Employee Handbook

Shepherd Electric Supply provides a casual yet business professional work environment for its employees. We take our professionalism seriously and feel it is important to project a professional image to our customers and visitors, who are here throughout the day.

Personal Appearance: All employees are expected to dress in a manner consistent with good hygiene, safety, and good taste. Please use common sense.

Office Employees: Our casual dress code signifies the employee may wear jeans, shorts, and casual clothing to work. Any questions or complaints regarding the appropriateness of attire should be directed to Human Resources. Decisions regarding attire will be made by Human Resources and not by individual departments or managers. Shepherd Electric Supply reserves the right to send an employee home if their attire is deemed inappropriate.

Warehouse / Counter Employees: All warehouse employees are prohibited from wearing open-toed shoes or sandals. All Counter employees are required to wear shirts provided by Shepherd Electric Supply and its vendors.

Customer / Vendor Visits: All employees should adopt business casual attire when visiting a customer site or when expecting a visitor to a Shepherd Electric Supply branch. Please see Human Resources for guidance, if needed.

 

Social Media Acceptable Use

Shepherd Electric Supply encourages employees to share information with co-workers and with those outside the company for the purposes of gathering information, generating innovative ideas, and learning from the work of others. Social media provides inexpensive, informal, and timely ways to participate in an exchange of ideas and information. However, information posted on a website is available to the public and, therefore, the company has established the following guidelines for employee participation in social media.

Note: As used in this policy, “social media” refers to blogs, forums, and social networking sites, such as Twitter/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, SnapChat, and TikTok among others.

Off-duty use of social media. Employees may maintain personal websites or weblogs on their own time using their own facilities. Employees must ensure that social media activity does not interfere with their work. In general, the company considers social media activities to be personal endeavors, and employees may use them to express their thoughts or promote their personal business and ideas.

On-duty use of social media. Employees may engage in social media activity during work time provided it is related to their work, and does not negatively identify or reference company clients, customers, or vendors without express permission. The company monitors employee use of company computers and the Internet, including employee blogging and social networking activity.

Respect. Demonstrate respect for the dignity of the company, its owners, its customers, its vendors, and its employees. A social media site is a public place, and employees should avoid inappropriate comments. For example, employees should not divulge Shepherd Electric Supply confidential information such as trade secrets, client lists, or information restricted from disclosure by law on social media sites. Similarly, employees should not engage in harassing or discriminatory behavior that targets other employees or individuals because of their protected class status or make defamatory comments. Even if a message is posted anonymously, it may be possible to trace it back to the sender.

Post disclaimers. If an employee identifies himself or herself as a company employee or discusses matters related to the company on a social media site, the site must include a disclaimer on the front page stating that it does not express the views of the company and that the employee is expressing only his or her personal views. For example: “The views expressed on this website are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.” Place the disclaimer in a prominent position and repeat it for each posting expressing an opinion related to the company or the company’s business. Employees must keep in mind that if they post information on a social media site that is in violation of company policy and/or federal, state, or local law, the disclaimer will not shield them from disciplinary action.

Competition. Employees should not use social media to criticize the company’s competition and should not use it to compete with the company.

Confidentiality. Do not identify or reference company clients, customers, or vendors without express permission. Employees may write about their jobs in general but may not disclose any confidential or proprietary information. For examples of confidential information, please refer to the confidentiality policy. If in doubt, ask before publishing.

New ideas. Please remember that new ideas related to work, or the company’s business belong to the company. Do not post them on a social media site without the company’s permission.

Links. Employees may provide a link from a social media site to the company’s website during employment (subject to discontinuance at the company’s sole discretion). Employees should contact the Web design group to obtain the graphics for links to the company’s site and to register the site with the company.

Trademarks and copyrights. Do not use the company’s or others’ trademarks on a social media site or reproduce the company’s or others’ material without first obtaining permission.

Legal. Employees are expected to comply with all applicable laws, including but not limited to, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, copyright, trademark, and harassment laws.

Discipline. Violations of this policy may result in discipline up to and including immediate termination of employment.

Note: Nothing in this policy is meant to, nor should it be interpreted to, in any way limit your rights under any applicable federal, state, or local laws, including your rights under the National Labor Relations Act to engage in protected concerted activities with other employees to improve or discuss terms and conditions of employment, such as wages, working conditions, and benefits.