Document Management

What kind of documentation should the HR department prepare?

Managing a company's employment documentation can be a tedious task. We provide the guidelines to renew the process. Read us!

consultor

Isabel García

HR Consultant

documentation hr department

14 of April, 2025

Efficiently managing all employee-related information is a current challenge faced by the HR department of any organization. Among the multiple functions it performs, proper management of a company’s employment documentation is one.

Proper preparation and handling of these documents not only ensure legal compliance but also facilitate efficient personnel administration, planning, and decision-making.

Want to know how to prepare your company’s employment documentation as effectively as possible? We will explain everything you need to know about your document manager.

How the company prepares employees’ employment documentation

The HR department must have an organization system to adequately prepare the company’s employment documentation and find it easily.

Currently, many companies prepare necessary documents digitally, using some of the software available today for their preparation. Such programs facilitate and speed up their creation and preparation.

However, not all Human Resources departments are the same, so document creation and management depend on the company’s size. To expedite preparation, we can rely on various Human Resources document templates.

The steps we should follow for correct employee documentation would be as follows:

1. Information Collection

  1. Personal data: collect basic information such as name, address, identification number, and contact details.
  2. Employment history: includes previous experience, skills, and references.
  3. Legal documents: documentation such as ID, work permits, and study certificates.

2. Document Creation

  1. Standard templates: use standardized templates for contracts, offer letters, and employee files to ensure consistency.
  2. Customization: adapt the documents according to the specifics of the position and the agreement with the employee.
  3. Legal review: make sure the documents comply with current labor laws and review any modifications with a legal advisor.

3. Storage and Management

  1. Digital systems: implement document management systems to securely store and organize documents.
  2. Controlled access: ensure that only authorized personnel have access to confidential information.
  3. Backups: make regular backups to prevent information loss.

4. Continuous Update

  1. Data update: regularly review and update employees’ personal and professional data.
  2. Document review: update contracts, payrolls, and other documents as needed due to changes in legislation or working conditions.

Types of a company’s employment documentation

Although each company is different, a company’s employment documentation can be divided into several categories.

Regarding the HR department and the employment documentation it should have, we can divide it into: 

Administrative Documents

These are a type of legal-administrative file that Human Resources shares with the Administration department. In fact, the latter is primarily responsible for them.

It is the most bureaucratic part of company’s corporate document management. Some of the most important documents we should have are:

  • Employment contract: this type of document establishes the relationship between the organization and the employee. It also includes all the details about the employee’s work activities, cost, and hours. This document is one of the most important and all workers should have a contract. It should be reviewed in the event of a promotion or raise, to reflect the changes in conditions.
  • Paychecks: these documents justify the payment of the salary received by each worker in exchange for performing their functions. Employees will be paid for their services at the end of the week or month, as established in the agreement. The paycheck identifies the staff and displays the payroll period, the hourly rate, deductions, payment receipts, etc. Also, incidences in paychecks can be reflected.

Another type of important company employment documentation is:

  • Proof of payment to Social Security or registration with it.
  • Documentation related to the mutual insurance company.
  • Contracts and subcontracts that may exist.
  • Results of medical examinations.

Company’s Human Resources Documents

This company employment documentation is related to employee management and refers to the set of measures carried out around human needs. With it, better use of available human capital is achieved in each organization.

Similarly, this task allows knowing what function each worker performs and when they have to do it. The main HR documents needed by an organization are:

  • Employee files: these contain each worker’s personal and professional information. It includes name, surname, contact information, academic information, bank account number, or experience. This way, an employee database is created.
  • Time control: every company, regardless of the sector it is dedicated to, must register the number of hours worked by each employee. That’s why a time control system is implemented. The resulting time management document helps control whether the employee complies with their working hours, clocks in on time, late, or works overtime.
  • Vacation management: both days off and vacations or breaks should be controlled so that labor productivity is not affected. The goal is to have the least possible impact on the tasks to be carried out. With this file, each employee’s vacations can be assigned and managed.
  • Sick leave management: whether it is a labor leave or due to illness, when a team member is not going to attend, it is necessary to know it to manage human capital. Therefore, keeping a record of absences helps to reduce a negative impact of these absences on the day-to-day routine.

Personnel Planning Documents

To optimize company productivity to the fullest, tasks need to be planned and distributed.

With these documents, you can determine each employee’s shifts and know when the labor force will be available for our organization.

The employment documentation that a company must have includes:

  • Work calendar: this is marked by the official work calendar together with the needs of each company. This company employment documentation informs about which days work is done, including Sundays and holidays, which will be paid as such. In addition, it will mark the production that must be achieved.
  • Shift management: from the work calendar, this key file for the organization’s daily routine emerges. The schedule will reflect the daily productive needs and the shifts needed to cover them, if there are several shifts. This is where we collect who works and how production is organized each day. In those companies with fixed shifts, you can have a timetable, especially useful when Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays have different hours from the rest of the week.

How Human Resources manages employee documentation

Most of the company’s employment documentation is interconnected, so document management is very important. These documents help both Human Resources and the company to organize the day-to-day routine and avoid productivity losses.

Although at first, it may seem like a cumbersome and complex procedure, the tools of Sesame HR’s HR software help to prepare these files and manage them easily.

Document Management Systems

  1. Digitalization: use document management software to store and organize documents in digital format.
  2. Accessibility: ensures that the information is available to authorized persons when they need it.
  3. Security: implement security measures such as encryption and access control to protect confidential information.

Management Procedures

  1. Centralized storage: store all documents in a centralized system to facilitate management and access.
  2. Workflow: define and document the processes for the creation, review, and approval of documents.
  3. Compliance and audit: maintain proper records and ensure compliance with legal regulations for audit purposes.

Update and Maintenance

  1. Regular review: review and update documentation as needed to reflect changes

You now know the benefits of applying proper management of a company’s employment documentation, it’s up to you to find the tools that help your team to achieve this. That’s why we invite you to learn more about this and other human resources topics at Sesame HR.

Iris Serrador

People Partner | LinkedIn | | Web | +post

Customer-oriented, both internally and externally, specializing in the definition and implementation of HR policies, as well as talent management, recruitment, and retention. Strong leadership, communication, negotiation, organization, and team coordination skills. Over 12 years of experience in Human Resources.

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