Date: March 5th , 2026

Time: 1pmET | 12pm CT | 11am MT | 10am PT

Duration: 60 minutes

Description:

Most employee handbooks are outdated, overly legal, and rarely read. Yet a well-crafted handbook does more than ensure compliance — it also reinforces your company culture, communicates expectations, and protects your organization from risk.

In this fast-paced session, attorney and author Don Phin reviews the key compliance requirements for 2026, including federal, state, and local law updates. Beyond compliance, the session focuses on opportunity: how to create a handbook that strengthens culture, improves communication, and reflects the organization’s identity.

Participants will also learn how to leverage visuals, multimedia, and digital delivery to make handbooks more accessible, engaging, and impactful for employees.

.Key Topics to be Discussed:

• History and evolution of employee handbooks

• Placement of disclaimers, including at-will employment

• Hiring, orientation, and onboarding policies

• Wage and hour compliance

• Performance management and disciplinary procedures

• Communication and technology policies

• Employee benefits and leave management

• Discrimination and harassment prevention

• Workplace safety policies

• Practical tips for bringing your handbook to life with engaging content and tools

Learning Objectives

• Understanding the evolution and purpose of employee handbooks

• Balancing legal compliance with engaging, culture-driven content

• Must-have handbook sections for 2026 updates

• Using multimedia, visuals, and digital tools to enhance readability and engagement

• Practical strategies for translating policies into actionable, employee-friendly guidance

About Our Speaker

Don Phin, Esq.

Don Phin is a California employment law attorney. Since leaving his litigation practice more than twenty years ago, he has consulted with hundreds of companies to help improve their employment practices. He has presented in person over 600 times to CEOs, HR, and other executives on what works in leadership and employee relations. Don has written numerous books and built HRThatWorks, an online HR compliance and strategy program, used by 3,500 companies and sold to ThinkHR in 2014. In addition to consulting and speaking, Don does executive coaching, expert testimony, and workplace investigations. Streetwise from the Bronx (you can still hear the accent), Don moved to San Diego when he was 20 to work on a tuna boat and never came back. Today Don lives in sunny Coronado, California.