3RAI ASSMENT

It is essential for organisations to keep up to date and accurate records to ensure efficient

The DPA will cover information we request about ourselves, and another piece of legislation, the Environmental Information Regulations, cover requests for information about the environment. The public sector can refuse the request if the information is sensitive or the costs are too high.

This act applies to all organisations that process data relating to their staff and customers. It is the main legal framework in UK that protects personal data. The act contains 8 data protection principles which are:

Boxall, P and Purcell, J (2011), The Goals of Human Resource Management, Strategy and Human Resource Management, 3rd Edition, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, pp. 1-36.

Another reason to collect and record data is to comply with legal requirements and legislation, for example the principle of equality. If we have in our HR department adequate personnel records, we can make sure we are complying with the law and therefore

2. Leatherbarrow, C., Fletcher, J. & Currie, D. (2010) Introduction to Human Resource Management. 2nd Edition. London: CIPD

The Data Protection Act 1998 is a piece of legislation that controls how an individual’s personal information is used by organisations, businesses and the government. This Act ensures that HR departments only collect data from individuals is covered by what we are allowed to collect under the Act, relevant and not excessive, we must also be sure that data is not stored for longer than necessary. We must ensure that data is stored securely and confidentially; and that we are open about the reasons why we are collecting and storing the data.

Currie, D (2010). Introduction to Human Resource Management. 2nd ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. 293

By law, all employers are required to keep records relating to staff. The primary purpose is to ensure all staff have been paid correctly, have received all relevant entitlements and that taxation and superannuation have been correctly accounted for.

Gerhart, B., Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R., & Wright, P. (2009). Fundamentals of human resource management (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

• Making sure that processes such as grievances, disciplinary, maternity etc. are performed in the correct manner.

 2. Another type of data that may be useful for the human resources department of an organisation is the contact details for each employee especially home addresses. This is essential if a correspondence needs to be sent out to each employee, such as contracts, payslips and pensions or leave information. It is important for each employee to receive the appropriate communication and not to be ignored.

Filling cabinets or reference book/diaries these are manual methods of storing HR records. Traditionally, filing cabinets are an effective tool for document storage as they provide users with visual prompts and tangible information. They are in a way a buck-up for all the automated types of storing data, which can be affected by a virus or an electrical failure. In the purpose of the legal actions employer is obliged to provide the originals of the employment contracts/ accident record books and other personnel records. Otherwise the employer must explain what happened to the original document along with the ‘statement of truth’.

The traditional and antiquated function of any human resources department was to employ, terminate, collect and record paperwork on employees, maintain payroll, and event plan. The emergence and expansion of human resources information systems (HRIS), places the human resources department on par with strategic management planning, and forays into competition. The HRIS system is not just the “composite of databases, computer applications, and hardware and software necessary to collect/record [Sic], store, manage, deliver, present, and manipulate data for human resources as espoused by (Ngai and Wat, 2006; Lippert and Swiercz, 2005; Troshani, Jerram & Rao, 2011), but also to strategically plan for the transitions

3. Dessler, Griffiths and Lloyd-Walker (2004), Human Resource Management, 2nd ed, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W. : Prentice Hall Australia