4 Steps to Successful HRMS Benefits Document Management

Is your HRMS a one-stop shop for data management including information on employee benefits? Benefits data and processes can be cumbersome due to all of the rules and requirements, especially tied to documentation. However, with effective process design and savvy use of your HRMS, benefits and its corresponding documentation can be skillfully and effectively managed.

Understand the Legal Requirements

Benefits used to be a paper-based exercise with forms and signatures stored on file. Now, most HRMS offer functionality to enroll in benefits within the company’s HR system. If your company will accept an electronic signature, is any paper still needed? How about exceptions and special rules; do you need a physical exam to buy up to higher levels of life insurance with a form for a doctor’s sign-off and stamp? Do you offer medical insurance to dependents in a full-time student status which requires a letter from the university to confirm status? If you have benefits documentation, it’s a matter of finding a home for it within your HRMS benefits management system.

Review Plan Requirements and Security

Some HRMS allow for the attachment of documents, such as .pdf or .jpg files. If you’re allowing online enrollment and the employee has the ability to attach a document as a part of a transaction, your process may be complete. However, be sure to review the functionality and security requirements carefully: who has security to see the attached documentation? Benefits data usually has the most stringent of data protection requirements. Also, is there a requirement for an HR representative to see an original document or will an attached upload in the HRMS benefits module meet the plan requirements?

Consider Integrating HRMS and a DedicatedDocument Management System

If you have additional security requirements or a large number of HRMS transactions that require documentation, it may be an idea to research specialized document management systems. There are a number of products in the market that offer configurable security options and with possibilities to interface to other systems, such as your HRMS benefits management system. Access to data can also help to drive your decision: do you have a decentralized environment with many locations where an electronic file system would save time, or are most of your operations and documents located in one place so that paper files can still meet the requirements? Your best solution may be a hybrid: using an HRMS with document storage for certain benefits tasks while keeping a low-tech dedicated HR shared drive or higher tech document management software for certain benefits documents.

Assess the Market Options

If you’re looking for HRMS solutions that can accommodate benefits data, self-service or online functionality and the ability to add attachments, check out the 2014 HRMS Software Guide for inspiration.