Why I developed this schema

Every company needs to follow a common standard for organizing employee records. This schema is meant as an open-source convention that other companies can adopt as they either:

1. look to adopt a file system for the first time or,
2. look to optimize the organization of a current system.

The focus of this system is on digital filing systems. As it well should be.

My bias is that we should reduce the overall consumption of paper and want to encourage those habits. However, there is likely always going to be some amount of paper filing for People teams.

First, should you maintain a paper or digital system?

The answer is “both.” Your digital system should be your system of record. However, all documents that end up in your paper system should have to be “processed” before they get into an actual file. Even though digitization may seem like a tedious process, I believe yields great efficiencies for the business.

Your digital system should be your primary system because it is:

1. Rapidly searchable.
2. Can be duplicated to prevent loss.
3. Allows for accessibility from anywhere.
4. Enables team-based collaboration.
5. Allows for faster overall auditing.

Largely speaking, a paper system lacks all of the above-stated attributes. However, paper has some slight advantages in that:

1. Original government documents are often issued in paper form (ie. Immigration Public Inspection Files)
2. Some documents may be overburdensome to digitize.

Note: if your benefits/payroll platform allows for storage of digital W-4s, I-9s, benefits enrollment docs, etc, my recommendation is to keep the file there versus duplicitous copies. (However, just be mindful of the need for mass file downloads if you ever shift between systems).

Straightforward Defaults for Digital File Names