TOP 10 MOST IMPORTANT HUMAN RESOURCES DOCUMENTS It is common knowledge that human resources is becoming increasingly bureaucratic, well beyond its original overwhelming level of paperwork, regulations, and guidelines. While many human resources documents have relative value to an organization, it is difficult to accommodate all of them equally. To distinguish those documents with relative value from those with lesser value, the following list is provided as a guide to help prioritize the actual importance of human resources documents correctly. 1) I-9 FORM Federal law requires all active employees and designated former employees have an accurate I-9 Form on file. All active employee I-9 Forms should be scanned or kept in a three-ring binder organized alphabetically by employee last name. To verify this point, companies should print out a Payroll Registry Report and verify that every employee who received a paycheck, has an I-9 Form on file. All inactive employee I-9 Forms should be scanned or kept in a three-ring binder organized chronologically by destruction date. The destruction date is that longer
date of either the employee’s date of hire plus three years or the employee’s termination date plus one year. 2) OSHA RECORDS In addition to the standard OSHA records (i.e., five years of OSHA 300, 300A, and 301 Forms cross-referenced against the workers’ compensation vendor’s Detailed Loss Run Report), companies should also maintain various other documents related to employee safety including: weekly tailgate sign-in sheets and corresponding training materials, as well as records of Safety Data Sheets, Lockout/ Tagout transactions, Globally Harmonized System training, Injury and Illness Prevention Programs, preventive maintenance records on all company tools, equipment, and vehicles, and chemical use records. 3) EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK The employee handbook is the administrative Bible for an organization, outlining policies, standards, and performance expectations. Without the employee handbook, it is virtually impossible to hold an employee accountable to organi-
zational norms, procedures, and practices. Given today’s litigious environment, most employee handbooks now approximate 65 pages in length Most noteworthy is that the employee handbook conveys the at-will employee relationship between the employee and employer. To that end, the company must have a signed employee handbook acknowledgment statement on file for every employee. 4) JOB DESCRIPTION The job description is the cornerstone of the human resources function in that it has direct application to employee selection, training, performance evaluation, compensation, legal issues (e.g., ADA, FLSA, OSHA), workers’ compensation, discipline, and career ladder development. All companies must have an accurate job description for every position found on the organizational chart. Job descriptions should possess a list of essential functions, non/exempt status, education/ experience requirements, special notes and certifications, and physical demands required by the position.
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