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Personnel Files

Beat the chill of an ICE inspection: How to survive an I-9 audit

11/20/2014

Could you put your hands on all the necessary records if the auditor came for them today?

Trust assistant to maintain confidentiality?

10/31/2014
Q. I’m the HR director of a 45-employee company and have one assistant. Due to the firm’s growth, I’m considering giving my assistant more responsibility. My concern: The assistant is very friendly with about 10 other employees, two of whom are her roommates. What’s to stop her from divulging information to her friends? I have said nothing to her about my concerns yet. What can I express to her without overstepping her legal rights?

What kind of employee files do we need?

10/31/2014
Q. How many files should be kept for each employee and what paperwork must be included in each?

You’ll need those notes: Save employee complaints

10/31/2014

If an employee cares enough about a promotion, assignment or training opportunity to contact HR with a complaint, save the note, email or other communication. Here’s why.

Collection agency calls: Must we give workers’ info?

10/17/2014
Q. Our small business sometimes gets calls from loan providers or collection agencies about our em­ployees. What information are we required to give?

Personnel files: Where & how long to keep them?

10/10/2014
Q. How long do we need to keep personnel files? And can we keep them in offsite storage?

What are my federal record-keeping requirements?

10/07/2014
Q. As a private employer, what federal record-keeping regulations must I follow?

Can a former employee demand access to her personnel file?

09/17/2014
Q. A former employee called HR asking to review her personnel file. We already let her review her file following termination last year, and nothing has changed in the personnel file since she reviewed it. Can we just tell the former employee “No”? Or can we ask her to pay for a copy of the file for her own records? Our HR manager is going on vacation next week. Can we wait to deal with the former employee’s request until after the human resources manager gets back from vacation?

How long to retain employment records?

08/29/2014
Q. I recently discharged some of my employees. How long must I retain their employment records? Are there different rules for electronic records versus paper ones?

Must we allow employee to review everything in her personnel file?

04/23/2014
Q. One of our employees has asked to see her personnel file. Are we required to show her the file? If so, do we have to give her access to everything contained in the file?