4 Pillars of an Effective HR Strategy: #1 HR Compliance

Over time, the HR department’s role has changed, moving from the classic hire-and-fire function to a more strategic position. Today, HR is involved with creating a healthy workplace culture and environment in addition to recruiting and employee development. In the contemporary workplace, it can be difficult to balance traditional tasks with those that come with being an HR professional.

However, companies can simplify and improve their HR strategy by focusing on these four key areas to create a structured approach that will deliver effective and secure human resource services:

1. HR Compliance Requirements
2. Employee engagement and employee branding
3. Employee skills and career development
4. Employee and operational productivity and performance

HR Compliance Requirements

This article looks at one of the most challenging HR issues in Singapore – which is staying updated with HR regulations. As part of HR compliance, all employers are required to adhere to certain statutory responsibilities while hiring, managing, or discharging employees. If businesses do not understand and identify their legal obligations, they cannot comply with laws or rules, and are at risk for substantial financial penalties.

The basic labor law in Singapore controlling employer and employee relations in an organization was formed in 1968 and is known as the Employment Laws. The major goals of the employment legislation are to protect employees’ working conditions and to uphold standards and practices in the workplace. The entire employment process, from hiring to individual employee retirement or termination, is covered by the Act specifying Legal Compliances in HR.

There are critical HR responsibilities that need to be managed and documented according to compliance regulations.  Creating and maintaining compliant policies and procedures must be executed with little room for error to avoid financial penalties and reputational damage.

• Payroll, items to be included in pay slips, and details of contributions, deductions, and compensation.
• Managing contracts and permits for foreign workers in Singapore. Some companies require talent with specialized knowledge and experience that is not easily sourced locally. Knowing how to go about hiring and managing international employees is an important part of maintaining a global workforce.
• Leave, termination, and retirement regulations that help manage work engagements fairly and helps guide employers on correct procedures for termination, retrenchment, retirement, and entitled leave.
• Manage and help resolve complaints related to issues such as harassment.
• To safeguard both the employer and the employee, it’s vital to follow and satisfy all legal obligations while onboarding a new employee. Tasks include preparing contracts, documents, and obtaining payroll information while maintaining security of information at all times.
• Update recruiting and HR strategies to fulfil the high compliance standards in place today due to the increase in legislation and regulations focused on workplace diversity.

Mitigating HR Compliance Risks

Every employee needs to have a personnel file maintained to be compliant with Singapore employment regulations. Keeping paper-based records and using manual processes is not feasible in today’s world, thus leveraging technology is essential to enhancing HR compliance procedures. Digital platforms like a document management system (DMS) gives businesses specific tools to manage employee and HR files according to local laws and regulations. Technology can help mitigate HR compliance risks in the following ways:

1. Keep all employee-related records, from the time of application and until the time of termination or retirement, in one place and keep them in a secure central repository.
2. HR ultimately retains responsibility for complete files, which is the best defense against litigation. But collating both paper and digital can be extremely challenging and as documents increase so does the challenge to locate and maintain them. A document management system can track every file in the system as well as log every access and edit by authorized personnel. And only those with permissions can access the records.
3. Keeping records is difficult due to the criteria for and regulations for document retention. Additionally, ‘over retention’ can increase costs and can even result in non-compliance. An appropriate retention schedule allows for justifiable document disposal and through technology tools, this can be automated.
4. File sharing is another compliance risk that often gets overlooked. HR professionals are aware that employee files need to be protected carefully when appropriately sharing sensitive information with the individual, supervisors, or other authorized parties. If files are intercepted during transmission or stolen from a device, it can be a compliance catastrophe. All types of data security problems raise a company’s risk exposure, but an HR system securely manages file and document sharing using secure links, and authentication methods. It is just not possible to share paper-based records as securely as digital records.
5. Companies get improved overall compliance through a robust system. HR software solutions make it simple for organizations to store, exchange, and manage critical employee files. This allows companies to be constantly audit-ready and one step ahead of compliance obligations thanks to built-in technologies that conveniently monitor documents and certificates that are about to expire.

Becoming Audit-Ready

It is the duty of HR professionals to safeguard both employee and organization information. Personnel records are especially important, because of the rise in identity and financial theft.  KRIS HR Document Management System is designed to protect the privacy of the workforce and enhance the employee experience by automating processes, managing data, and cutting down on time-consuming paperwork. Furthermore, with an HR platform, errors are decreased, compliance risks are mitigated, and policies are regularly followed when people have the information they require at their fingertips.