As a subsidiary of a European company, we are opting for paperless HR system. What are the legal issues that need to be kept in mind when transitioning to an electronic personnel records system?

A paperless HR system is a concept that is laudable and corporations do aim to get towards that. You need to however, keep in mind that the world is not yet ready to move towards this 100 percent.

There will always be some manual phases/human interventions in each HR process. In some processes, need to create documentations and some records that need to be maintained, exist. Most countries would like to have legal documents related to payments, contracts, etc. preserved for 6 to 8 years. Each country has its unique needs. Electronic signatures are also not yet acceptable for all the transactions worldwide. You need to check with the legal department of your company/your lawyers and determine what documentation needs to exist by each country.

Vivek is a Senior HR professional with over 35 years of experience, ranging several leadership positions, in India and abroad. He leads his consulting practice since 2003 and presently works as a Strategic HR Advisor to Reliance Industries, and is also an independent Director on the Board of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Prior to this, he was based at Singapore for several years where he was Director HR - Operations at Hewlett Packard for the Asia Pacific Region. Allow Vivek to clear your career and professional dilemmas by writing to us at ask@peoplematters.in