14 Tips for Maintaining Proper HR Documentation

HRM is more than solving internal conflicts, presenting an attractive work culture to potential candidates, or managing legal matters. Human resource management involves building the people within an organization. It's about maintaining overall organizational health, ensuring employee engagement, and implementing fair practices across the company. All these functions are under the responsibility of an HR manager. The HR manager must be open to feedback and inputs and expand their network to gain knowledge from other organizations' policies. An HR manager will usually privately discuss with CXOs or the management.

Every organization can benefit from a human resource management system, or HRMS. Human resource management is crucial in preventing chaos within the company. This is because disengagement of employees costs companies a lot of money. It's important to note that some startups hire PEO companies to handle the administrative side. You can then focus on the culture of your company and lead management.

What is HR documentation?

Documentation in HR refers to the records businesses maintain to track changes, provide evidence, and report information to inform their decisions. These records include employment information, company action reports, and incident reports. Some records are required by law; others may be subject to company policies.

Keeping formal and informal records about all employment events is important. This includes items like:

• Actions

• Contributions

• Discipline and disciplinary actions

• Disputes

• Investigations

• Performance Evaluations

• Policy Violations

The HR department can keep detailed records of workplace events by keeping extensive records. Documentation is also useful for managers to guide them on promotions, disciplinary measures, pay increases, and terminations. Documentation in HR must be factual, objective, and free of bias.

Why Documentation is Important

Many reasons exist for an organization to maintain a consistent and organized system of documentation, including:

Demonstrates Professionalism

The documentation shows employees and clients that the company is serious about protecting critical information and providing detailed records about workplace events. Documentation is a useful tool for managing issues. You can perform other processes more professionally if you maintain accurate documentation. You could use the data you collect to offer raises at the end of the year if you have carefully documented employee performance improvements.

Facilitates Performance Management

Documentation ensures consistency, standardization, and efficiency when managing employee performance. Keep records of feedback, results, and job descriptions to help guide and coach your employees. This information could also be used to inform decisions regarding promotions and changes in personnel. Employees who wish to know more about their performance can benefit from this tool. They will be able to identify areas for improvement, track their goals, and learn more. This can lead to a team that is more effective and engaged.

Helps Businesses Enforce Policies

Many businesses have internal policies to guide employees and leaders. Documentation from HR helps management determine if employees follow policies and whether they benefit the organization. HR should check if employees follow a rule in the employee handbook that says they must arrive at work 15 minutes before their scheduled start time. It may be helpful to note repeated tardiness on formal documentation to enforce the rule better and achieve organizational goals.

Promotes Compliance

Documentation can be used to defend a company in legal disputes. Legal guidelines can require businesses to take specific actions, such as accommodating disabled people and allowing for reasonable medical leave. Keep detailed and timely records of all employee communications to prove compliance with federal and local laws. Comprehensive records are also a way for businesses to protect themselves against financial audits and safety hazards.

HR Documentation Types

Documents that HR professionals may need to retain are many. The documents required by each employee may differ depending on that individual's unique circumstances. Companies can also keep records differently depending on internal policies. Consider consulting a professional and researching the legal obligations of your area to determine which files are essential for compliance. Here are some files that you should always keep on hand:

Onboarding Documentation

Keep all original documents from the onboarding and hiring process.

• Job Applications

• Cover letters and resumes

• Verification of employment and educational history

• Employment contracts

• Personal identification documents

• Contact Information

• Information about bank accounts

• Compensation Structures

• Employee Handbook Acknowledgement Forms Signed

• Relocation agreements

Performance Documents

Keep detailed records of your employees' performance.

• Job Descriptions

• Training Records

• Reports of disciplinary action

• Attendance records

• Performance improvement plans

• Policy Violations

• Self-assessments

• Recognition and Awards

Medical Information

Some departments may require that you keep certain documents, such as:

• Disability Accommodations

• Medical Leave Records

• Notes from the doctor for absences

• Contact information for emergencies

When requesting medical records and documenting absences due to health reasons, remember to respect the privacy of your employees and follow all applicable regulations.

Termination Records

It's important to keep detailed records of employees who leave the company, whether voluntarily or not.

• Letter of resignation or termination

• Recordings of exit interviews

• Insurance Information

• Remaining paycheck information

• Clearance Form

Why do Businesses Need Proper Documentation?

Documents relating to HR are very important when it comes time to document an organization. They are proof of business activities. It is important to keep a record of all events, positive and negative, because it may be useful in the future.

Here is a list of important HR documents every business should possess.

Job Descriptions

The Job Description provides the employer and employee with a clear understanding of what is required of them. A Job Description (JD) outlines all the duties and responsibilities accompanying a particular job. The JD also indicates the types of skills that are needed to perform that particular work effectively. A nitty gritty JD is a comprehensive document that includes all the important information about a specific job, such as Job Role and Title, Responsibilities, and Job Summary.

Employment Contract

A written Employment contract proves the professional relationship between an employer and employee. This document can be addressed to a single employee or an entire organization. A contract of employment can negate voluntary work. This makes it an effective document to attract new employees.

A signed contract proves an agreement between an employer and employee has been reached. The contract of employment outlines the rights and responsibilities of both parties.

Documents for the Recruitment Process

The selection process has several steps—screenings, interviews, meetings, selection, onboarding, and induction. The hiring specialist will perform these steps to select the best candidate from those shortlisted.

These processes must be documented in an official document to track the progress of each process.

When it comes to recruitment, the following documents are essential.

• Offer Letter

• Manpower Requisition

• Job Description

• Employment contract and agreement

• Recruitment Tracker

• Candidate Assessment Form

• Reference Check Guide

Performance Appraisal Documents

The performance appraisal document is useful for both parties in measuring and managing their performance.

A powerful performance management system is built on the simple idea of SMART (Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant. Time-based)

The feedback process can also help an organization with its basic decision-making processes in the future. The board can use the employee's input to improve management and procedures.

Create a standard and uniform format for defining performance and setting goals at various levels.

• Here are some examples of performance appraisal documents.

• Performance Management Process

• Performance Review

• Performance Improvement Plan

• Performance Appraisal Letter

• Performance Warning Letter

• KRA

Employee Handbook

A handbook for employees contains all the policies, procedures, authority, and responsibilities of a particular employee in an organization.

This document is important for HR as it contains the administrative procedures of businesses. It is usually given to the employee on their first day of work. Employers use the employee handbook to explain important company policies and protect the roles and responsibilities of the employer and employee.

A handbook for employees contains important legal information, such as employment policies and anti-harassment guidelines. It also outlines the level of safety that is expected.

Employee Benefit Documents

A compensation package for employees is a combination of cash and in-kind payments given by an employer to the employee as a reward for their service.

Businesses require human resources. Compensation must be fair and accurate, with no room for mistakes or complaints. Employee compensation documents are part of important HR documents in any organization.

Documents included in the employee compensation module include:

• Salary Structure

• Compensation Package Components

• Bonus Calculation

• Calculate Increment

• Calculate TDS

• Salary Slips

• ITR Declaration

Statutory Documents

Maintaining specific records and registers is essential for a business to operate efficiently and meet legal requirements. The statutory requirements for disclosure are met by maintaining such records and registers. Such records help to ensure that business activities are systematic.

These are the essential legal documents that an organization must maintain.

• PF, ESIC, and MWLF

• ESIC New Wage Ceiling

• Wage Ceiling Under EPF Act

• The Payment of Gratuity Act

• Professional Tax

• Statutory forms

• Payroll Exemptions and Statutory Deductions

Onboarding Procedure

Employee onboarding is educating new employees about the organization and welcoming them to the team. Employee onboarding's main goal is to help new employees integrate with the company culture and the company.

Onboarding is a strategic process that helps employees feel like they are part of the company. This improves the performance of the new employee and the entire organization.

Here are a few documents related to employee onboarding.

• Checklist for Onboarding

• Employee Induction

• New Employee Announcement Email

• Employee Welcome Email

• New Hire Checklist

• Job Offer Email

• Checklist of Company Policies for New Hires

• Welcome New Employees

• Appointment Letter

Employee Management & Recordkeeping

Your HR department must be responsible for all the documentation requirements of your employees. Your HR department has to handle all your employee's documentation needs. The HR department must track and record the data relating to the employee. HR must keep track of employee records and reports throughout their time with the company.

This is a list of all employee management documents and records.

• Employee Master File

• Acceptance of Employee's Apology for All Purpose

• Admin Manual

• Stationary Request Template

• Warning for Attendance Issues

• Warning for Problems with Behaviour

• Warning for general Behaviour Issues

• Warning for Performance Issues

• Warning for Unacceptable Behavior on a Specific Date

• Job Suspension during Misconduct Investigation

• Post Probation Increment Certificate

• Ad-hoc Designation Certificate

• Ad-hoc Increment certificate

• Appraisal Certificate With Increment and Promotion

• Appraisal Certificate without Promotion

• Experience or Letter of Relieving with praise

• Experience or Relieving Letter

• Final Settlement and Full Confirmation

• Certificate of Internship with Praise

• Internship Certificate

• Layoffs due to shutdown of CO-BU-Dept

• Final Warning for Attendance Issues

• Final Warning for Behavioural Issues

• Final Warning for Performance Issues

• Resignation Letter After Resignation

• Resignation Acceptance for Key Employees

• General Acceptance of Resignation

• Resignation withdrawal due to growth prospects

• Resignation withdrawal due to a role change

Exit Process

Employees may leave a company due to a variety of reasons. These can range from not fitting into the culture to getting a better job elsewhere. They could also be fired for poor performance. In both cases, the employer must follow the specific exit procedure of the company to ensure that the process is smooth for the employer and the employee.

The following are important HR documents for the exit process.

• Leave Formalities

• Relieving Letter

• Exit Interview

• Clearance Form

• Full and Final Settlement

14 Tips for Maintaining Proper HR Documentation

Human resources departments must maintain proper documentation to mitigate legal risk, ensure compliance and track employee data. Accurate, organized HR data documentation streamlines processes, protect the rights of employees and employers and allows for effective decision-making. This article presents 14 essential tips for maintaining proper HR documentation.

Create a Centralized System

Create a central system to store all HR documents. This can be either a physical filing system or an electronic database. This will ensure easy access, reduce the risk of misplacing documents, and promote consistency.

Use Standardized Templates

Standardize templates for HR documents such as employment agreements, offer letters, and performance evaluations. This will promote consistency, clarity and ensure compliance with relevant laws.

Employee Information

Keep detailed records of each employee. This includes personal information, employment history, and job descriptions. Also, keep records of performance evaluations, training, and appraisals. Making informed decisions is easier when you have accurate employee information.

Keep Track of Policies and Procedures.

Keep up-to-date records of employee handbooks, HR policies, and procedures. These guidelines should be communicated to all employees.

Record the Recruitment and Hiring Process

Document all aspects of the recruitment and hiring process. This includes job postings and applications, resumes, interview evaluations, background checks, and reference checks. Documentation helps to demonstrate fair and consistent practice in the event of a legal dispute.

Maintain Attendance Records

To ensure that employee absences are managed effectively, you should keep track of attendance, leave requests, and approvals. Record time-off policies and details such as vacation accruals, sick leaves, and other leave information.

Document Performance Management

Document and track employee performance evaluations and improvement plans. Also, document any disciplinary measures taken. This documentation helps to address performance concerns, provides a record of employee performance, and supports decision-making.

Document Workplace Incidents

Keep records of all workplace accidents, injuries, and incidents. Also, keep track of any investigations or actions that were taken. Documentation is essential for assessing risks, adhering to legal requirements, and implementing corrective actions.

Employee Complaints and Resolved Issues

Document all employee complaints, investigations, and resolutions confidentially and consistently. This ensures fair treatment and demonstrates an organization's commitment to addressing concerns. It also helps to mitigate potential legal risks.

Keep Separation and Termination Documents.

Keep track of all employee terminations, resignations, and exit interviews. These documents can be used to verify employment history, manage unemployment claims and defend against legal claims.

Comply with Employment Laws

Review and update your HR documentation regularly to ensure federal, state, and local employment laws compliance. Documenting anti-discrimination policies, giving required notices to workers, and keeping records for specified periods are all part of this.

Documentation Practices for HR Staff

Give HR staff comprehensive training on proper documentation practices. Emphasize accuracy, confidentiality, and compliance. This will ensure consistency and reduce the risk of mistakes or omissions.

Review and Audit Documentation Regularly

Audits should be conducted periodically to ensure that HR documentation is accurate, complete, and compliant. This proactive approach allows for the identification of any shortcomings and the rectification thereof, as well as the integrity and reliability of the records.

Backup and Secure HR Documents

Implement strong security measures to safeguard confidential HR document management system. Use password protection, encryption, and restricted access to prevent unauthorized entry. Back up your HR records regularly to protect against data loss.

Best Practices for HR Documentation

Here are the best practices for HR documentations:

Set Clear Goals

Remember the challenges your HR department faces when creating this document.

Ask yourself questions like -

• Why does your HR team need this document?

• What problems could the document solve?

• What improvements are you expecting once you have rolled out the document to your staff?

• What are the most important HR issues you want to address in this document?

These questions will help you focus on the problems and set appropriate goals.

The goal of creating an HR document could be anything, from streamlining the recruitment and management process to familiarizing your employees with your business and reducing paperwork.

Recognize that your HR managers are busy. Create an online document that addresses the issues they are most concerned about. You can create a document that contains information on multiple HR aspects, such as.

• You can also find out more about recruitment.

• Employee Data Management

• Employee onboarding

• Performance Management

• Learning and Development

• Compliance with office policy

• Payroll management and similar.

Make it All-Encompassing

When creating HR documentation, it is ideal to include all areas of HR.

Create a document that provides detailed insight into recruitment, onboarding, and employee turnover. Also, include performance appraisals and promotions.

This will allow those in HR departments with specific responsibilities to achieve their goals without hassle. If, for example, one HR person is responsible for recruitment and another takes care of performance management, then the HR document can be of equal value to them both.

Create a comprehensive employee manual that includes details on these key areas.

Employee Compensation

• Salary Structure

• Calculation of bonus and increment

• Salary Slips

• Salary packages for employees: Components

• Tax Calculation

Performance Management

• Performance Review

• Appraisal letters

• Performance improvement plan

• KRAs at different levels

Onboarding Process

• Onboarding checklist

• Welcome emails for new employees

• Emails with Job Offers

• List of mandatory company policies for new hires

• Appointment letter

Employee Data Management

• Employees' experience

• Personal information such as date and place of birth, guardians' local, etc.

• Attendance, behavior, and performance issues

• Letter of resignation from the previous organization

• The full and final settlement

• All experience certificates

Employee Exit Process

• Details of the exit interview

• Clearance Form

• Settlement is final and complete

• Other formalities of leaving

The Entire HR Team Should do Documentation.

HR documentation should include information about the various functions of the department. It is best to build it in collaboration with the HR team.

Your HR managers and executives are subject matter experts and have practical experience in the field. Your HR team should be responsible for all aspects of the document, from editing and writing to designing and publishing.

For example, HR executives who specialize in recruitment and onboarding can be in charge of this document section. Those can lead this section with extensive HR policies and performance evaluation knowledge.

Senior managers and HR managers can assume the role of editors to ensure executives' content is thoroughly reviewed before it goes live. Some executives or senior executives can act as administrators, ensuring the content is updated regularly, and the design aligns with the content.

Blend it With Your Brand.

The HR document says a lot about your brand. It is a great way to make a good first impression with employees. It is, therefore, crucial to work on the visuals of your website and ensure that it matches your brand.

When creating an HR document, you should always remember your brand and logo. The themes, colors, and designs used in the various sections of your document should be distinct from your brand's style. Fonts should match the brand style.

Write like a Perfectionist, Structure like a Pro

It takes work to draft HR documentation. The HR team must be able, in addition to having a thorough understanding of the subject matter, to translate that knowledge into easy-to-understand written words.

It is just as important to focus on the structure of the document as it is to write it brilliantly. Here are some tips to help you perfect the art and structure of the HR document.

• Do not beat around the Bush

• Clarity and specificity should be infused into the content

• Keep your paragraphs brief and to the point

• Add headers and Footers

• Use active voice when writing your content

• Keep titles short and action-oriented

• Table of contents on the left side for easy navigation

• Create categories and subcategories within each section

• Italicize, bold, and underline important phrases, words, or sentences

• Wherever possible, create a bulleted listing

• Use multimedia to demonstrate HR concepts and how to perform specific tasks

Create Documents with Bullet-Proof Security.

The HR documentation provides a window into your company policies, onboarding program, payroll system, details of employees, and more. This document contains important information about the salaries of your employees, their previous records, performance evaluations, etc.

This data is confidential, and only your HR team should have access to it. A security breach could release sensitive data that may be used against your employees or the entire organization.

There is, therefore, a need for an effective security system to prevent unwanted activities from taking place in your HR documents by granting specific rights for each section.

As a master administrator, you can, for example, give viewing rights to some users and editing rights to others. HR managers can set up conditions to hide content intended for HR from other departments.

If your HR software has this feature, you can do it.

Localize your HR Documentation.

There is nothing better for a company with employees spread out across the world, or even a small business with staff scattered across different locations, than an HR document that your employees can translate into a preferred language.

There are many Benefits to

• You will save time by not having to create multiple HR documents

• Savings on resources as there is no need to hire translators

• Consistency across documents

• You can streamline HR departments across multiple offices.

• Locations

Documentation in multiple languages allows you to serve a diverse employee base, no matter where they live or what language they speak. Then, you're more than just streamlining one HR department. From regional HR functions to global divisions, all will have a one-stop shop for managing HR-related tasks.

You can translate documents into 90 languages if your HR documentation software is compatible with Google Translate.

Continuous Improvement Is Essential

HR documentation can't remain static. Regular updates should be made, whether by adding new content or improving existing content. The HR document should be updated regularly to reflect the changing needs of employees. You can easily achieve this by providing your HR team with a software tool for HR documentation.

Ideal documentation software provides insightful reports about your document's performance based on metrics like -

• The total number of searches

• Searches that were successful and those that failed

• Popular articles with low ratings

• Broken links

• Many more author activities.

Create Exceptional Experiences for Employees

The HR documentation reflects your brand values. This is a document that employees from all departments will use regularly to learn about policies, their salary structure, and your working mechanism.

New employees will also use the document to familiarize themselves with the organization and their roles. Your document should give them an excellent experience.

Your document must score highly to ensure you deliver outstanding employee experiences.

• Smooth Searchability: Your document should have a search engine similar to Google. Searchable documents are characterized by a prominent search bar, autocomplete, and keyword-specific searches.

• Accessibility on Multiple Devices: Documents should be easily navigable from mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and other devices. The ultimate goal of HR documentation should be to make information accessible. It is, therefore, crucial that the document works smoothly across different devices.

• Feedback System: Employees can fill in feedback forms within the document if their questions still need to be answered. The HR staff will receive the feedback directly and can immediately address the issue.

Conclusion

You have a lot to do as a manager or owner of a company. Maintaining good HR documentation is important. It takes time to collect and record information.

Safety is achieved by ensuring that employees adhere to and follow company policies. Therefore, employees must adhere to and follow the policies set forth by their company. An HR compliance officer will find it easier to manage things if they follow the above checklist.

The majority of HR positions require a degree from a relevant field. A degree in human resources is optional to perform the job effectively. To excel in their role, human resource professionals need to have a set of special skills. By improving these skills, HR professionals can better serve their organizations and employees. Although some people are born with these skills, they can be developed and improved.