A Global Handbook

For U.S. multinational companies, employing workers throughout the world, crafting work rules and personnel policies that not only comply with federal and state law (which in some cases includes the law of all 50 states), but also with the laws of each jurisdiction outside of the United States where they operate is a major challenge. Add to the equation the need to mesh a company’s corporate values with foreign cultures and mores, and you have a very delicate and difficult task at hand. There simply is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. However, if a company is strategic, a set of principles can be enshrined to positively impact the DNA of an organization while ensuring crucial legal compliance.

As an illustration of the global complexities and nuances at play, in the U.S., the commonplace holding — based on jurisdiction-specific judicial precedent — is that employee handbooks do not form employee contracts. However, in other countries — regardless of disclaimer language inserted — they may be viewed as binding contracts. The question then becomes how to best structure such a pivotal, guiding document, which employees literally receive on “day one”?