CRA President’s Message: September 2012

Protect your company and your employees while saving $2,396 

Does your company have a corporate policy manual, commonly referred to as an employee handbook? If not you should seriously consider getting this important business tool for your company as soon as possible. Signing an employee handbook or employee policy document is standard procedure before going to work for all large companies these days, and for good reason.

These documents help protect both the employee and employer. Signing one should become part of your new-hire orientation process and the regular updating of your existing employees’ files. If your company does not have a corporate policy manual that is distributed to every employee your policies will not be clearly communicated and it cannot be assumed that every employee knows them. Managers and employees will have to rely on the company’s memory to ensure consistency when applying policy. Verbal communication of company policies carries no proof that you made your workforce aware of the rules.

This leaves you vulnerable to legal problems. Remember that a verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is printed on and we all know what the word assume really means. 

Until recently, if you wanted an employee handbook you had to hire a labour lawyer or consultant who would customize one for you. This could be a very expensive undertaking for small companies, as labour laws can be very complicated with different rules in every province.

I want to tell you about one of your Canadian Rental Association’s newest member benefits which was presented to the CRA board of directors by B.C.’s Angie Venekamp and approved by the board in September 2011.  It is an inexpensive way to get an employee handbook for your company.

Your CRA, working with CPM Manuals, has developed a special program designed to provide our members with a customized manual at an 80 per cent discount off the standard commercial price of $2,995.  Our CRA member price is only $599, a saving of $2,396 if you have no more than three locations. This is another example of the payback and value you receive for your CRA membership investment. To order your customized employee policy manual template, simply call CPM Manuals at 1-866-925-9789 or your CRA office at 1-800-486-9899.

This employee policy manual template has been developed to include all the items important to rental businesses in Canada today. This template contains approximately 100 separate topics in nine major sections, logically organized for easy reference.
This is not an off-the-shelf product. The CRA and CPM Manuals have focused on your needs to create rental-specific policies and guidelines. For a small investment of your time to personalize the template, and at a fraction of the cost of a typical consultant solution, you will have an employee policy manual that is thorough, professional and accurately reflects the labour laws and standards of the province you do business in.

An employee handbook will help protect you and your business and make your company more professional. If you think that you personally have a time management issue and are too busy to take on this important project, then show some leadership and due diligence and delegate the project to someone else in your company. It will be time and money well spent.