Whether your business is in manufacturing, medical, education, hospitality or accommodation, or any other industry, you need to maintain good employee records.

Not only does it help you save time, reduce risk and mistakes, and keep organised each day, it also can keep your business compliant with Fair Work obligations.

But how can you keep better employee records – especially as your business grows? Just follow these top tips. And if you’re short on time, here’s the TL;DR: automate your employee records!

But first: why you need a better record keeping system

There are many reasons why you need to keep your employee records up-to-date. Aside from it being a legal requirement in Australia (with severe penalties if you don’t), it also protects your business and avoids headaches if an employee claims they were unfairly dismissed or raises any other issues.

Day to day, having a quick and easy way to look up an employee’s details such as their payroll, leave, insurance, emergency contact, awards and benefits simply makes your life easier for everyone!

Tip 1: Start with onboarding 

Better employee record keeping starts the day they do. So make sure you have a simple, seamless employee onboarding process.

An automated system is the way to go. You and your new hire can create a profile and easily upload and manage their essential info such as their contact details, bank details, tax and superannuation – with everything automatically validated. Keeping everything in one place online means less paperwork and more time to focus on other tasks.

Tip 2: Don’t leave it to chance

Manually managing staff leave can get messy – especially if you also need to find replacements, swap shifts, and calculate the difference in wage costs.

On top of that, Fair Work Australia says every business must record any leave your employee has taken, as well as how much leave they have available. Talk about exhausting!

So, you guessed it, the best way to manage staff leave is with a single system. You’ll be able to see at a glance who’s on leave and when, reduce your risk of human error, have the information you need at your fingertips, and keep more secure employee records.

Tip 3: Create a great work culture

This one may come as a surprise, but keeping better employee records can even help maintain morale and build a better workplace culture.

Celebrating staff birthdays and work anniversaries, knowing their favourite movie or book, and having a seamless system for storing performance reviews and any other personal information are just some of the ways you can help staff feel valued and appreciated.

While you don’t need to keep any of these records for Fair Work compliance, they do help build a complete picture of each employee.

Tip 4: Automate it all

 If you’ve gotten this far, you’ll already know the hands-down best way to keep better employee records is with a customisable online workforce management solution.

Wageloch removes all the stress, uncertainty and time it takes to stay across your employee records.

To see how Wageloch makes employee record keeping easy for you and your team, book a demo with our friendly team in Australia today.