Employee personnel file: legal requirements
When “where is the personnel file?” comes up in an audit or a termination, you don’t want to search scattered folders for documents. A personnel file is both a legal requirement and a safeguard.
A personnel file holds all official documents and records belonging to an employee. Labour law requires the employer to keep a personnel file for each employee. It contains all documents from the start to the end of employment and is a means of proof in a dispute.
What must a personnel file contain?
- Identity and contact information, civil records
- Employment contract and any annexes
- Diplomas, certificates and required documents
- Social security entry declaration
- Health report and any periodic examinations
- Process documents such as leave, penalty, warning
- Relevant documents upon termination
The risk of paper files
Physical personnel files get lost, remain incomplete, go un-updated. A document lands in the wrong folder; it can’t be found in an audit or lawsuit. These files also contain personal data and must be protected — a file sitting in a drawer doesn’t provide that protection.
Digital personnel management
In an HR program, the personnel file is kept digitally: each document is tied to the employee record, missing documents are visible, updates leave a dated trail, and permission management ensures only the right person accesses it. In an audit or termination, finding a document takes seconds, not minutes.
A personnel file looks unimportant until it’s needed; when needed, it’s everything. Keeping it digital and orderly is both legal compliance and peace of mind.
Bring order to personnel files
Every document on the employee record, gaps visible, access by permission. See the HR module in a demo.
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