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Gulnar Ramazanova – Human Resources Specialist
In companies, personnel record keeping, its organization and maintenance start from the hiring of the very first employee. This article explains how to do it.
What does personnel record keeping include?
Whether they are new or already operating entrepreneurs, everyone is interested in the question: “What is personnel record keeping?” It is the entire document flow related to the workforce in a company. This includes hiring, transfers, dismissal, wages, working conditions, disciplinary actions, bonuses, and similar matters.
These procedures must be clearly regulated. Any action related to an employee must be based on legislation and confirmed with the appropriate document. Documents must be prepared on time, in accordance with the rules, systematized, and properly stored. All of this together forms personnel administration.
Who is responsible for maintaining personnel records?
We have briefly answered the question “What is personnel record keeping?” But who is responsible for it? This depends on the size of the company. Personnel administration may be assigned to the following:
a specially established department of the company (the HR department) or to a specific employee;
one or several employees as an additional duty. In small companies, this work is usually handled by secretaries, lawyers, or accountants;
a specialized company under an outsourcing agreement. However, not everything can be outsourced. For example, maintaining employment record books cannot be delegated to an external provider. The manager must assign this duty by an order or instruction to one of the company’s own employees.
Another option is that the manager takes responsibility for personnel record keeping personally. This is suitable only for very small businesses.
Naturally, for a newly established entrepreneur, along with the question “What is personnel record keeping?”, it is even more important to understand how to set it up and where to start.
Personnel records from scratch – step-by-step guide
First of all, it is necessary to make sure that the name of the organization used in personnel documents fully matches the name stated in the company’s charter. Directors hire employees in accordance with the procedure defined in the charter.
It is necessary to determine who has the authority to sign employment contracts and other documents. In the future, attention must be paid to ensuring that documents are signed only by the person who has the legal right to do so.
After appointing the person responsible for personnel record keeping and administration, as well as the person responsible for maintaining employment record books, the company must prepare and approve a set of internal regulatory documents.
If the question “What is personnel record keeping and who should it be assigned to?” is still relevant for you, contact the consulting service of Accounting.Az. Our professionals are always by your side in business
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Mandatory internal documents
According to the Labor Code, the employer is obliged to familiarize employees with all internal regulatory documents that are directly related to their work activities (for example, the working time regime, Labor Code, Article 95).
Documents that must exist in an organization include:
- the staff schedule;
- internal labor rules;
- regulations on the protection of personal data;
- the vacation schedule;
- the register for recording the receipt, issuance, and movement of employment record books and their inserts;
- the working time tracking sheet (timesheet).
Depending on the specific nature of the organization’s activities, additional documents may also be prepared during the organization of personnel record keeping. These may include:
- job descriptions;
- regulations on remuneration and bonuses;
- guidelines on personnel administration;
- regulations on commercial confidentiality;
- regulations on employee attestation;
- a collective agreement;
- regulations on providing first aid to victims of workplace accidents;
- regulations on business trips;
- employees’ personal files and other related documents.
A written individual employment contract must be concluded with each employee and registered in the electronic information system (Labor Code, Article 7).
It is important that internal documents do not contradict each other, labor legislation, employment contracts, or the actual working conditions within the organization. Otherwise, this may lead to labor disputes with employees and become a weak point in court proceedings. For this reason, do not apply templates found online without proper review. If you search for “What is personnel record keeping?”, you may find a large amount of electronic information. Do not use such materials without checking how well they comply with current legislation.
Is it necessary to prepare guidelines on personnel administration?
No, it is not mandatory. However, this document helps to systematize requirements for working with personnel documents, regulate their formats, and take into account the specific features of the organization. With such guidelines in place, it becomes easier and faster to prepare documents correctly and to monitor their execution.
If you want to be confident that personnel records are maintained properly, entrust the audit of your personnel documents to Accounting.Az. This is our area of expertise.
Personnel documents required for each employee
Regardless of whether an employee is permanent, temporary, or a replacement worker, every employee is hired on the basis of an employment contract. If there are any changes in working conditions, position, or salary in the future, these changes must also be reflected in the employment contract. When concluding the contract, the provisions of Chapter 12 of the Labor Code must be taken into account. To regulate personnel record keeping, after the employment contract is signed, the employer may formalize the hiring by an official order (Labor Code, Article 81).
All subsequent actions related to the employee, such as transfers, incentives, disciplinary actions, bonuses, dismissals, leaves, and similar matters, must also be formalized by official orders.
For every employee who has been hired and has worked for more than five days, a record is made in the employment record book. Replacement workers are an exception. For such employees, an entry in the employment record book is made only at their own request.
A personal account card is created for each employee, either in paper or electronic form. This card includes all information about the employee throughout the entire period of employment with the company, such as hiring, transfers, leaves, bonuses, benefits, and information related to military registration.
According to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Personal Data, an employee’s personal data cannot be processed without their consent. Therefore, such consent must be obtained and documented.
Under Article 102 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the employer is obliged to keep records of employees’ working time. This means that a working time tracking sheet (timesheet) must be maintained.
As a result, for each employee in an organization, at least the following documents must be available:
- the employment contract and its appendices;
- orders related to personnel matters;
- the employment record book, except for replacement workers;
- the personal account card;
- consent for the processing of personal data.
Please note that personnel documents have retention periods ranging from 1 year to 75 years.
Liability for improper personnel administration
Azerbaijani legislation provides for various penalties for improper personnel record keeping. For example, if an employment contract notification is not entered into the electronic information system, the employer may be fined between 2,000 and 6,000 manats for each such employee under the Tax Code (Article 58.10). Under the Code of Administrative Offenses, this fine ranges from 2,000 to 25,000 manats (Article 192.1). The Criminal Code, in addition to fines, may also provide for corrective labor, restriction of liberty, or imprisonment (Article 162-1).
It should be noted that Articles 192.1 to 192.12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses explain the fines applied for violations of labor legislation.
The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Azerbaijan also provides for a fine for violation of personal data legislation (Article 375).
To avoid such shortcomings, it is recommended to conduct regular audits of personnel documents. This can be done with the help of internal staff or external specialists.
In this article, we tried to answer questions such as what personnel record keeping is, what documents are used, and what penalties exist.
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