Manage and Maintain Records Legally

03/06/07

Help! Your boss wants to see the application of the candidate he interviewed two weeks ago. You know it’s somewhere in your office, but where? You have so many piles of documents lying around that you can’t find anything anymore.

Does this scenario hit home? You’re not alone. Human resource departments everywhere are overrun by paper.

Don’t sweep it all into the garbage out of frustration. This article will provide tips that will help you to manage and maintain documents and stay within the bounds of the law.

Organize Using Multiple Files
It’s important to keep personnel files organized. For one thing, your company’s managers need them to make important decisions. For another, state and federal agencies require you to keep specific information for a specified length of time. If you can’t produce documents when they request them, they’ll fine you.

You’ll need to keep separate files for each employee. Here’s a short list of each kind and an overall view of what they should contain:

Basic Personnel File. How do you decide what to put in an employee’s personnel file? Remember this quick rule of thumb: Keep items that were a factor in the employee’s hiring and employment in the past, and items that will have an impact on his or her employment in the future.

Medical File. Put everything relating to an employee’s medical history in a separate file. Why? You can’t legally base personnel decisions like who gets promoted and who doesn’t on the medical histories of the people involved. Besides, various privacy laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require that you keep such information separate from the basic personnel file.

Injury File. Maintain a third file for any employee who is injured while on the job. That file should contain Workers’ Compensation claim records and injury reports, and any additional medical records on the injury.

Payroll Records File. If you handle payroll for your organization, be sure to keep payroll related records separate from the other files.

I-9 Files. Employment law attorneys recommend that you keep all Form I-9s (Employment Eligibility Verification) in either a separate master file or three ring binder. Since I-9 files are subject to unique record-retention rules that are different from the rules governing the retention of other personnel records, a separate master file or three ring binder will help ensure that you retain them for as long as is necessary and can readily discard them after the retention period expires.

Keep Records Under Lock and Key
Keep personnel and medical files under lock and key at all times. It’s too tempting for an employee wandering past the HR department to sneak a peek at a file that is lying on your desk.

But don’t keep files totally off limits. Most states have laws allowing employees access to their personnel records.

This is beneficial for a number of reasons. First, employees can make sure factual information like Social Security numbers is correct. Second, allowing access fosters good relations between workers and management. If you restrict access which may be illegal in any case you may arouse suspicions about what’s in the file.

Finally, permitting access keeps you honest. You’ll do a better job ensuring there’s nothing in the file that hasn’t already been communicated to the employee, not to mention anything illegal (like observations about off hours activities or anything discriminatory).

Create a policy that spells out who can see which records, when, where, how, and how often. Make sure the policy is in accordance with state laws.

When employees want to view their files, have them make an appointment. You want them to look at files in your presence to ensure they don’t add or take anything out of the file.

Employees rarely ask to look at their medical files, but let them if they want to. There shouldn’t be anything in the file they don’t know about. Note: While management does not have the right to review an employee’s medical record, the ADA offers an exception: “Supervisors and managers may be informed regarding necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employee and necessary accommodations.”

Keep Track of Files
When you give an employee’s file to someone outside the HR department, make sure it’s on a need-to-know basis. And keep track of who requested it, when you delivered it, and when it was returned. IF necessary, remind the manager to maintain confidentiality.

If the file is not returned, go back to the requestor a few days later to ensure the file is still in his or her possession and that it’s in a secure, private location.

Final tip: File all pertinent documents that come into your office in a timely manner. Whenever management asks for a file, take a few minutes to make sure it’s up to date.

In other words, take control of the paperwork before it takes control of you!

Employee Records Solutions

Personnel Access Kit

February, 2005