Applying the above rules, the court held that an enforceable arbitration agreement did not exist between Bucks and the Plebanis. In so ruling, the court stated that no person at Bucks gave the Plebanis an employee orientation regarding the Employee Handbook nor were the Plebanis asked to sign the forms acknowledging receipt of the Employee Handbook and agreeing to its arbitration policy. Moreover, the Employee Handbook did not indicate that it constituted an offer to enter into a unilateral contract and merely stated that it contained “guidelines” subject to change without notice. Thus, the Plebanis’ continued employment after the issuance of the handbook did not actually constitute acceptance of the offer since there was no “meeting of the minds” consisting of “an offer on one side and an unconditional acceptance on the other.” Finally, it appeared that the policies stated in the Employee Handbook were abandoned and were never enforced while the Plebanis worked for Bucks.
As the Plebani case makes clear, in order for an employee handbook to be enforceable, an employer must distribute the handbook to its employees, require the employees to acknowledge its receipt and their agreement to its terms, train the employer regarding its provisions, and regularly enforce the handbook’s provisions.