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1.1 It is important and necessary for an organization to collect and record HR data for seven main reasons:
Firstly to satisfy legal requirements, the Social Security and Income Tax Departments may demand information with regards to employees pay, also manpower returns are completed on an annual basis to regulate how many people are employed and what licenses they are on. HR data is collected in order to record contractual arrangements and agreements, although this is also a legal requirement, it is good practice to provide written particulars of employment as problems are less likely to arise when parties are clear about what has been agreed.
Employee contact details are recorded and kept up to date as it may be necessary to contact them for various reasons such as if they do not turn up for work and notify you, and most importantly contact details are recorded for the purpose of paying the employee.
HR data is collected in order to provide information for consultation requirements, for example, in the event of redundancy there is a need to consult with employees in order to provide information with regards to alternative jobs, pay rates and skills required as well as keeping records of the actual consultation meetings.
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In the event of a claim or tribunal case heavy demands are placed on the accuracy and comprehensiveness of HR records. Also health and safety legislation requires records of accidents and training records to be kept, as your organisation may need to prove that appropriate training has been provided to the employee.
HR data is recorded for due diligence in the event of a business transfer, it may be that all or part of the employment is transferred and therefore employees would be entitled to the same terms and conditions as they enjoyed with the previous organisation. Accurately recorded HR data provides the organisation with knowledge and information to produce factual reports that may help in identifying problems, HR data also helps the organisation to make decisions on things such as promotion and redundancy.
Human Resources Practice
Author: Malcolm Martin & Fiona Whiting
Chapter 10, page 244/245
Two reasons why the organisation needs to collect HR data may be:
Through annual appraisals a Manager may recommend an employee for a promotion, it is important that HR data is collected as it can be used in order to support the application or highlight reasons for not promoting the employee. In order to make a decision the following HR data may be used:
Suitably qualified for position or additional training required? Achievements Values awards/any relevant external achievements Previous appraisals Overview on past performance and previous objectives met? Disciplinary Records To be aware of any current disciplinary actions Grievance Records To be aware of any current grievances raised and are they against any other close working member of staff that may affect proposed role Absence Records Check current Bradford score/any patterns in absence? Screening Records Check to see whether there is documentation still to be provided by employee eg. Copy of passport held on file has now expired Length of Service How long has the employee worked for the organisation, shows loyalty & commitment to the organisation Residential Status Does the employee have the correct residential status for the new role or is a licence required Salary banding Current salary and proposed new salary, is this within budjet?
Redundancy is another good reason why it is important to collect HR data and in order to reach a decision, the following HR data may be used:
HR Data System reporting function This may be used in order to identify who is at risk/pool selection eg. Managers/Administrators Salary Current salary is required to calculate redundancy payout Length of Service Used to calculate redundancy payout and may be used determine which employee to make redundant if final scores are equal Performance Appraisals & qualifications are used to score the employee’s performance Age Is the employee nearing retirement/may early retirement be offered as an option? Sickness Sickness levels are used in order to reach a final decision Union Member Is the employee a member of the Union – for consultation period may want a Union representative present at meetings 1.2 The following table identifies the range of HR data that organisations collect and how this supports HR practice.
Passport/Driving Licence For photographic identification of employee Social Security Card Legal requirement/advises which band of Social Security to deduct from salary & notification of residential status for manpower return/licence requirements Income Tax Rate/ITIS slip Legal requirement/advises the employee tax reference number and the percentage of salary to be deducted from employee and paid to the Income Tax Department Contract of Employment Terms & conditions of employment including job title and salary
For learning and development/possible future promotions/to comply with health & safety legislation/expiry dates on certificates etc Criminal Record Checks & Credit Checks May be a part of an organisations screening policy – highlights any previous convictions regarding potential employees Salary/pensions/special allowances/Union fee For deductions and additions to payroll Length of Service For redundancy purposes/long service bonuses Sickness Records For sick pay/Bradford scores/reporting to Line Managers etc Holiday Records Monitoring holiday taken against entitlement, reporting to department managers, records of time in lieu accrued & taken One type of data that is collected by an organisation and supports the HR practice is absence. Absence may be holiday entitlement, compassionate leave, maternity/paternity leave, study leave or sickness.
Records need to be kept for sick pay purposes but it is also beneficial to the organisation to know who among your employees is off at any time and for what reason, this will help manage disruption to the business and will also help when managing costs. Payroll is data collected by an organisation that also supports the HR practice. It is essential that accurate records are kept for Social Security and Tax purposes as any of these departments can ask you to provide information with regards to an employees pay at any time. Queries relating to pay may also be looked into and resolved relatively easily if a good system is in place. Also payroll supports the HR practice as reports can be easily produced for budgeting purposes. 2.1 There are different methods of storing HR data, an organisation may keep manual or computerised records or both. Manual Records of employees data may be kept, typically these will be either files or wallets that are kept in an alphabetical filing system, secure and away from any threats such as fire or theft. Personal and sensitive data may be kept so long as you have a justifiable reason to do so.
It is beneficial to have a manual system in place as technology can be unreliable and in the event of such an occurrence you would still be able to access employee data. Computerised Records of employees data may also be kept, documents can be scanned into computers and stored to an employees file. These can then be accessed by computer screen instead of manually going to a filing cabinet, also making it easier should you need to forward any data on, files can be attached to emails and forwarded to others who may need the information. Other benefits would be that documents can be given an expiry date so that they are not kept any longer than necessary and finding documents may be easier as search processes may be used.
2.2 HR practitioners must adhere to The Data Protection Act as it applies to personal data and sensitive personal data that is kept by an organisation, it must be kept fairly and lawfully, this can be either by manual or computerised systems but will also include any emails, taped telephone conversations, social networking sites and blogs. Obtaining, recording or simply holding data is equivalent to processing it. An organisation may request sensitive information such as a person’s racial or ethnic origin or trade union membership, processing of sensitive data requires the explicit written consent of the individual, and so long as the organisation has a justifiable reason for the request of information, then it is legal.
Manual data must be stored securely and away from threats, for example in a locked fireproof cabinet. Office desks should be kept clear of any personal information. With computerised data, tight controls over who has access to the information must be monitored and kept to a minimum and passwords should be regularly updated.
The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to access information recorded and held by public sector organisations. It also applies to the private sector where an organisation holds data on behalf of a public organisation. Anyone can request information, there are no restrictions on your age, nationality or where you live. Your request will be handled under different regulations depending on the kind of information that you ask for, for example if you want to know what information an organisation holds about you then your request will be handled under the Data Protection Act. If your organisation needs to respond to an access request under the Freedom of Information Act then it is recommended that you take advice from your legal department. REFERENCEwww.gov.uk/the-freedom-of-information-act
3.1 Due to the economy in 2013 and loss of several very large contracts, mainly within our Alarms Department, the Board of Directors at G4S agreed that we no longer had the workload to support all of our current Engineers and had no alternative than to consider the possibility that redundancies would be made. With the HR Department working to our Company’s redundancy policy, the Union was informed and consultation began. As well as looking at alternative work opportunities within the business and possibilities of job sharing etc. the HR team would need to extract data from our computerised system in order to produce a report that could be used by the Board to help reach a decision. The data required for the report is as follows:
Information required as it assists to reach a decision eg. Should job share be an option Sickness records last year & current year to date Selection criteria for attendance – points given depending on occasions of absence (REF: G4S Selection Criteria Policy No.3) Current disciplinary records Points given for any current formal warnings (REF: G4S Selection Criteria Policy No.2) Appraisals Appraisals are considered and performance reports of staff are conducted by their Line Managers and given to HR From the various reports produced from our computerised system, each giving different data, I will need to produce one report with all of the information extracted. The data is to be interpreted by awarding points, for example an employee with 0-2 absences will score maximum points (5), as per our Company’s policies.
Also due to the numbers and monetary values included in the data extraction reports, I thought that it would be easier to understand the calculations, best analysed and clearer to read by producing an excel report. In conclusion I believe that my report will provide clear information to the Board of Directors, not only about the financial impact of making each of the engineers redundant but also it will give them information about their overall performance, length of service with the company, information relating to sickness, disciplinaries and whether they are employed on a full or part time basis, enabling them to make their decision.
Seven Reasons for Recording, analysing and using HR Information. (2016, May 23). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/seven-reasons-for-recording-analysing-and-using-hr-information-essay
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