Every medical practice should have an Employee Policy Manual spelling out the rules and regulations of everyday employee matters in your practice. To be effective, your employee manual should be reviewed periodically and updated, as needed. Your practice must be willing to enforce all of the terms of the employee manual. The following details some important areas that should be covered in your Employee Manual: At Will Employment - Your policy manual should clearly state that all employees are employees “at will,” and that the practice can end their employment at any time, for any reason. Your policy manual should also clearly state that it is neither a contract of employment nor an employment agreement, and that the manual may be changed at any time, without notice, by the practice. These two clauses are needed to help in case of a claim for wrongful termination.  Confidentiality - Every medical practice employee manual should specifically state that employees are expected to maintain strict confidentiality of patient and practice information. Also, the manual should require that employees must secure all confidential patient and practice information each night before the office is closed. Employees should recognize that failure to do so may result in their immediate dismissal. HIPAA rules should be used as guidelines in the confidentially section of the manual.  Permitted Leaves of Absence - Your policy manual should clearly specify the employees’ entitlement to leaves of absence. This would include: vacation leave, bereavement leave, military leave, recognized holidays, and sick leave. Your practice may also need to include a family and medical leave of absence policy, depending on your practice’s size and applicable state and federal laws. Under FMLA (the F…