Maintaining Compliance & Employee Records Security While Working Remotely.
Recent news of the Supreme Court of the United States Data Leak has only strengthened the argument that companies behind the times on security measures put themselves at risk of exposing proprietary information to the public. As businesses navigate the new working environment in post-pandemic times, they should closely look at the systems and policies in place regarding handling sensitive employee records.
Think about how many confidential employee files your HR department processes. Each employee on your staff can have hundreds of paper files with personal information ranging from their address, medical information, payroll data, CVs, and application forms, to tax information. Now think about how many of your employees work remotely or in a flexible-hybrid scenario. When working in the office, security issues are mitigated by physical control of employee records, firewalls on electronic devices, secured networks, document shredding, and locked filing cabinets. Although you may have secure digital workflows in place when your team is in the office, managing sensitive employee files when working offsite can often lead to unintentional mishandling of data. Next time you are working remotely, take a moment to look at your personal email or shuffle through the papers on your desk. Did you come across a printout of an employee’s job application, or did you forward a work email to your individual account so you could print it from your home printer? If so, you may have inadvertently set your company up for a data breach and severe adverse consequences.
5 Ways an Electronic Employee Filing System Can Keep Your Records Safe
Ensuring employee files are secure, organized, and accessible is critical to keeping HR running smoothly no matter where your employees work. Let’s explore some of the features and benefits of upgrading your current document management strategy to maintain compliance and keep your employee records private.
Share Files with Staff without Printing
Use encrypted document links to share documents with staff or auditors. Select the document(s) you would like to share, and you can copy and paste an encrypted link to those files in an email or elsewhere. A nice feature is the ability to include an expiration date for the access link so your team can limit the access window for the documents they are sending out. Encrypted links are also an excellent solution for getting requested records from a staff member’s folder out to them electronically or as an alternative to giving auditors limited access to specific files in the system.
Online File Storage
Electronic documents can be brought into the system via drag-and-drop drive, saved to DynaFile directly out of the application you’re working on, or “virtually printed” into an employee’s digital folder. Utilizing a cloud document management system provides secure, instant access to your staff files regardless of where your admin or HR team is located. A simple Index Search returns an employee’s electronic file with just a couple of clicks.
Remote Automated Electronic Onboarding
New hires can review, fill out and legally sign all their onboarding documents online before their first day. Once completed, all onboarding paperwork is automatically filed in the new employee’s folder. Forms filled out and signed through DocuSign, iCIMS, signNow, JotForm, PandaDoc, and Adobe Sign can also be automatically published in the employee’s folder once completed.
Worry-Free Compliance Toolkit
Another critical benefit is stress-free HR audit preparation. In a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants mentality, policies change at a moment’s notice and need to be sent to every employee quickly. Custom audit reports ensure your employee folders are updated with all required documents, so your team is always prepared for an audit. When the time comes to make your files available to the auditor, give them limited access to just the requested files so they no longer have to go into the office.
Controlled Access
Segmented access rules let you keep one comprehensive file per employee without sacrificing compliance. Assign your team members access to only the staff folders and types of documents that they should have the authorization to view. When they log in, records they don’t have access to will be completely hidden from them. For example, you can limit access to specific sections of employee files like Medical or Benefits that contain Protected Health Information (PHI). Access Rules can be controlled on a per-user basis or for an entire group of users. This makes giving Payroll staff limited access to just payroll documents, an effortless task.
Redefine Employee File Management
The post-pandemic workforce has become used to remote work, and it has proven to be a success in many instances. It is vital to review your document management processes and ensure your employees know the guidelines that are in place to protect the team’s privacy. Policies need to be updated and training given to all employees in the best practices of handling sensitive information when working from home. Implementing an electronic employee file management system means your team will spend less time filing and set up a winning environment for easier audits, smoother onboarding, and controllable access.
Learn why successful HR leaders have trusted DynaFile as their employee file management solution for over 20 years. Contact our team today for more information about paperless HR employee file management!
