HR AUDIT

If you ask several independent experts the question – “What is a personnel audit?”, then we do not get a definite answer. Someone thinks that this is an audit of personnel document management, others – that it is an audit of human resources or assessment of staff in certain competencies. Of course – it is a complex, broad concept, covering all areas of personnel management. In this review we will focus on the audit of personnel documentation, as one of the components of the personnel audit.

Personnel records – this is a necessary part of any business. Even if the company employs one person, all documents must be compiled in accordance with the law. And if before 2015 careless employers could afford negligence in this matter, since the fines were relatively small, then with the entry into force on January 1, 2015, of amendments to the CAO RF regarding the administrative responsibility of employers for violations of labor legislation and labor protection requirements, the fines increased many times. However, the most unpleasant was the practice of multi-fines, i.e. fines for violations against each employee.

Timely audit of HR documents will not only allow you to calmly pass the inspection of the labor inspection, but also protect the organization from other dangers, including: the suspension of the company, labor disputes, abuse by employees, checks by other regulatory agencies, etc.

Audit of personnel documents or more often used name – personnel audit – is a service aimed at protection of interests of business, and its main purpose is to minimize the risks of penalties. Personnel audit of the company will help:

• Identify errors in the document flow.
• Correct identified violations.
• Prepare for an audit of the labour inspection, the prosecutor’s office and other controlling bodies.
• Minimize legal conflicts with employees.
• Evaluate the professional level of the employee of the personnel department.
• Optimize workflow in the human resources department.

Methods of carrying out an HR audit

One of the services rendered by ITI Group of Companies, is the audit of HR documentation.
Depending on the objectives, causes and goals of the personnel audit, the methods of the audit may be different. It is customary to distinguish several types of audit:

• Continuous. Checking of documents on the organization and all employees.
• Selective. Checking on a set of documents of an organization and/or a certain number of employees.
• Targeted. A review of only those documents that need to be analyzed with the employer’s goals in mind.

A sample or targeted audit will save a large employer a lot of time and money, as well as allow you to correct similar deficiencies after the audit. Continuous audit of personnel documentation is relevant for companies with a small number of employees, and allows you to identify all the violations and correct them in a timely manner.

Personnel audit as a service, includes the following content:

• Verification of local normative acts.
• Verification of documents of the organization.
• Verification of documents on employees of the company.
• Checking of work with personal data.
• Verification of health and safety documents.
• Verifying the correct application of professional standards.
• Checking documents of title to establish the right of signature in personnel documents.
• Consulting.

Who to entrust with carrying out an HR audit

Personnel audit of the enterprise can be carried out:

• With their own forces, entrusting an audit of the personnel department, lawyers.
• With the involvement of external experts, concluding a contract with a specialized company.

Of course, an important aspect of choosing how to implement an HR audit is its cost. Many employers find it unnecessary to spend money on this service and decide to conduct an audit on their own, which is not always the right decision.

If the employer wants to get a high-quality, independent, objective assessment of the state of personnel records, it is better to turn to external consultants. Personnel audits in-house can be conducted to determine the availability of documents. For example, the HR Department can be instructed to check the availability of all orders, timesheets, contracts, and the presence of signatures of workers on these documents on a quarterly basis. But the analysis and review of the documents themselves should be entrusted to external organizations that will provide an outside assessment. According to the results of personnel audit, the experts involved make an expert opinion on the compliance of personnel record keeping with the law and the internal requirements of the company.

The logical continuation of the personnel audit will be the restoration of personnel records.