Employee Records Management

Relations with employees should be properly formalized. HR administration is very important for the company. Correct drafting of employment contracts protects both sides.

There are a few nuances that you should pay attention to in HR administration:

1.       You should either define employee's functions in a contract, or record the employee's familiarization with the job description. If the employee's functions are not defined during the contract signing, and the job description does not contain a mark on familiarization, then it will be difficult for the employer to make claims regarding dereliction of duty.

Please note that sometimes it is not necessary to prepare a job description.

2.       It is advisable to state the dates and use unambiguous language. It means clear indication of various periods, for example, the calculation of sick leave, annual leave, date of employment and dismissal. For example, the phrase “work leave before November 20, 2019” the employee can raise a question: if the «20^th» is the last day of the vacation or should an employee be already at work on that day? Therefore, it is better to specify in brackets the word combination “including date”.

3.       It is a good practice to indicate if there is an initial assessment period. If the employment contract does not say anything about the initial assessment period, then the employee is considered to be hired without an initial assessment period, even if the initial assessment period is specified at the employment order.

An employer does not often pay attention to such small, but significant nuances. As our practice shows, mistakes are made not only out of ignorance or because they missed updates in the legislation, but simply because of “becoming less perceptive of things” and the mistakes do not seem to be mistakes at all.

In such cases, the personnel records management of the company, as well as internal regulations of the company, are recommended to be reviewed and verified not by an executor, but by an inspector.

The Beliaevs & Partners provides HR audit services as well as legal advice. Our experienced employees will independently examine the documentation and based on the results of such an examination:

·         We will give recommendations on how to improve documentation;

·         We will point out shortcomings or errors at the personnel document management;

·         We will offer you the assistance in drafting the missing documents;

·         We will do a legal proofreading of contracts and documents.