Managing Personnel Records - International Records Management ...

The overriding purpose of the legal framework for managing personnel is to
? define the rights and obligations of employers
? define the rights and obligations of employees
? establish mechanisms for resolving disputes between employers and employees
(whether at the level of individual grievances or more widespread disputes).
Within the legal framework, there is scope for organisations to manage their
personnel functions with varying degrees of flexibility. The statutory framework will
almost certainly vary from country to country, but it is likely to protect employees in a
number of ways. For example, a person applying for a job may be protected against
some or all of the following:
? race, sex, colour and age discrimination
? discrimination as either members or non-members of a trade union or political
party
? discrimination against a disability
? being required to declare ‘spent offences’ when a given period of time has expired
(a ‘spent offence’ is one where the penalty has already been served).
On starting work, employees may be entitled to some or all of the following:
? protection against dismissal or other unfavourable treatment on the grounds of
race, sex, politics or trade union activity
? equal pay for equal work (both men and women)
? time off, maybe with pay, for antenatal care
? time off, maybe with pay, for trade union duties
? time off, maybe with pay, for safety representative duties
? time off, maybe with pay, for public duties
? statutory sick pay
? written statement of terms of contract
? itemised pay statement
? consultation in the event of redundancies.
One of the complexities of employment law is that the length of service or length of
probationary period required before workers acquire particular legal rights may vary
quite considerably from country to country. For example, employees may have
different rights after different periods of employment, such as the following.
? After four weeks, employees may be entitled to receive a minimum period of
notice if they lose their position, and they may receive guaranteed payments and
protection from dismissal if the employer cannot provide work
MANAGING PERSONNEL RECORDS
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