HRSimplified helps companies maintain compliance with labor laws and internal policies by providing robust tools for document management and legal record keeping. With features that track employee documents, ensure policy acknowledgements, and provide detailed audit trails, HRSimplified ensures that all necessary HR documentation is securely stored and readily available for audits or legal inspections. This guide explains how HRSimplified supports document audits and long-term record keeping to help companies meet compliance requirements.

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Document Storage and Tracking in HRSimplified #

1. Centralized Document Management #

• HRSimplified provides a centralized platform where companies can securely store all employee-related documents, including:
  • Employment contracts
  • Leave records
  • Policy acknowledgements
  • Disciplinary records
  • Performance reviews
• Documents can be uploaded to an employee’s profile and categorized for easy retrieval when needed. This organization ensures that HR teams can quickly access records during audits or legal inquiries.

2. Tracking Document Acknowledgements and Signatures #

• HRSimplified allows companies to track employee acknowledgements of important documents. Employees receive notifications to review documents, and the system logs the date and time of acknowledgment in their profile.
• Additionally, companies can request a signature on uploaded documents, prompting the employee to go to their document section and sign alongside the document. This signature, along with the audit information, is stored securely.
• HR teams can also track signatures and generate reports on employee acknowledgements, ensuring that all policies and contracts are properly signed and documented.

3. Employee Document Management #

• Employees can also upload their own documents (such as medical certificates or identification documents) to their profile, ensuring that their records are up to date. These documents are fully accessible to HR for review.
• Employees can download documents from their profile whenever needed, providing a self-service option for accessing their personal information, contracts, or policies.

4. Long-Term Record Keeping #

• HRSimplified supports long-term document storage to comply with regulations that require companies to keep employee records for a specified period. Documents are stored securely in the system for as long as necessary, ensuring compliance with laws such as:
  • The South African Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), which requires keeping certain employee records for a minimum of 3 years.
  • Other international data retention laws, depending on the company’s location and the applicable labor regulations.

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Audit Trails for Compliance #

1. Comprehensive Audit Trails #

• Every action in HRSimplified is logged, creating a comprehensive audit trail that tracks:
  • When documents are uploaded, signed, or modified.
  • When employees acknowledge or sign policies or other key documents.
  • Who accessed, modified, or signed documents, along with a secure timestamp.
• These audit trails help companies maintain transparency in document management and ensure compliance with legal and internal requirements. They are crucial during external audits or internal investigations to prove that policies were followed correctly.

2. Versioning and Change Tracking #

• HRSimplified’s database includes SCD4 System Versioning, allowing companies to track every change made to employee records. This enables HR teams to view both the original and updated data, ensuring full transparency and compliance with auditing standards.
• By keeping a history of changes, the system allows companies to audit the full lifecycle of an employee’s record, ensuring that data modifications are documented and traceable.

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Compliance with Legal Record-Keeping Requirements #

1. Retention of Employee Records #

• HRSimplified complies with local and international record-keeping laws by ensuring that employee records are retained for the legally required period. For example:
  • In South Africa, companies must retain employment records, such as payroll and leave records, for at least three years after the employee’s departure.
• The system ensures that these records remain accessible during the retention period, after which the company has control over their deletion, helping meet data retention and deletion obligations.

2. Control Over Document Deletion #

• Companies have full control over when employee records are deleted. Once the legal retention period has passed, HR teams can delete employee documents through the system, ensuring compliance with data protection laws such as GDPR and POPIA, which require the secure deletion of personal data once it is no longer needed.
• HRSimplified ensures that no employee data is deleted prematurely, helping companies avoid potential legal issues related to improper data handling.

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Compliance Benefits of HRSimplified’s Document Management Tools: #

• Secure Long-Term Storage: Documents are securely stored and easily retrievable, ensuring compliance with local labor laws and record-keeping requirements.
• Audit-Ready: The comprehensive audit trails and centralized document storage simplify the audit process, ensuring that companies can respond to legal inquiries quickly and efficiently.
• Controlled Deletion: Companies have control over when to delete employee records, ensuring that documents are retained for the necessary time and deleted in compliance with data protection laws.