Pre-Hire Records Organization
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•126 views
This document provides guidance on maintaining proper records for pre-hire, post-hire, and post-termination employment documentation. It recommends separating records into job postings, job descriptions, non-hired candidates, employee, payroll, medical, I-9, investigative, and workers' compensation files. Key documents like applications, resumes, agreements, and forms should be signed and dated. Maintaining organized, complete records supports legal and regulatory compliance.
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Pre-Hire Records Organization
Similar to Pre-Hire Records Organization (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Pre-Hire Records Organization
- 1. Pre-Hire Records JOB POSTINGS What? • Copies of all job postings • Track all postings open & close dates • Track where you posted your openings Why? To prove you didn’t state anything discriminatory What? • Copies of all job descriptions & each revision date • Track when duties changed for each job (Essential Functions & Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities) Why? To support your compensation, hiring and promoting decisions What? • Applications • Resumes • Interview Notes Why? You may want to tap into the candidate pool at some point in the future or if candidate selected did not work out JOB DESCRIPTION S NON-HIRED CANDIDATE S Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 2. Post-Hire Records • Employment Application * • Resume • Interview Notes • Offer Letter* • Reference and Background Checks • Employee Invention Agreements* • Proprietary Information Agreements* • Confidentiality Agreements* • Non-compete Agreements* • Employee Handbook/Policies Acknowledgements* • Performance Reviews* • Development Plans* • Training Documentation* • Disciplinary Documents* EMPLOYEE FILE • Status Change Form* • Time Off Requests* • Attendance & Absence records • Commendations & Awards Documentation • Promotions • New Hire Orientation Checklist • Relocation Agreements or Documentation* • Employment Contracts* • Company Car/Credit Card Agreements* • Transfer Notices* • Internal Job Applications • Testing & Assessments * signed and dated by all parties Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 3. Post-Hire Records • Direct Deposit Form • Time Sheets * • Salary Information • Salary Change Form* • Merit Increases* • Promotion Increases* • W4 Form* • State Income Tax Form* • Payroll Deductions • Wage Garnishments • Child Support Orders • Attendance Records • Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO’s) • Leave Requests Except FMLA* (Vacation, Sick, Jury Duty, Bereavement) PAYROLL FILE • Expense Reports* • Tuition Reimbursement Forms • Pay Advance Requests • Company Loan Documents & Payment Schedule* • Verification of Employment • Bonus/Profit Sharing Information • Recognition Awards • W2 Forms • Copy of SS Cards (For Tax filing purposes) • Credit Reports • Military Records (Orders or DD214 Forms) • Copy of Drivers License • Proof of Insurance (For Non-DOT Drivers) • EEO Self Identification Form * signed and dated by all parties Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 4. Post-Hire Records There is NO such things as ONE complete Employee File. You MUST separate your documents into these categories. John Doe – Hired 4/12/2006 Employee Files Medical & Benefit Files Payroll Files Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 5. Post-Hire Records Use this folder to store confidential medical information of an employee • Benefit Application & Enrollment Forms* • Doctor Notes • FMLA Requests • STD/LTD Information Including Medical Release to Return to Work (Not work related) • Medical Support Orders • Medical Exams • Medical Job Restrictions MEDICAL FILE • COBRA Enrollment* • HIPAA Statement • Beneficiary Forms • Drug & Alcohol Form and Testing Results • Reasonable Accommodations and the Interactive Process for Disabilities • Emergency Contact Information * signed and dated by all parties Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 6. Why Separate these files? Use this folder to store confidential medical information of an employee Never be used by management to make employment decisions or decisions about: • Pay Increases • Transfers • Training Opportunities • Relocation • Promotions, etc. Violating HIPPA (Health Information Accountability Act) Laws bring major consequences Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 7. Post-Hire Records • I-9s (Active): o I9 Form* o Copies of supporting documents (If you are keeping documents, keep for everybody) o Keep in a separate binder o Lock it in a cabinet I-9s * signed and dated by all parties Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 8. Post-Hire Records (If Applicable) • Allegations of Harassment, Discrimination or other Misconduct: o Theft o Retaliation Claims o False Imprisonment o Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress o Assault & Battery o Malicious Prosecution o Invasion of Privacy INVESTIGATIV E FILE • EEOC Charge Documents & Company Responses • Witness Statements* • Emails and Other Written Documentation Used to Defend or Support the Charges* • Documentation Relating to the Investigation or Lawsuit* • Documentation of Final Disposition/Settlement* * signed and dated by all parties Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 9. Post-Hire Records (If Applicable) • Workers’ Compensation/Accident Reports: o Report of Accident or Injury* o Witness Statements* o Drug & Alcohol Testing Related to the Incident o Medical Examinations & Doctor’s Report o Investigator Statement* o Modified Work Assignments o Claim documentation o Investigative Report* o Settlement Documentation* WORKERS’ COMPENSATION & ACCIDENT REPORTING FILE * signed and dated by all parties Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
- 10. Post-Termination Records • Records to Collect and ADD to Employee File: o An Exit Interview Form* (If Completed) o A Standard Resignation Form * or a Counseling Form with Reason for Termination * o Termination Checklist o Separation Agreement (Copy) * o Non-Compete Agreement (Copy) * o COBRA Enrollment Materials (Copy) * o WARN Notice (Copy) • I9s (Inactive) EMPLOYEE FILE • Separate Centralized Binder for Originals * signed and dated by all parties o Employee File o Payroll File o Medical/Benefits File Combined Employee File Copyright 2017 The Galatas Group
Editor's Notes
- Pre-hire phase, 3 categories. Δ Let’s go through the First category – Job Postings Every time you post an open job, no matter where you post, you should set up a folder that has the job title on it as well as the posting dates. So when you start the folder, you’ll only have the open date, right? You won’t know the close date until you take all the postings down because you have a good pool of applicants. Δ Keep copies of all job postings, from newspaper ads, to on-line job boards, to church bulletin boards, etc. Track your posting open and close dates and that’s easy to do right on the front of the folder. So once you close the job, if you ever post for the same job again, start a new folder. Got that? Track where you posted your openings And why’s that necessary? As we saw in the story of our client, it can be instrumental to prove you didn’t state anything discriminatory in your postings, that you considered all your candidates based on your job description requirements and, and…to be able to track which ads and which places gave you the best returns. Δ OK, so then you have your job descriptions. Set up a folder or a binder for your job descriptions. And in that folder, or binder, you need to: Δ Keep copies of all job descriptions and each dated revision. You do not want to throw away all the old versions. You need to keep them in order: To track when and why duties changed for each job Especially the Essential Functions And the Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities This is important to support your compensation and hiring and promoting decisions. You know, this isn’t just for the courts, or for the legal defense issues, but if you study your business at a strategic level, this type of historical information will be so helpful to you to understand the evolution of your business. Δ And finally, in this pre-hire phase, you have all those candidates that you didn’t hire, for one reason or another. Some of them might have been great runner-up candidates. Δ You’ll want to keep their applications, their resumes and any interview notes that you made. Now, what we recommend you do with the candidate documents is to file them in the same folder that you set up for the job posting. This way, you can easily know which candidates go with which jobs, and you’ll know how old the applications are. Δ
- NOW we get to what most people think is the all-inclusive employment file. Δ We call it the Employee File and it will contain everything you accumulate during an employee’s time with your company, from their application all the way to their termination papers. Of course, the goal is to make sure you don’t have too many termination papers to file, right? LOL So, as soon as you make a hiring decision, set up a folder with your new hire’s Last Name, First Name, Date of Hire, and Starting Job Title. NEVER put someone’s SSN on the outside of any file folder. The SSN is the most heavily used piece of information in cases of Identity Theft and you can’t make it easy for someone to access that information. Inside the folder, you’ll include the following documents and if you’d like you can use a clip to keep things in reverse chronological order so that the most recent documents are on top. Let’s look at the list because there are a couple of things I want to point out: Δ You’ll start with the Employment Application, resume, interview notes, offer letters*, reference and background checks, Δ employee invention agreements*, proprietary information agreements*, confidentiality agreements*, non-compete agreements*, employee handbook or policy acknowledgements*, Δ performance reviews and development plans*, training documentation*, disciplinary documents*, Δ status change form*, time off requests*, attendance and absence records, commendations and awards, Whoo! That’s a lot, but there’s more! Δpromotions, new hire orientation checklist, relocation agreements or documentation*, employment contracts*, Δcompany car/credit card agreements*, transfer notices*, internal job applications, as well as any testing and assessments that the employee has taken. Three things I want to point out---Δ every document you put in the Employee file needs to be signed and dated by not only the employee, but also the employer. This is crucial! Otherwise, you’re keeping documents that are incomplete and putting yourself at risk! The other thing is that I see too many employers keeping only disciplinary documents that capture the negative aspects of someone’s behavior or work performance. Keep in mind that when you see someone performing well, getting customer compliments, earning awards, etc., make sure that you capture the positive information and put it in this file as well. And last but not least, this file is considered the main Employee File and should be kept in a locked cabinet, in a locked office or storage room with limited access. Only the owner and/or the person responsible for the HR function in your business should have keys. All other employment-related files should be kept separately. We’ll talk more about that shortly. Δ
- Now, did you notice something about the Employee File? There are a lot of documents you might have noticed are missing….things like the W4 form, the state income tax form if there is one for your state, actually anything to do with confidential salary information. Δ That is because for every employee you hire, you will set up a separate folder called Payroll, with Last Name, First Name and hire date on the outside. And again, this file is super duper confidential and needs to be kept locked up, separately from the main Employee file. Here are examples of the types of documents you’ll include in the Payroll file:Δ Direct deposit forms, timesheets, salary information and salary change forms, merit increases, promotion increases, Δ W4 form, state income tax form, payroll deductions, wage garnishments, child support orders, Δ attendance records, QDRO’s, leave requests except FMLA (vacation, sick, jury duty, bereavement), Δ expense reports, tuition reimbursement forms, pay advance requests, company loan documents and payment schedule, requests for employment or salary verification, Δ bonus/profit sharing/monetary information, recognition awards, W2 forms, copies of SSN cards for tax filing purposes, credit reports, Δ military records such as orders or DD214 forms, drivers license and insurance proof for non-DOT drivers, and the EEO Self Identification Form. These documents are all related, in some way, to an employee’s payroll, previous income, or some other protected information, such as their veteran status. NO ONE except the person responsible for your HR and payroll functions should have access to these files. Δ
- Are you getting the gist of things now? There is no such thing as ONE complete employee file, where you just throw everything about that employee in it. You must separate your documentation into these categories. If you’re ever audited, you want to be able to pull out only what is needed for the audit. You don’t want to pull out this huge file and have it spilling paper all over the place and give access to extra info that an auditor might find problematic. And if your employee requests to see their file, it will be best if you can pull out the main Employee File and know that it contains only documents that should be there, that are signed by the employee and that there will be no surprises about what’s in it. Let’s keep going. Δ
- So, the next category file you will set up is the Medical/Benefit folder. Δ In the Medical/Benefit folder, you find the following types of documents: Δ Benefit plan application and enrollment forms, doctor notes, Family Medical Leave requests, Short-term Disability and Long-term Disability Information including Medical release to return to work (that is not from a work-related injury), Medical Support Orders, medical exams, medical job restrictions, Δ HIPAA statements, beneficiary forms, pre-hire or random drug and alcohol testing results, reasonable accommodations and all documentation about the interactive process for disabilities, emergency contact information, and you could include COBRA enrollments after someone terminates. Essentially, any information that has to do with the health and wellness of the employee. None of these types of documents should be included in the Main Employee File. Δ
- And again, these files need to be kept in a separate locked cabinet from the Employee files. Why is that? Because none of this information should ever be used by management to make employment decisions about Δ pay increases, transfers, training opportunities, relocation, promotions, etc. This is the type of information that you can be accused of using to make a decision that appears to be discriminatory against an employee. To protect yourself, make it your practice to keep medical and health-related documents completely removed from the Employee records so that you can’t be accused of granting access to people that should not see it. If someone’s supervisor needs to see the Employee File to track performance or disciplinary issues, it could be disastrous if they stumbled across a lot of confidential medical information that created a bias in how they treat the employee. Δ This requirement is covered under the HIPAA laws – Health Information Privacy Accountability Act. This is a HUGE issue for businesses with large penalties, fines and other nasty consequences if violated. Δ
- Now before we move on, I want to briefly review the incredibly important I-9 file. This documentation is soooo critical that we have devoted 2 separate videos to educate you on how to complete the I-9 and how to audit your forms to prepare for an agency I-9 audit. These audits are becoming more and more prevalent, even for small businesses. For your post-hire record keeping, however, we recommend that you set up a binder to store your I-9 forms. Although you are not required to keep copies of the work authorization documents that the employee must show you, if you want to keep copies, you must keep copies for every employee. You cannot pick and choose who you keep copies on. Keep your binder in a locked cabinet, separate from the employee files. Do NOT put a copy of the I-9 in the Employee File or any of the other employment files.
- OK, these next two categories will not be appropriate for every employee (at least I sure hope not!). Δ The first one, is the Investigation File. I hope you don’t have one of these for every employee, because if you do, you have absolutely no trust for or among any of your employees and you have absolutely no business being an employer. That would indicate a horrible culture! But even companies with great cultures are bound to have one or two complaints or issues that need to be investigated. What documents go into such a file? Δ Allegations of harassment or discrimination or other misconduct, such as theft Retaliation Claims False Imprisonment Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Assault and Battery Malicious Prosecution Invasion of Privacy Δ EEOC Charge Documents & Company Responses Witness statements Emails, and other forms of written documentation used to defend or support the charges Documentation relating to the investigation or lawsuit Documentation of final disposition or settlement of the claim What do you name these files? Well, first you should set up a section of your locked cabinet dedicated to Investigations. Then each folder can be titled using something such as: Inventory Theft Investigation – January 2014 or Charge of Sexual Harassment – Williams v. Thompson – July 2012 Do what you can to make it easy to find the file in case you need it several months or years later, but also keep in mind that you want to limit exposing employee names by including them on the outside of the folder. Yes, of course, these are locked up, but it’s still good business to minimize such risks. Δ
- This next category of post-hire records Δ is the Worker’s Compensation/Accident file. You will hopefully have a minimum number of such files and they can be kept in the same cabinet as the medical files in a separate section all together. Label the folder on the outside with the Last Name, First Name of the employee injured, the date of the injury and you can always add the final closure date once the claim is resolved. In this folder, you will file the following documents: Δ Report of accident or injury Witness statements Drug and alcohol testing related to the incident Medical examinations and doctor’s reports Investigator statements Modified work assignments Claim documentation Investigative reports if your w/c carrier conducts surveillance, and finally Settlement documentation These are the types of documents that need to be included in a Workers’ Compensation & Accident Reporting File. Δ
- Now, let’s take a look at Post-termination records. These are records that you collect and add to the existing Employee File, after an employee is terminated. These records include: Δ An Exit Interview form, if completed A standard Resignation Form or a Counseling Form with reason for termination and A Termination Checklist Δ Separation Agreement (copy) Δ Non-compete Agreement (copy) Δ COBRA Enrollment materials (copy) Δ WARN Notices (copy) Δ I9s – Inactive. When an employee terminates, you should take the I-9 form out of the Active I-9 binder and file it into the Inactive I-9 binder. This will be the first step in helping you to track when it can be destroyed. We’ll cover the details of that in the How to Comply with Record Retention Requirements video. Now here’s one of the very few times that we will recommend some duplication. Δ All of these documents should be filed in the terminated Employee File so that if you ever need to pull their file, you will find a complete history. However, we also recommend that for the Separation, Non-Compete, COBRA and WARN notices, you maintain a centralized file or binder, so that you can easily locate this type of information. In other words, you set up a binder with 4 tabs, one for Separation Agreements, one for Non-compete Agreements, COBRA and WARN Notices. Behind each tab you will file the original documents in alphabetical order by the employee’s Last Name. Trust me, you’ll run into these situations at some point and it’s much easier to go to a binder with a few documents in it, (because not every employee will have one of these types of documents) than it is to go scouring through your terminated employee files trying to figure out who had what. Δ Now that the employee is gone and you’ve filed all these final documents, you need to create a combined employee file. By this I mean, you pull the Employee File, the Payroll file, and the Medical/Benefit file and rubber band them together, putting them in a section in your file cabinet for all terminated employee files. Δ