Bob Nobile and Devjani Mishra Published in Staffing Success
"Paperless Paperwork"

The March / April issue of Staffing Success includes the article "Paperless Paperwork" by Bob and Devjani that outlines the issues to consider - - including the risks and rewards - - of digital record keeping. "As technology continues to pervade the workplace, the days of recording placements on index cards and in notebooks become a distant memory - that is, for staffing professionals who remember them at all. The paperless approach to personnel records is especially alluring for staffing firms, where the number of records typically far exceeds both the number of on-site personnel and the available storage space. Numerous recent developments have expanded both the universe of records that can be digitized and the practical risks of such digital record keeping. ... Thanks to a number of recent enactments, virtually all employment records, from hiring through termination, can be maintained in electronic form." Among the records the authors identify - and how they must be used - are: Electronic Signatures, Hiring Disability Documentation, Personnel Actions and Internal Complaints, Medical and Benefits Documentation...and the issues to consider: Accessibility, Secure Retention and Destruction and Litigation and E-Discovery. "Ultimately, each staffing firm should consider not only its clutter, but also its culture, in striking the right balance between traditional and virtual human resource management."