Staff Files Folders

[Rode Neagle]

Accurate recordkeeping, as well as secure filing, storage, and maintenance of employee files, is an essential practice for all employers. Aside from protecting the security of confidential data, it is also a legal obligation as defined by a number of employment laws. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requires that employers keep all employment records for one year. If an employee is fired, their personnel records must be retained for one year from the date of termination.

In this guide, we will share an employee files checklist to help you maintain accurate records for all your employees. We will also discuss a few best practices for human resources file management to help you stay compliant.

What Are Employee Files?

An employee file, also known as an employee record or employment file checklist, is a paper or electronic folder made up of employee documents that detail the relationship between an employee and the company. Documents cover the entire employee lifecycle, from recruitment right through to termination or resignation. Employee files should also contain basic employee documents and compensation information in compliance with federal and state labor laws.

Aside from being a good business practice, certain employee records also need to be maintained in order to comply with specific provisions under both federal and state law. Laws such as the EEOC and the FLSA establish what information must or should be collected, what your company can do with that information, and how long you should store your employee records. Make sure you are aware of all requirements in your area.

An employee file contains a range of documents spanning the entire employee lifecycle, from hiring right through to when an employee leaves your company. Some documents are required by law, others are just recommended.

Aside from the hiring documents mentioned above, you should also keep a record of all employment-related agreements in your employee files. This includes offer letters, employment agreements, confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements, union contracts, non-competition contracts, and non-solicitation agreements. You also need to keep a copy of any agreement relating to company cars or business credit cards.

If an employee is fired or hands in their notice, their personnel records must be retained for one year from the date of termination by law. You should also keep a record of any information relating to their termination to protect you in the event they raise a dispute.

Aside from the documents we have already looked at, there are other confidential documents that you should keep a record of. You must keep these documents separate from your standard employee files.

Employee file management is the act of filing, retaining, and destroying company records while remaining compliant. It can be one of the most challenging areas of HR administration as there are a number of state and federal laws dictating what records need to be maintained, as we saw above.

Instead, most companies these days choose to use an electronic personnel file system, also known as a digital employee file management system. This way, you can store all your documents online with an encrypted service, protecting you against unauthorized access, ensuring compliance, and saving you both time and space.

As we have just seen, the best way to ensure company audit compliance is to use a reliable electronic document management system (EDMS), also known as an HR electronic filing system, to manage all your employee files. This enables you to store, locate and manage all your employee records and maintain secure and confidential files for all staff data, regardless of your internal employee folder requirements.

Plus, since the solution is housed in the cloud, you and your employees can access it from anywhere. This is especially useful if your company is taking on remote workers or implementing flexible working patterns.

Organize and secure your employee files with our selection of HR employee folders. Our employee personnel file folders are available in a variety of styles and sizes to fit your specific needs, from basic folders to those with pre-printed sections for easy categorization.

In addition to employee folders, we also offer a wide variety of other HR forms to help you manage your workforce effectively. Shop our selection today and find the perfect supplies to keep your HR department running smoothly.

Michael is a prolific author in business and B2B tech, whose articles can be found on Business Insider, Entrepreneur, TechRadar Pro, IT Pro Portal, Tom's Guide, and more, covering everything from international tech regulations to corporate finance and emerging tech brands and markets. A successful copywriter and entrepreneur, Michael has worked with dozens of SaaS and tech companies, and has his finger firmly on the pulse of B2B tech, finance and business.

Proper organization is the key to accurate, compliant personnel files that are easy to manage, protect, and access. In this article, we look at how to organize employee personnel files and why a document management system is an essential tool for all businesses.

Without a clear organizational structure for personnel files, important data can be lost or misplaced. That makes it more difficult for human resources (HR) workers, payroll administrators, and managers to find the information they need. In addition, losing track of employee data could leave your company out of compliance with state and federal labor laws. It also makes it harder to know when documents need to be updated or replaced.

Personnel files are important for a variety of internal business purposes and legal requirements. They serve as a reference point for all administrative, managerial, contractual and compensatory, developmental, and disciplinary questions related to an employee.

Employee files are also important for regulatory compliance and typically contain data that employers are required by law to keep. This includes employee tax documents like Form W-4, which is required by the IRS, and compensation records, which are required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In addition, employee files provide a secure home for legal documents, such as employment contracts and non-compete agreements. It is essential that your company has these documents readily accessible in the event of a labor dispute.

Documents in these confidential files should be accessible only to HR administrators who have a need to view them. They should not be accessible to managers, and the process for viewing them should be tightly controlled.

For decades, employee files were all paper records. Most businesses had locked filing cabinets to which only HR administrators had access. Each employee had their own manilla envelope that would gradually fill with paper documents over time.

For digital records, you can save backups to a hard drive or store them in the cloud using a service like Google Drive. Many HR management systems that offer document storage, such as Connecteam, automatically back up your employee files in the cloud.

Using a dedicated app to organize documents can make it significantly easier to manage employee files. Document management systems enable you to drag and drop files between folders, search for documents by name or contents, and much more.

Connecteam also offers a self-service portal for managers and employees to view documents. For example, you might want to allow managers to view employee performance reviews and employees to view pay stubs. This frees up your HR team to focus on more important tasks than constantly responding to document requests.

With a file management app to organize documents, it should be simple to establish access permissions. A good place to start is to give managers access to non-confidential files for their direct reports only. Senior managers may need access to files for reports two tiers down.

Both forms and checklists are especially helpful during onboarding and at the start of each year, when employees have numerous documents to provide. It will be easy for both employees and HR managers to see if an important file or form is missing.

Once again, using a document management system can help. When an HR administrator uploads a document, they can assign an expiration date to it. This might be one year from the day the form is uploaded, the date a certification expires, or the last day of the year.

Connecteam, for example, allows you to set expiration dates per document entry or per type. Assigning expiration dates by type (for example, one year or 18 months) saves you from having to do so manually for each document.

The best way to organize employee files is electronically, ideally using a dedicated HR document management system like Connecteam. You can create a standardized file naming system, control access permissions, easily stay on top of document expirations, and more.

Connecteam is the ultimate solution for managing employee personnel files. Our dedicated HR management platform offers secure document storage, easy access, and advanced permissions for confidential information.

Thanks to some people here I was able to get to a point where I can assign group permissions to folders by way of the terminal, and then "inherit" those permissions by way of right clicking on a share point within System Preference/Sharing.

I have folders which I would like to remove even Read privileges from for some users. But, the fact macOS assigns all users on a computer to the staff designation, that's seems to be impossible. Surely, there's a way to give them "No Access" just as I can with the "Everyone" group????

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