Handbooks made safe

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Receiving little attention during the legislative session that ended on June 3 was a welcome legal clarification about whether employee handbooks constituted an implied contract. Clearly they don't, which is why most employers for years have made that point emphatically to their employees.

The handbooks generally provide useful information such as how the company handles holidays, sick leave and terminations. Several South Carolina court cases have threatened to undermine South Carolina's employment-at-will policy that protects employers and employees alike. A recent challenge involved legal confusion over whether employee handbooks implied a contract. The House of Representatives passed a law clarifying this matter in February 2003, but as with other major pieces of legislation the bill ran into a roadblock in the state Senate.

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce lobbied intensely for the bill that strengthens this state's economy by maintaining its right-to-work status. The Senate finally passed a slightly amended bill and it was signed by Gov. Mark Sanford. The law specifies how employees must be notified that a handbook does not equal a contract.

Many employees find handbooks useful tools, and so do employers. The Legislature did the right thing by removing confusion about the meaning of employee handbooks.