The employer is responsible for maintaining employee documentation, which includes personal files and other HR-related documents: vacation request processing, attendance records, delegations, health and safety documents, payroll lists, etc. The manner in which employee documentation is managed is at the discretion of the employer. It can be done traditionally, by storing paper documents in binders on shelves, or by implementing an appropriate IT system.
In this article, you will learn:
How to manage employee documentation?
Since 2019, there has been a legal possibility to manage employee documentation electronically. The Act of January 10, 2018, amending certain acts in connection with the shortening of the period for storing employee records and their digitization (Journal of Laws, item 357) introduced changes to the Labour Code, setting January 1, 2019, as the cutoff date from which it became possible to store all employee documentation in digital form. Importantly, the law provides an option, but does not obligate employers to maintain documentation electronically. Therefore, it is up to the employer to decide how to manage employee records—whether, for example, new employees will have digital records from the start, and whether existing paper records will be converted into digital form, or if both formats will be maintained simultaneously. Since the decision on how to manage the documentation is left to the employer, this change does not force any actions and does not specify transitional periods for maintaining paper records. A common practice in many companies is the implementation of systems for digitizing processes, such as timekeeping or vacation documentation, while still maintaining paper personal files.
The employer is obligated to: “maintain and store, in either paper or electronic form, documentation related to employment relationships and personal files of employees (employee documentation).” Article 94 of the Labour Code, effective from January 1, 2019.
Undoubtedly, digitization of this area is much more convenient, especially with the widespread practice of remote work. One can expect its growing expansion, which will not only improve the comfort of HR departments but also accelerate the document flow within the organization and align with the paperless policy.
Division of personal files
According to the regulation, regardless of the form and method of keeping employee personal files, these files consist of five parts:
- Part A – includes documents such as: certificates, documents confirming qualifications, documents confirming the ability to work, and medical examination results.
- Part B – employment contracts, annexes, acknowledgments of familiarization with regulations, job descriptions.
- Part C – termination of the employment contract and other documents related to the end of the employment relationship.
- Part D – reprimands, warnings, and other documents related to disciplinary consequences.
- Part E – results of tests for sobriety or the presence of substances with effects similar to alcohol in the body.
Ministerial requirements for electronic HR systems
The regulation sets requirements for systems archiving employee documents. Therefore, the employer, by law, is not only required to maintain employee documentation but also, if choosing an electronic system for managing personnel files, leave requests, attendance records, they must select one that meets the guidelines outlined in the ministerial regulation. If the employer has a system that does not meet the requirements of the regulation, they must either adjust it or implement a new system that complies with the guidelines.
The regulation also introduces principles that must be followed when managing digital files. These new rules apply to all systems used by the HR department, and the new requirements must be applied to documents created after the regulation’s implementation. This means that documents from 2019 onwards must be archived and processed in IT systems that comply with the requirements. The IT system must ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and completeness of employee documentation.
Requirements regarding documentation. A number of requirements that systems must meet stem from the documentation requirements. These include:
- Protection of documentation against damage,
- Integrity of documentation and metadata, ensuring that changes are prevented, except for those made in accordance with established and documented procedures,
- Continuous access to documentation for authorized individuals,
- Identification of individuals with access to documentation and recording changes made by these individuals to the documentation and metadata,
- Efficient searching of documentation based on metadata,
- Issuance, including electronic export, of documentation or parts of it in a specified manner,
- Functionality for printing documentation.
Additionally, the employer has a legislative obligation related to the storage of personal data, which includes:
- Systematic analysis of risks,
- Development and application of access procedures, backup creation, and storage,
- Use of security measures appropriate to the risks,
- Ongoing monitoring of security methods and periodic assessment of their effectiveness.
Metadata – data that facilitates the transfer of documents between systems and the search for information.
During the processing and archiving of documents in digital systems, metadata are recorded, which are data that describe the entered information. The regulation specifies what these data should be, and their compilation must be generated in separate XML files when importing data between IT systems or when issuing copies of e-files upon request by the employee.
The regulation stipulates that archiving systems must provide the ability to store the following metadata:
- Document ID,
- Documentation ID,
- Type of document,
- Document creation date,
- Date of signing/sealing the document scan with a qualified electronic signature/seal,
- Employee’s PESEL number,
- Employee’s first and last name,
- Employer’s name,
- Date of creation of the organized set of documents intended for transfer.
The file containing the metadata in XML format, as required by the regulation, must have the same name as the file it refers to. The technical structure of this file is specified in the guidelines published on the website of the Minister responsible for labor affairs. Thanks to the standardized system and the generation of metadata files, transferring e-documents between IT systems should make this process easier.
A significant challenge for entrepreneurs in terms of digitizing employee documentation is the requirement for long-term mandatory storage, as well as the implementation of such a system when personal files were previously maintained traditionally. Given the 50-year document retention period and the security obligations related to documentation, especially considering it contains a lot of personal data, it is advisable for companies to implement a single platform that handles all HR and payroll processes.
The V-Desk solution, as a ready-made application package, offers:
The flexibility of the solution allows for the customization of the V-Desk system according to the needs of the organization. This can be easily discussed during a conversation with one of Primesoft’s sales representatives. Feel free to contact us directly.
