does your team follow it exactly as written?
Is it current with the law?
If you hesitated on any of them, you have your answer.
A rewrite is a fresh start. Use it. Retrain your workforce. Coach your managers on enforcement. Get new acknowledgments signed. Apply a fresh coat of paint.
If you're ready to repaint your handbook, email me, or contact the Employment & Labor team at Wickens Herzer Panza.
Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.
Wouldn't It Be Nice — via The Norah and Dad Show Podcast
Why Your Employees Override AI — via Harvard Business Review
When Employees Fear AI Losing Control, HR Needs a Better Answer — via EntertainHR
Meta employees ordered 'attorney/client privilege' hats while fighting child safety disclosures — via The Verge
Off the Clock, Beyond the Test: Cannabis Use and Workplace Impairment in New York — via The L•E•Jer
AI, And Experts, And Hallucinations, Oh My! — via Above the Law
The Most Dangerous Thing a New Manager Can Say Is 'I'll Fix This' — via Improve Your HR by Suzanne Lucas, the Evil HR Lady
Ways to remove barriers to hiring people with disabilities — via TLNT
The cup meltdown, the "Lost" finale, and other tantrums you've witnessed at work — via Ask a Manager
NLRB Restores Employer-Friendly Standard for Workplace Outbursts During Protected Activity — via Employment Law Letter
'I felt shame': former BA worker locked in legal battle after losing job of 30 years — via The Guardian
"Not Crazy About White People" Allegedly Appeared in an HR Report. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? — via Eric Meyer's Employer Handbook Blog
A New Era of Health Care Noncompetes: Emerging Models and the Future of Labor Mobility — via Trading Secrets
The doctor's note is vague. What should the employer do next? — via HR Dive
Peter Gabriel Reveals Full Details, Release Date for New Album o/i — via Consequence