Documents & Compliance

The Documents module provides a centralised repository for all company and employee documents. It covers policy publishing, contract storage, compliance document distribution with acknowledgement tracking, and personal employee file management.

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Overview

Navigate to HR Panel → Documents or /documents. The module is split into two tracks:

Track	URL	Description
Company Documents	/documents/company	Policies, procedures, SOPs, templates
Employee Documents	/documents/employee	Personal files tied to individual employees

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Company Documents

Company documents are files that apply to the organisation as a whole or to defined groups of employees. Examples include:

• Employee Handbook
• Code of Conduct
• GDPR / Privacy Policy
• Health & Safety Manual
• IT Acceptable Use Policy
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Employment Contract Templates

Uploading a Company Document

1. Navigate to Documents → Company
2. Click Upload Document
3. Fill in:

Field	Required	Description
Document Title	Yes	Full descriptive name
Category	Yes	Policy / Contract / SOP / Handbook / Template / Other
File	Yes	PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PNG (max 20 MB)
Version	No	Version number (e.g., v2.1)
Effective Date	No	When this document comes into effect
Expiry Date	No	When this version expires (triggers a reminder)
Visibility	Yes	All Employees / Specific Departments / Admin Only
Requires Acknowledgement	No	If enabled, employees must confirm they have read it
Description	No	Brief summary of the document's purpose

4. Click Upload

Document Categories

Category	Examples
Policy	Leave Policy, Expense Policy, Remote Work Policy
Contract	Employment Agreement Template, NDA Template
SOP	Onboarding Process, Performance Review Process
Handbook	Employee Handbook, Manager's Guide
Template	Offer Letter Template, Warning Letter Template
Certificate	ISO Certification, Business License
Other	Miscellaneous documents

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Document Acknowledgement Tracking

When Requires Acknowledgement is enabled for a document, each employee who has visibility of the document must confirm they have read and understood it.

How Acknowledgement Works

1. After uploading the document with acknowledgement required, HR selects the target employees or departments
2. Each targeted employee receives an email notification with a link to the document
3. The employee:
   • Logs in
   • Navigates to My Documents → Pending Acknowledgements
   • Reads the document
   • Clicks I Acknowledge and optionally adds a comment
4. The acknowledgement is recorded with timestamp and the employee's IP address

Tracking Acknowledgement Status

HR can view the acknowledgement progress at any time:

1. Open the company document
2. Click the Acknowledgements tab
3. The table shows:

Column	Description
Employee	Name and department
Status	Pending / Acknowledged
Acknowledged At	Date and time of acknowledgement
Comment	Optional employee comment

4. Filter by status to see who is still pending
5. Click Send Reminder to email pending employees

Exporting Acknowledgement Records

Click Export CSV on the Acknowledgements tab to download the complete record for compliance audit purposes.

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Employee Documents

Employee documents are personal files stored against individual employee records — contracts, ID proofs, academic certificates, background check results, etc.

Viewing Employee Documents

From any employee's profile, click the Documents tab. All files associated with that employee are listed here.

Uploading an Employee Document

HR staff can upload documents to any employee's record:

1. Open the employee profile
2. Click the Documents tab
3. Click Upload Document
4. Fill in:

Field	Required	Description
Document Title	Yes	Descriptive label
Category	Yes	Contract / ID Proof / Certificate / Medical / Other
File	Yes	PDF, JPG, PNG, DOCX (max 10 MB)
Expiry Date	No	For time-sensitive documents (passport, visa)
Notes	No	Internal notes

5. Click Upload

Employee Self-Upload

Employees can upload their own documents via My Profile → My Documents → Upload. HR must approve the upload before it is visible to other staff.

Document Categories for Employee Files

Category	Examples
Contract	Signed employment contract, amendments
ID Proof	Passport copy, national ID, driving licence
Certificate	Degree certificates, professional certifications
Medical	Medical examination reports (stored securely)
Warning Letter	Formal warnings on record
Performance Review	Signed appraisal forms
Tax Document	Tax forms, declarations
Other	Any miscellaneous employee file

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Document Expiry Reminders

For documents with an Expiry Date set, GeniusHRM sends automatic reminder emails:

• 30 days before expiry: HR and the employee are notified
• 7 days before expiry: Second reminder
• On expiry date: Final alert

This is particularly useful for:

• Work visas and permits
• Professional certifications requiring renewal
• Periodic medical check-ups

Configure reminder timing in Settings → Documents → Expiry Reminder Days.

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Downloading Documents

Any authorised user can download documents they have access to:

• Click Download next to any document in the list
• The file downloads directly to the browser

Documents are stored in storage/app/private/documents/ and are served through Laravel's secure file controller — they are not publicly accessible via direct URL.

Security

Employee documents containing personally identifiable information (PII) are served through authenticated routes only. Direct URL guessing is not possible. For GDPR compliance, restrict access to employee documents to HR staff and the employee themselves.

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Bulk Document Distribution

To distribute a document to many employees at once:

1. Upload the company document
2. Set Visibility to All Employees or select specific departments
3. Enable Requires Acknowledgement if needed
4. The document is immediately visible to all targeted employees in their My Documents portal

For a targeted distribution to a custom list of employees:

1. Upload the document with Visibility = Admin Only
2. Open the document
3. Click Assign to Employees
4. Search and select individual employees
5. Click Assign