Articles by Atlas Business Solutions, Inc. on ArticleSnatch.com

Why Its Important to Keep Employee Files

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:40:54 -0400

Every manager should have at least basic information organized in employee files in regards to the staff members that he or she oversees. This information is confidential so when you collect and store it, it should be secure which can be made possible easily by HR software. Flexible human resource software can be used by any manager to keep track of his or her employee files and to keep them safe. There is certain information that you must obtain from employees to have on file while other information is good to have but not necessarily mandatory. Here is a list of personnel information that should be recorded for any business: Pay rates Payroll Sick days and other time off On-site injuries, accidents and deaths There are many reasons why this information must be recorded in employee files. Keeping track of the pay rates is necessary to make sure that each staff member is receiving what he or she is due, as well as making sure the company meets the national minimum pay wage. Likewise, it is important to know the exact figures for payroll for the government, income tax and even for insurance deductions. **End Summary** Topics: employee files]]> personnel information]]> HR software]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Atlas Business Solutions, Inc. produces Staff FilesÂ® HR software that helps to keep employee files organized and secure. More information about Staff Files and Atlas Business Solutions, Inc. can be found at www.abs-usa.com.

Keeping Employee Records Up-to-Date in HR Software

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:03:53 -0500

The value of accurate, up-to-date employee records is immeasurable in the workplace. Employers should have a neatly organized system for maintaining employee records of both current and past employees. By using HR software, an employer can easily and readily find information regarding various facts about the employee. An accurate and easy to operate employee recordkeeping system is vital in the workplace. Because each business is different it is important to have a program that allows you to gather information from employee files using flexible reporting and printing options. HR Software Features: • Maintaining all employee information in one location • Keeping an employee’s history at your company without having to keep a lot of paper file folders • Gathering employee information fast • Sheltering employees’ privacy by securing their confidential information • Setting up employee manuals, HR materials, job descriptions, and company policies There are many important documents that must be handled properly for the protection and welfare of the business from the moment the employee is hired to the moment they leave the company. Examples of important HR documents include I-9 forms and performance reviews. **End Summary** Topics: employee records]]> hr software]]> employee files]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Atlas Business Solutions, Inc. (ABS) has sold Staff FilesÂ® HR software to small companies for over 10 years. Learn more about ABS and Staff Files at www.abs-usa.com.

Human Resource Tracking of Employee Benefits

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:10:14 -0500

Human resource tracking of data related to employee benefits requires much more detail than a lot of people realize. Many employee benefits have eligibility dates that need to be tracked that are relative to the date of hire. Some benefits have increased levels of participation available based upon longevity with a company. Insurance benefits, in particular, usually have many different options to choose from and relate differently to different employees. All of this can create a data tracking nightmare if all the information is not kept up to date. Some companies have resorted to creating multiple spreadsheets to try and track these pieces of employee data. A spreadsheet may include hire dates and eligibility dates for health insurance for new hires. Another spreadsheet may list employees enrolled under each of the company’s different health insurance plans and the amount of their contribution to the plan deducted from each payroll check. A third spreadsheet may include a list of former employees who are eligible or receiving COBRA benefits. If a company has retirement benefits or life insurance benefits these may require additional spreadsheets for tracking this information. **End Summary** Topics: human resource tracking]]> HR system]]> human resource software]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Staff FilesÂ® from Atlas Business Solutions is an easy HR system that helps small businesses with their human resource tracking . It can track performance reviews, disciplinary warnings, vacation and sick time accruals, wage rates, and training records, in addition to employee benefits details. Learn more about Staff Files at www.abs-usa.com.

Employee Handbooks - They're Not Just For Big Companies

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:58:32 -0500

If you're the owner or manager of a small to mid-sized company, you may feel that an official employee handbook is just something for larger corporations. If that’s the case, there are some important benefits provided by employee handbooks that you may not be aware of. The reasons that larger corporations maintain and provide employee handbooks are just as applicable to a smaller company. One benefit, that many business owners aren't aware of, is that insurance companies look favorably on companies that have their employment policies written out in a manual and is kept up-to-date. A document that clearly identifies the rights and responsibilities of the employer and employee relationship in a business can greatly decrease the potential liability risk to your insurance carrier. Many insurance companies recognize this factor and provide reduced rates or other incentives for employers that provide an employee handbook to their employees. This decrease in liability risk is a benefit itself, even if it doesn't improve your insurance rates. Legal litigation costs are something every employer wants to avoid. Having your policies in written form can protect an employer from the types of misunderstandings that often lead to employment-related suits. **End Summary** Topics: employee handbook]]> company policy]]> HR documents]]> HRIS]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Atlas Business Solutions provides human resource information systems that help create an employee handbook and manage HR data. Staff Files Pro and HR Document Maker contain hundreds of company policy templates that are used to compile a manual that will help manage the employer-employee relationship. Learn more about small business HRIS from Atlas Business Solutions at www.abs-usa.com.

Employee Evaluations â Are They Worth It?

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:26:48 -0500

Employee evaluations are a crucial part of doing business because it not only measures how well the employee is doing, but it also lets your organization know the skill and expertise level of the employees in your organization. Being the best in your industry is a goal of your organization, but you can only do that by knowing your employees’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as understanding the prospect of where they can take the organization. In a way, performance reviews are a SWOT analysis of your business’ number one resource – your employees. Employee evaluations come in a couple of different forms, such as traditional annual job reviews given by the employee’s manager, or 360-degree reviews where the manager and co-workers are involved in evaluating an employee. The traditional review is important, particularly for the relationship between the employee and his or her manager. The risk with peer reviews, especially if they are tied to pay raises and promotions, is that coworkers might undermine each other, which could lead to a lot of company morale problems. **End Summary** Topics: employee evaluation]]> evaluating an employee]]> job performance]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Staff FilesÂ® HR software is used to write and store employee evaluations, as well as employee leave accruals, training and certification records, employee benefits, wage rates, disciplinary warnings, and much more.

Tracking Job Performance

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Tracking job performance does not have to be a difficult job for managers. With an effective tracking system, employers can make sure performance reviews are conducted on a regular and consistent basis. Regular reviews will help employees know where they stand in regard to their job performance, keep employeesâ€™ performance goals aligned with company objectives, and can give managers a better understanding of what is going on in their departments. When a manager sits down with his or her employeeâ€™s to review the prior evaluation periodâ€™s goals and objectives they should also discuss the goals and objectives for the next year. Each goal and objective should be scored, could be weighted, and is used for evaluating an employeeâ€™s job performance at the end of the evaluation period. With a good system in place, the manager and the employee will have specific review dates to discuss how the goals and objectives are coming along. The discussion should include a review of the employeeâ€™s recent history of meeting their goals and objectives, as well as what will be required to ensure that he or she can accomplish their goals and objectives in the future. **End Summary** Topics: job performance]]> performance review]]> employee performance]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Are you looking for a way to easily review your employees"' job performance? Take a look at Staff FilesÃÂ® HR software, which has helped thousands of users easily conduct performance reviews, as well as manage their other employee information. Download a FREE Staff Files demo at www.easy-performance-review.com.

The benefits of granting your managers and supervisors access to the HRIS

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Your organization finally implemented an HRIS system that will allow multiple users on the system. This is great right? Absolutely! However, during the design and implementation process there was discussion about what kind of access the managers and supervisors would have in terms of their employeesâ€™ information. Itâ€™s a great idea to share pertinent HR information with your managers and supervisors. There is a lot of information stored in an HRIS system, and it is prudent to allow limited access to supervisors and managers to information regarding the employees they manage. For example, managers can be responsible for inputting and updating absences, performance review information, and disciplinary warnings, as well as answer questions about vacation time. It is essentially the same amount of work for the managers and supervisors. They would have to report time-off somehow, so it is simply a process change for them since they would be expected to document the human resource information themselves, instead of asking someone else to do it for them. This not only saves the HR department a lot of duplicating work, but could save a lot of trees in the process if your organization has relied on paper forms for these processes. **End Summary** Topics: HRIS]]> human resource information software]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> You can share human resource information with your managers and supervisors, too, with Staff FilesÃÂ® HRIS. It is an easy-to-use and easy-to-learn human resource information software solution. Go to www.hrissolution.com to learn more about Staff Files.

Why and How to Establish a Records Retention Policy for your Staff Files

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

When it comes to retaining personnel records of any sort, some people may panic as it can be very overwhelming trying to decipher the different records retention requirements. The best way to go about ensuring that your organization is compliant with the state and federal record retention requirements is to develop a policy surrounding personnel records retention. Even though there may be some rules and regulations surrounding how long you must legally retain staff records, particularly after an employee terminates, a good rule of thumb is to follow the stateâ€™s statute of limitations on contract, fraud, and/or tort claims. In most states, this time will not usually exceed seven years. This is a good timeframe to follow even though some of the federal regulations stipulate three years for keeping personnel records. Whenever a policy is established, it is imperative to conduct training following the implementation of the record retention policy. This is needed so that each HR staff member and manager affected by the changes knows what the policy and procedures are for both filing paperwork, as well as purging information from an employeeâ€™s file. **End Summary** Topics: Personnel Files]]> Personnel Records]]> Staff Files]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Staff FilesÃÂ® HR software from Atlas Business Solutions, Inc. is an easy way to store your personnel files. Learn more and download a FREE demo at www.staff-files.com.

Convincing Your Boss They Should Purchase HR Software for You to Use

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

You are spending more and more time tracking down and filing human resource paperwork, making changes about an employeesâ€™ personnel data in multiple spreadsheets and documents, or just answering questions that supervising managers could answer for themselves if that information were readily available to them. An HR software solution could alleviate all those problems. But, how do you convince your boss? And, how do you convince them of an HR software solution if youâ€™re technically not an HR person? Clearly, the time you are spending on HR paperwork will be the first thing to point out to your boss. However, instead of going to him or her complaining about how much time youâ€™re spending on manual tasks, bring to him or her solutions on how to streamline processes, which will free up your time to perform the higher-level functions of your job. **End Summary** Topics: HR Software Solutions]]> HR Software]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Staff FilesÃÂ® HR software has been used by thousands of office managers, department managers, CFO"'s, and owners and presidents of small- and mid-size companies, in addition to HR professionals. Try it for yourself by downloading the free demo at www.hrsoftwaresolutions.com.

Investing in HR Software versus Maintaining a Manual System

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

If your company is small, you havenâ€™t really needed to worry about maintaining a manual HR system. However, if you are starting to grow and the projections for your organization are to grow exponentially in the next couple of years. This would be a good time to invest in an HR software program before you are too overwhelmed with paperwork and messy files. There are many benefits for investing in an HR software program. These include: â€¢ Reduced time spent in tracking down and filing paperwork. This includes being able to quickly find time-off accrual balances, benefit information, or performance evaluations for current employees and to answer job verification calls regarding former employees. â€¢ An organized system for keeping your data with an automatic backup system to ensure your data is not lost. The backup system of your employee personnel files should be kept as part of your disaster planning efforts. â€¢ Managers can be more effective by contributing and updating information directly to their departmentâ€™s employeesâ€™ personnel files, which reduces the amount of time spent keeping the information up-to-date and current. **End Summary** Topics: HR software]]> HR system]]> human resource software]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> HR software can be easy and affordable. Download a free trial version of Staff Files HR software at www.easyhrsoftware.com to try it for yourself. It is easy to use, easy to learn, and starts at only $295.

Employee Performance Evaluations Are Important for Employee Morale

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Consistent and constructive employee performance evaluations are important for employee morale. Employees want to know how they are doing, what they are doing well, as well as areas that need a little improvement in their results. One of the biggest comments from employees in most organizations is that they donâ€™t receive any feedback about how they are doing and if they do get any feedback, itâ€™s almost always negative. While sometimes performance evaluations are not the most pleasant thing to receive, they should always be constructive. Typically, annual reviews for employee performance evaluations are given on the anniversary date that the employee joined the company. Some companies prefer to bundle reviews together by department or division making tracking easier. Or, they perform all employee evaluations at the end of the calendar or fiscal year. The problem with this philosophy is employees could compare notes on reviews, which could lead to morale issues, plus managers can become overwhelmed by the number of performance evaluations they must perform in a short amount of time. Scheduling employee performance reviews as close to an employeesâ€™ hire date is the best strategy for most companies. **End Summary** Topics: employee performance evaluation]]> employee evaluation]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Employee performance evaluations can be typed and stored directly into Staff Files HR software. A built-in alert system will remind users when performance reviews are due. Try Staff Files for yourself by downloading a free demo version of the software at www.employee-performance-evaluation.com.

Certification Requirements for Specialized Positions

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Nurses, doctors, engineers, accountants, attorneysâ€”what do these all have in commonâ€”a certification or license for performing their jobs. There are positions, such as human resources, where certifications can be obtained, but not required to perform the job functions. Having that certification and knowledge base lends more credibility to the individual, whereby increasing your organizationâ€™s competitive advantage in the industry. Often times, the individual will receive a notice in the mail from the granting organization when it is time to renew their certification. Teachers are a great example. Prior to their teaching credentials expiring, they receive a notice in the mail one year from the date that it is due to expire. There are usually some classes that they must take, such as continuing education classes, that must be met in order to renew their credentials. Wouldnâ€™t it be great if your organization could keep track of those certifications for those professionals, in addition to their training, and remind them when their certification or license is about to expire? **End Summary** Topics: trainings]]> certifications]]> licenses]]> education]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Certification and license information can be kept in a similar manner as training. Staff Files HR software makes keeping track of training and certifications easy. You can enter records for each training class and set expiration dates for certification renewals. Try it for yourself by downloading a free Staff Files demo at www.track-training-certification.com.

Why Establish Time-Off Eligibility and Accrual Schedule

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Establishing a time-off policy is a major benefit most employers give to their employees. You should outline the specifics of the time-off policy to ensure it will not be abused by the employees and that it will be implemented fairly to all employees. Clearly communicating the time-off policy will also eliminate questions from employees. The first item to decide on for your policies is the time-off eligibility. Then, decide how much time each employee shall accrue. The time-off eligibility date will determine when an employee can either begin accruing time off or when they can begin using their accrued time-off. For example, some companies begin accruing time-off from an employeeâ€'s hire date, but the employee is not allowed to actually use that time off until after a 90-day probation period. Next, you will set up an accrual schedule. Employee could accrue time off by number of hours worked or by receiving a lump sum during set time periods. An accrual schedule could look something like this: â€¢ For those employees with 0 to 5 consecutive years of employment will receive 23 PTO days a year; â€¢ 5 15 consecutive years of employment will receive 27 PTO days a year; **End Summary** Topics: time off]]> vacation time]]> paid time off]]> time-off eligibility]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Accruing time off for your employees doesn"'t have to be difficult or time-consuming. There"'s no need to update dozens of spreadsheets or deal with complicated calculations. Staff Files HR software is easy to use and will save you time. The auto accrual policies calculate time-off accruals automatically. Try it for yourself by downloading a free Staff Files demo at www.time-off-accruals.com.

Why implement a Human Resource Information Software (HRIS) System?

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Running a business will generate a lot of information, both related to the business and related to your employees. You need to be able to harness and secure this information in a system for a couple of different reasons. First, you donâ€'t want confidential information about your organization or employees getting into the wrong hands. Additionally, a human resource information software (HRIS) system is a wise choice because it will reduce the amount of paper generated, organize your data, streamline processes, and help your companyâ€'s bottom line. So, why is HR information important? Your employees are your biggest assetâ€”having a system in which to contain their private personnel information, safely and securely is critical. You have worked hard to become an employer of choiceâ€”donâ€'t ruin that credibility by mishandling confidential information. Making a Business Case for the HRIS System The HRIS system is an investment to an organization. An HRIS system is more than just a storage and organizational tool to contain confidential information about your organizationâ€'s employees. The HRIS system needs to be viewed from a financial perspective. **End Summary** Topics: HRIS]]> human resource information software]]> human resource in]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> An effective HRIS system doesn"'t have to be difficult to use. Staff Files human resource information software is easy to use and designed to look like the paper filing system you are already accustomed to. Go to www.hrissolution.com to learn more about Staff Files HRIS and to download a free demo to try it for yourself.

What Should Be Kept in Personnel Files?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

There are many different types of information you collect for each employee, which is why it is important to keep organized personnel files. But what exactly should be kept in the personnel files? Below is a list of some of the different pieces of information that should be contained within the personnel file. â€¢ Employment application and resume â€¢ Offer letters and signed agreements, such as employment agreements or contracts â€¢ Basic employment data, such as the W-4 â€¢ Performance evaluations â€¢ Job description â€¢ Employment status changes â€¢ Continuing education and certification documents â€¢ Awards and recognition letters â€¢ Performance management, including disciplinary notices â€¢ Exit interview information â€¢ Termination documentation, such as a resignation letter All medical information on any employee should be kept in a separate file and only accessible to those that must have access to this information. The type of medical information that should be kept in a medical file includes any Workersâ€' Compensation information, Family and Medical Leave Act forms, Leaves of Absence forms, and the Americans with Disabilities Act information. Additionally, the I-9 Form should be filed alphabetically and kept in a completely separate file from the medical or personnel file. **End Summary** Topics: Personnel Files]]> Personnel Records]]> Employee Information]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Using HR software to store your personnel files is easy and can save you time. Learn about how to keep electronic personnel records and download a FREE demo of Staff FilesÃÂ® HR software at www.staff-files.com.

Donât Forget to Offer Employee Benefits

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Running an organization can seem overwhelming at times, particularly when you start adding various types of employee benefits to the mix. For instance, employers do not need to provide any sort of benefits to their employees, such as medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. However, employers do offer employee benefits so that they can be sought after with highly qualified candidates. The cost of providing medical, dental and vision benefits to an employee is very expensive for an employer. Often times, the employee has no idea how much the employer pays for these benefits. That’s why it is important to make employees aware of how much the benefits cost and present it to them as part of their compensation package. Having medical, dental and vision coverage is very important to a lot of employees and having the option to enroll in these benefits makes your organization a choice employer. Another great benefit to offer employees is having an eligibility date that is close to their date of hire, if not on their date of hire. This will definitely be a bonus if an employee has received more than one offer of employment and their skills are hard to find. **End Summary** Topics: employee benefits]]> employer benefits]]> eligibility date]]> withdrawal date]]> health insurance]]> vision]]> dental]]> life insurance]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Track your employee benefit programs and much more with Staff Files HR software. Try it for yourself to see how easy it can be by downloading a FREE Staff Files demo at www.easyemployeebenefit.com.