Document filing -best practices

[Angele Lalonde]

#108554

Forum: Private

Hi,
I work at an independent school. We have a policy that outlines the conduct and responsibilities of employees who are also parents of children at the school (Dual role policy). In this policy, we explicitly state that communications with the school from the employee’s family members must remain respectful as the family is the recipient of considerable benefits of their family member’s employment (including a substantial discount of school fees).
I am saving some emails that the head of school sent to spouses of two of our employees reminding them of this due to the nature of their recent communications with the school. My question is, where do I file these communications? Currently, I have created a folder within my HR Drive “incidents’ folder with the employee’s name and placed a pdf of the email there. Is this appropriate? Should the pdf of the email be placed in the employee’s file?
Guidance on how to document this is greatly appreciated.

[Haley O’Halloran]

#108557

Your current approach is generally the better one. I would not automatically place the spouse’s email, or the Head of School’s response to the spouse, directly in the employee’s regular personnel file simply because the spouse is connected to the employee. The spouse is not the employee, and the communication is primarily a parent/school interaction. However, because your Dual Role Policy makes family conduct relevant to the employee relationship, HR has a legitimate reason to preserve the correspondence where it could become relevant to administering that policy.

I would maintain a separate, confidential Employee Relations/Incident file associated with the employee, much as you are doing now. For example: HR > Employee Relations/Incidents > [Employee Name] > Dual Role Policy – Family Communications. Save the relevant correspondence there along with a brief factual note identifying the date, who communicated with whom, the applicable policy provision, and why HR retained the record. Avoid characterizations such as “hostile spouse” or “problem family”; document observable facts and the policy connection instead. Access should be limited to HR and others with a genuine need to know. Limiting access to personnel-related information is also consistent with general privacy and records-management principles.

I would distinguish the supporting documentation from anything that eventually becomes part of the employee’s formal employment record. If the spouse receives one reminder and nothing further happens, I would leave the correspondence in the incident/employee-relations folder. If, however, the employee is later formally counselled, warned, or disciplined under the Dual Role Policy because of an ongoing situation involving their family, then the formal document issued to the employee—for example, a letter of expectations or written warning—could appropriately go in the employee’s personnel file. The underlying spouse emails can remain in the separate case file as supporting documentation. That approach keeps the personnel file from becoming a repository for every complaint or allegation while still preserving the evidence supporting an employment decision.

One additional consideration is student/family privacy. Because this is a school, these communications could contain information about the employee’s child, other students, teachers, or other parents. Retain only what is reasonably necessary for the HR purpose and avoid duplicating sensitive information unnecessarily. Records-management guidance generally supports restricting access according to need and protecting records throughout their lifecycle. I would also consider adding a short records-management provision to your Dual Role Policy or HR procedure stating that concerns involving employee-family conduct may be documented in a confidential employee-relations file and, where employment action results, the relevant employment documentation may be retained in the employee’s personnel file.

I hope this helps!
-HRInsider staff

[Author]

Posts