Personnel Files

Filing cabinet cleanup: Set up 4 folders per employee

07/29/2024

Too many HR files consist of fat folders, organized one per employee, with the most recent documentation at the front and everything dating back to Day One behind it. You can and must do better. Federal and state laws require employers to keep separate files for a variety of employee records.

Beware data-collecting email from your ‘boss’

04/08/2024

If you get an email in the next few days that seems to be from your CEO requesting a list of employees and their Social Security numbers, watch out! It may be part of an elaborate phishing scheme in which con artists harvest employees’ personal data, use it to file fraudulent tax returns and then pocket income tax refunds.

Limit liability from data breaches that expose employee info

03/11/2024

Imagine this nightmare scenario: You’ve contracted with a vendor to enter personnel data into a new computer system. You hand over confidential employee info, including Social Security numbers, addresses, names of dependents, health records and bank account routing numbers. Then the vendor notifies you that the employee information was somehow stolen. What will you do? It happens more often than anyone would like to admit.

Access to Personnel Files: 50 State Laws

02/16/2024

No federal law grants employees the right to inspect their personnel files. However, many states do give employees that right and spell out the terms under which employees are allowed to inspect their files. Here’s a state-by-state list of laws governing access to personnel files.

Best practices in I-9 retention: When to keep, when to shred

03/17/2022

The Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is often a breeding ground for mistakes, some of which can have significant repercussions. Yet despite all of the risks, employers often miss out on one of the very few free lunches in I-9 compliance: shredding or purging all of those really old and errant I-9s that are beyond the Form I-9 retention requirement

5 secrets to keeping your files organized

07/08/2021

HR is nothing if not a paper-intensive profession. Keeping your files organized makes a huge difference when you need to access the documents necessary to comply with the law or government regulations, or to respond to an employee lawsuit. These five secrets make the job easier.

Help newlyweds make new names official

04/08/2021

Expect an outbreak of wedding bells among your employees later this year. HR and payroll should start preparing now to process name changes.

The personnel records problems you hope you never see

08/18/2020

Sooner or later, a tricky edge case will emerge involving your handling of personnel records or other documents that demand unusual sensitivity. Try rating your confidence level in having to respond to each of the situations below.

5 commonly overlooked rules on keeping personnel records

08/14/2020

“Into the cabinet it goes, I’ll deal with it later!” This is, too often, the dangerous generic policy adopted by harried HR pros when dealing with the daily onslaught of employee paperwork. How many of the best practices below might your organization be cutting corners on, leaving you open to litigation worries?

Coronavirus leave: Start keeping HR records

03/24/2020

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act is an attempt to keep income flowing to employees who may not be able to work because of coronavirus- or COVID-19-related conditions. The government has not yet specified exactly how employers will be reimbursed for the associated leave expenses. However, it is safe to say that Uncle Sam will require detailed records of which employees took leave and how much they were paid.