Managing Employee Files: Do We Really Need Hard Copies or Are Digital Formats Enough?

I have a few doubts regarding managing employee files. Please clarify the following queries for me at the earliest:

1. Is it mandatory to maintain a hard copy of the personnel file for each employee, or would a soft copy format suffice?

2. Apart from the documents listed below, what other necessary documents should be included in the file as per statutory norms?
- Appointment letter
- Offer letter
- Relieving letter from the previous company
- Last drawn pay slip
- Background Verification report

3. Do IT companies with a staff strength of more than 10,000 maintain hard copies of each employee file?

I hope to receive answers to my queries soon!

Regards,
Seema

1. It is not statutorily required, but we need to maintain such files for our future reference purposes.

2. Apart from the above, their educational qualification certificates, family members' details, transfer orders, promotion orders, increment orders, other IR-related papers, and any papers representing the employee individually can also be filed.

3. Maintenance of personal files of employees will provide documentary evidence at any time, especially during incidents under the Industrial Disputes Act.

Employee File Management Requirements

We need to maintain a file at the time of joining, including:

1. Application Format
2. Offer Letter
3. Appointment Letter
4. Relieving Letter from the Previous Company
5. Last Drawn Pay Slip
6. Background Verification Report
7. Address Proof / ID Proof
8. Educational / Professional Certificates
9. Experience Letter from the Previous Company
10. Form 1 (If ESIC Applicable)
11. Form 2 (If PF Applicable)
12. Form F (Gratuity)
13. Form 16 (Leave Encashment)
14. Form 11 (If PF Not Applicable)

Post-Joining Documentation

After joining, for future reference, we should also file:
- Performance Appraisal Form
- Transfer Orders
- Promotion Orders
- Increment Orders
- Other IR Related Papers

Additionally, any documents representing employees individually should be included in the file.

Thanks & Regards,
Shekhar
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Employee File Maintenance Requirements

We need to maintain the following files at the time of joining:

1. Application Format
2. Offer Letter
3. Appointment Letter
4. Relieving Letter from the Previous Company
5. Last Drawn Payslip
6. Background Verification Report
7. Address Proof / ID Proof
8. Educational / Professional Certificates
9. Experience Letter from the Previous Company
10. Form 1 (If ESIC applicable)
11. Form 2 (If PF applicable)
12. Form F (Gratuity)
13. Form 16 (Leave Encashment)
14. Form 11 (if PF not applicable)

Post-Joining Documentation

After joining, for future reference, maintain:

- Performance Appraisal Form
- Transfer Orders
- Promotion Orders
- Increment Orders
- Other IR-related Papers

Additionally, any papers representing employees individually should be filed.

Thanks & Regards,
Shekhar
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Joining Details:

• Application Form
• Joining Report
• Appointment Letter
• Standard Application Form
• Form-2
• Statement
• Income Tax Form
• Relieving Letter from Previous Company
• Last Drawn Pay Slip
• Address Proof
• Five Passport Size Photos
• Educational Certificates
• Experience Letter
• Form-1
• Previous Company (PF No.) - The same PF number is continuing. We are using Form (13) for the PF transfer process.

These are important documents required for joining by everyone.

Required Documents for Employee Files

- Appointment letter
- Duty joining report
- All education and technical certificates
- Character certificate
- PAN card
- Any ID proof as an Indian
- Physically fit certificate
- Promotion order and its acceptance and refusal in employee's writing

Please find the corrected list above with proper formatting. Each item is listed with correct spelling and grammar, and each item is separated by a single line break. If you need further assistance, feel free to ask.

Regards

Maintaining Employee Records: Hard Copy vs. Soft Copy

I can suggest maintaining employees' records as personal files in hard copy because documentation is a very important part of the HR department. This exercise can serve many purposes. There are agencies available to store the files in a warehouse. Our company has done this for more than 30,000 employees.

I believe in technology as well. Depending on your server size, all important documents can be scanned, and then with individual names, soft files can be maintained. It's a one-time exercise but saves a lot of time and paperwork.

Best Regards,
Rajeev

Keeping the hard copy of documents is necessary for further verifications. It is also important to keep the soft copy for quick reference to employee data.

Thanks,
Naresh N.

Maintaining Personal Files

I would suggest that personal files should be maintained and should include:

• Standard Application Form
• Appointment Letter
• Confirmation Letter
• All other letters pertaining to probation extensions, warning letters, increment letters, etc.
• Nomination forms of PF, Gratuity, etc.

The above documents will be useful in the event of any statutory requirement.

Regards,
Preetam Deshpande

What all documents are required has already been well described by yours_shekhar and satyasekhar. Additionally, it is mandatory to maintain the hard copy of individual employees' files; however, if you have all these details available as soft copies, it reduces the risk. During verification, you can consult both the soft copy on your PC and the physical files.

In one standard-size Godrej Almirah, you can maintain about 500 to 700 personal documents, and it is possible to maintain them properly if updated regularly. In addition, you can maintain the soft copy of all the individual documents (scanning the educational certificates and experience certificates of the employees) by creating a folder per employee in a separate drive on a system.

Regards

Hi everyone, I am part of a 100,000-strong global MNC. We have an excellent application tracking and employee personnel data management system in SAP. Almost all of the files mentioned above are uploaded and saved on an internal server safely. They are also easy to retrieve in case of an incident.

Document Requirements for Hard Copies

In this case, what documents are required by law to be maintained as hard copies? We are based in Pune, so please add if local state laws require.

I know it is good to have and recommended to have all of the above files as hard copies. Please do tell what the bare minimum documents needed as hard copies are as per the law.

When you comment, please mention if your advice is from personal experience with the law or based on a law (please mention the law if so). Thank you very much for your effort and expertise.