E \"HANGING YOUR LECTURE ** \"AVOIDING UIIIIHTEIIIDED EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS-5, ** Employers have teamed many lessons from court decisions. In recent years, for example, the message has been clear that employers should be cautious about what they say in their employment manuals. EIF'LDYHEHT HAHUALB MID IHFLIED-IH-FACT CDHTMCTS Promises made in an employment manual may create an impliedinfact employment contract. If an employment handbook states that employees will be red only for specic causes, the employer may be held to that \"promise." Even if, by state law, employment is \"at will'that is, the employer is allowed to hire and re employees at will, with or without causethe atwill doctrine will not apply if the terms of employment are subject to a contract between the employer and the employee. If a court holds that an implied employment contract existson the basis of promises made in an employment manualthe employment is no longer at will. The employer will be bound by the contract and liable for damages for breaching the contract. TAKING Psscwlmous Employers who wish to avoid potential liability for breaching unintended employment contracts should therefore make it clear to employees that the policies expressed in an employment manual are not to be interpreted as contractual promises. An effective way to do this is to inform employees, when initially giving them the handbook or discussing its contents with them, that the handbook is not intended as a contract and to include a disclaimer to that effect in the employment manual. The disclaimer might read as follows: m'l'his policy manual describes the basic personnel policies and practices of our Company. You should understand that the manual does not modify our Company's 'at will' employment doctrine or provide employees with any kind of contractual rights.\" The employer should make the disclaimer clear and prominent so that the applicant cannot later claim that it was the employer's fault that the employee did not see the disclaimer. A disclaimer will be clear and prominent if it is set off from the surrounding text by the use of larger type, a different color, all capital letters, or some other device that calls the reader's attention to it. In the handbook, the employer should also avoid making denite promises that employees will be red only for cause, that they will not be red after they have worked for a certain length of time except for certain reasons, or the like. The handbook itself should include a clear and prominent disclaimer of contractual liability for its contents. CHECKLIST FOR THE EIIPLovEH. 1. Inform new employees that statements in an employment handbook are not intended as contractual terms. 2. Include a clear and prominent disclaimer to this effect in employment applications. 3. Avoid including in the handbook any denite promises relating to job security, and include a clear and prominent disclaimer of contractual liability for any statements made within the handbook