Top 10 Most Important Human Resource Documents

by Steven Cesare, Ph.D., The Harvest Group

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 organizational 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.

5) TIMESHEET

The timesheet is the key employee financial record tracking all regular time worked, overtime worked, job costing details, leaves of absence, shift start/end times, meal period start/end times, and various attestations regarding accuracy, legal compliance, and freedom from injury consideration for every payroll period. This document is vital in numerous potential wage and hour issues that can prove extremely costly to the company.

6) PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

An annual performance appraisal must be found in each employee’s personnel folder. The performance appraisal is the pivotal documentation form summarizing an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and performance goals. Without a performance appraisal, employee accountability and by derivation, organizational defensibility relative to a wrongful termination claim, become increasingly problematic. The performance appraisal form should be definitively linked to the actual job description for each position.

7) ARBITRATION AGREEMENT

The Arbitration Agreement defines the employee’s consent to address serious disputes with the employer by way of binding arbitration in place of a lengthy, costly, and damaging jury trial. Similar to the employee handbook, and confidentiality agreement, this legal document should be revised and re-signed by every company employee each year. Due to changing legal standards, specific to respective state laws, the Arbitration Agreement should be developed, reviewed, and/or approved by external legal counsel every year.

8) CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

The Confidentiality Agreement prohibits employees from: divulging proprietary company information to unauthorized parties; soliciting company clients, employees, or partners away from the company’s service; and retaining any confidential information at the time of dismissal from the company. Similar to the Arbitration Agreement, this document should be fully vetted by legal counsel. By extension, legal counsel should verify if a Non-compete Clause can be included in this document, as compliant with state law.

9) JOB APPLICATION

The job application begins the human resources paper trail for every employee. In its most basic form the job application, captures relevant information on the employee (e.g., name, address, telephone number), summarizes the employee’s work and education history that are used as screening tools to determine if an interview should occur, and introduces the at-will employment relationship to the applicant for the first time. Due to ongoing legal challenges in multiple states, be aware that applicant social security numbers, birthdate, previous salary history, ban the box standards, and medical history information are often excluded from most job applications.

10) CONDITIONAL JOB OFFER LETTER

The conditional job offer letter formalizes the terms of employment by stipulating the start date, position title, supervisor’s name, starting pay rate and compensation variables (e.g., performance bonus eligibility, commission rates, sign-on bonus), exempt or non-exempt status, benefits programs, resource allocation (e.g., cell phone, laptop, company vehicle, company credit card), the at-will employment relationship between the employee and employer, and conditional requirements (e.g., drug and alcohol test, driving record, background investigation). The clarity of this document promotes useful communication intended to avoid potential confusion, litigation, and improper planning.

The number, length, and content of human resources documents is more demanding and burdensome with each passing day. Despite that demand, it is critical for companies to ensure they collect, review, and maintain key human resources paperwork continually to ward against myriad threats (e.g., audits from ICE, Department of Labor, OSHA, and state agencies). With that thought in mind, periodic audits of these documents in each employee’s personnel file can save the company a tremendous amount of worry, liability, and financial penalty when, not if, they are ever audited, challenged, or litigated.

If you have any questions or comments about this topic or anything else related to human resources, simply call me at (760) 685-3800.

Steve Cesare has a Ph.D. in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology and more than 25 years of human resources experience. Currently, Steve serves as The Harvest Group’s expert for Human Resources and Safety. Prior to joining the Harvest Group, Steve gained several years of experience in the green industry serving as the HR Director with Bemus Landscape in southern California. Steve has also worked with Jack in the Box, Citicorp, Sentara Health Systems, and NASA in a variety of capacities aimed at improving the quality of their human resources programs.