I’m going to say this as gently as I can: Read the damn handbook.
Within the first week of starting a job, you should read the employee handbook. If your company doesn’t call it an employee handbook, read your company’s equivalent document that describes its policies and expectations for employees. Yes, it’s mostly boring. It could be 50+ pages. Read the whole damn thing.
Some part of every employee handbook involves Human Resources gushing about their favorite policies and perks. The rest is legalese. Both are incredibly valuable. What your company chooses to brag about—and how your company communicates expectations and consequences—tells you more about your new employer than any onboarding seminar ever will. The handbook is your instruction manual and your map to the company’s peculiar way of doing business.
There’s value in understanding it. When you know how to interpret the employee handbook, it becomes your primary resource for navigating the corporate labyrinth. It’s your guide to becoming a healthier, wealthier, and wiser you.
Healthier (yeah, we’re committing to this bit)
A good employee handbook accomplishes two things:
- It summarizes every significant corporate policy and benefit as it relates to its employees; and
- It points you to a more detailed page, should one exist.
If your company’s handbook doesn’t accomplish these two things, your first order of business is to make a better handbook. This takes precedence over your official job. Ask your managers and partners for financial support and resources to create a new one. They’ll understand. It’s for a great cause.
When you first crack open the employee handbook, look for a summary of your company’s policy on health insurance. Does it include a plan with FSA or HSA options? When is the enrollment period? Do they offer vision and dental insurance? These are the important questions that are most likely answered in the handbook. If they’re not, it’s because health insurance is complex and difficult to summarize, and the handbook should link you to the company’s health insurance website.
See if the company provides a Wellness Fund or some other similar benefit that reimburses you for gym memberships, fitness equipment, or healthy lifestyle choices. Make sure you understand the company’s policies on time off, sick leave, and volunteering. It’s more satisfying to daydream about quitting when you know how many more days you can get paid to not work.
Maybe they offer mental health services. Maybe they have partnerships with local gyms and athletic clubs that offer membership discounts. Maybe you want to freeze your eggs so you can focus on your career now and your family later. Even the esoteric benefit that one partner decided to bankroll for his oddly-specific-and-kinda-gross-but-totally-not-contagious skin disease is just another tool in your personal health toolbox. Maybe you’ll never use it, but it’s nice to know you have it.
Wealthier
The handbook should also cover the fiscal benefits offered by the company. Understanding these policies can help make you much wealthier, faster.
Does your company offer a 401k? Does it offer a ROTH 401k too? Do they offer profit sharing, or a 401k match? What is the vesting structure? What about performance bonuses, when and how are those distributed?
How often are the pay periods, and how do you change your withholdings? How and when does the company distribute W2s for the tax year?
How does the company treat its corporate credit cards? Does every employee get one, or just select people? Does the corporate card impact your personal credit score? What is the maximum expense amount the company will approve without a receipt, knowledge that you definitely won’t use nefariously?
All this knowledge will help you grow your pile of money faster than your peers’. All this knowledge and more, available for free in your employee handbook. I’m begging you, please read it.
Wiser
When you think about padding your wallet on the client site visit, you’ll want to know the consequences if the company thinks you’re defrauding them. Spoiler: it’s never good. But the employee handbook should give an idea of how bad things could get.
When you’re wondering if the company-sponsored Christmas party provides free alcohol, and if they do, what expectations they have about moderating your consumption, you can check the employee handbook. Pro Tip: Keep it to one drink fewer than the highest-ranking person at the event. Corollary to Pro Tip: If the highest-ranking person is a tank, do not try to keep up.
If you ever get that little voice in the back of your head that says “Hey, uh, maybe you shouldn’t do the thing you’re about to do?”, just check the handbook. 80% of bad workplace decisions could be prevented if the person just took a beat to read the employee handbook first. You’ll never convince me that this dude read the employee handbook.
In conclusion, read the damn handbook.