Storing Physical and Digital HR Records with GDPR
So you’ve got a fancy new cloud HR software system. Excellent. Your staff are happy, You’re happy. But what about your legacy documentation?
GDPR’s May 2018 deadline’s looming and, although you’ve likely addressed your digital data needs – have you done everything you need to about physical records?
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will require you to carry out a data audit (to assess what you hold and in what formats) and to compile a data register of all the information you’ll need to hold on an ongoing basis.
Treat Sensitive Information Carefully
HR is dealing with sensitive information, so caution is needed.
You’ll need to check what records you’re required to retain on past employees so that you only retain what’s necessary – and will need to make plans for how to store and access this information and to responsibly destroy the rest.
With your digital records, you’ll need to ensure you have your position clear on whether you’re a data controller data processor or both.
Everything is in the right place
And with physical records that you’ve identified to keep, you’ll need to make provision for secure storage.
And since you have HR software in the cloud for your ongoing needs, why not have them scanned and sent to the cloud until you either need to access them again or can erase them when their retention period’s passed?
You’ve surely heard many arguments in favour of digitising records before. They’re all valid.
If you select a reputable scanning services provider with all the right compliance requirements (GDPR and ISO27001) you’ll enjoy the benefits of:
- Saved space and/or reduced cost of premises
- Peace of mind against fire and theft
- Accessible from any location subject to permission levels
- Audit trails of who has accessed what information – and when
And, of course, the process of sifting through the records is something you’ll have to do to meet your compliance regulations anyway.
If you digitise everything, then your staff will have an easier time performing their audit assessment of what needs to be kept on your Data Register or not.
Useful Links for Irish organisations
If you’re looking for a reliable scanning services provider to digitise your legacy physical records we can highly recommend Datascan.ie as a trusted operator in Ireland, holding all the necessary security certifications and infrastructure to deliver on their promises.
Many leading Irish companies depend on Datascan’s thoroughness, standards and reliability.
