Legal Approval For Employee Handbook

Hi,
We are registered IT,US based company and would like to introduce Employee Handbook at our offshore center,Hyderabad.
Does an employee handbook needs to be reviewied and approved by a lawyer or by a legal authoriy.
Please suggest.

After framing the HR policy (Employee Hand Book) it should be verified and approved by your Top Management.
Some policies should be framed according to the respective laws.
No need to go for legal authority.

Dear Kalpana
Having your Employee Handbook reviewed and approved by a lawyer or by a legal authority is the preferred approach as one of the key objective of a well-crafted handbook is that it must be a legally-defensive document to protect both the employer and employees. However, in real-life, this is not the norm.
Policies that are statutory-required e.g. Employment Act must be framed according to the respective laws as per akssivakumar5 post. Policies that are provided beyond statutory requirement have to be linked to your reward strategy and approved by Top Management.
You may like to craft out a draft handbook and seek advice from other HR seniors on this site before launching it.
Regards
Autumn Jane

thanks Sivakumar.Yes,even i thought the same to get it verified by Top Mngt. but my bad,all are from tech. background.Need a super HR to suggest better.Let me talking to some seniors on this site..
Rgds.,
Kalpana

Dear Kalpana
As suggested by Jane gettting the handbook reviewed by a lawyer will safeguard your company from all angels since there are lot of laws which apply policies so framed by the companies. however the lawyers jobs shall be to incorporate the language in such a way, that in case thereis any dispute in future the interpretation of the words thereto shall be in the favour of the company, which a layman will not be able to do.
Should you require any further assistance you may contact me at [Login to view] we are a law firm.
Regards
Sachin

Dear Kalpana,
Getting your HR Handbook reviewed by legal professional will be an important step for the below mentioned reasons.
1) Safeguard the Company interest against any enforceable clause included in the HR Handbook.
2) To ensure that the clauses included in the HR Handbook are consistent with the Labour Laws of the Land.
3) Interaction with them will provide you an additional & different learning which will be helpful for future.
Don't you think these are good enough reasons.
Best Regards,
RAJESH MISHRA
AGM - HR & ADMIN.