The blogosphere is abuzz with the new employee handbook for the Tribune Company (parent of the LA Times and Chicago Tribune), written by a layperson in plain English with verve and humor. [LA Times, Jan. 17; Lattman] “I’m amazed and amused at what lawyers get businesspeople to do,” the author, Randy Michaels, the CEO for interactive and broadcasting, said about his efforts. Not to worry: the lawyers are ready to punish Tribune for that transgression. Bruce Nye also worries from the defense side.
No one suggests: Gee, if the litigation environment makes it impossible to have a short, plain, jocular, common-sense employee handbook, maybe there is something wrong with the litigation environment rather than the handbook? Or: why can’t employees choose to work in an environment governed by a less stodgy handbook that is intended to promote a better workplace rather than by the cookie-cutter rules imposed by federal and state bureaucracies that require $500/hour employment attorneys to navigate safely?
(Update: Daniel Schwartz comments.)
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The employee handbook’s only utility has been a legal document intended to protect an employer in court. It will be interesting to see if the Tribune can use it to change its culture and make it a document that employees actually read. Perhaps that will make it more valuable than merely a legal document because it actually prevents stuff that normally ends up in court.
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