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How Will the New GDPR Regulations Impact Upon Your HR Department?

Image displaying a section of an industrial shelving unit that has a shelf full of HR office box files which makes complying to GDPR difficult when working with paper files. Pearl Scan's HR document scanning services in London can digitise your paper files to digital, which will enable an efficient process with complying to GDPR.

The month of May will soon be upon us and that is the time when the new GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation) will come into force. All businesses, no matter their size, will have to comply if they deal with employee personal data so, understandably, many of them are already worried about how it will impact upon their HR function.

HR responsibilities will increase

Whether companies have a fully-fledged HR Department or just one person dealing with that side of things, their obligations are going to be increased. As far as staff personal data is concerned, they will now have a right to access it or ask for it to be amended or deleted. HR departments will also need to overhaul their processes and systems as they will need to make staff aware of how long their data will be stored for and whether or not it will be shared with any other third party. At the same time, HR service providers that deal with employee data on behalf of employers will also need to pull their socks up if GDPR is not to catch them out.

At the moment, HR Departments can hold reams of data, relevant to current and former employees, as well as those looking for employment. If this is stored on paper or on computers that are openly accessed by others, this will no longer be compliant, particularly if medical or trade union records are included.

HR departments needs to 'up the ante'

GDPR will take no prisoners and those that fall foul of the rules will suffer, being hit with severe penalties and fines. The only way that this can be avoided is by HR Departments doing the following:

  • Obtaining employee consent
  • Being fully accountable
  • Respecting employee rights

The main thing is that all HR functions will need to be taken care of with total security and privacy of personal data being considered. Whether information is stored on paper, on a computer database or within a specialise CRM system, all of the following are essential functions that will need to be attended to:

  • Secure retention of data
  • Easily accessible targeted information
  • Displaying full transparency and accountability
  • Using data for only the purpose for which permission was given

HR departments need to be proactive

The image is displaying a check list on clipboard. HR departments throughout London and across the UK need to proactive to keep up with GDPR.

So in addition to all of the above, as a UK business that deals with confidential employee data, what else should you do to get your HR Department in good running order as far as GDPR is concerned? Depending upon how many staff you have, you may wish to consider appointing a ‘GDPR Manager’ who will be fully responsible for taking care of all things related to the new regulation. It goes without saying that they will need to understand the new regulations inside-out and that ensuring your company complies will be on their head. Failure to do so will damage your reputation as well as your bank balance so the person assuming this role will need to be dedicated, detailed in their approach and proactive. Whilst this may result in you paying an additional wage, when compared to the fines that could be levied against you for breaking the rules, it is an expense worth having.

GDPR fines will fall into two categories:

  1. Up to 10 million Euros or 2% of the company’s global annual turnover of the previous financial year.
  2. Up to 20 million Euros or 4% of the company’s global annual turnover of the previous financial year.

How can document scanning help ensure GDPR compliance?

The Pearl Scan's document scanning service offers the perfect solution for security and manipulation of paper files. By scanning them in, we make it possible for companies to be sure that they are not breaking any rules. All personal data currently on paper should be converted to digital thus ensuring compliance, avoiding fines and providing a good ROI. Outsourcing this task will save a great deal of time and money as speed and efficiency will be ensured and your staff will not have to be removed from other tasks. For this reason, many companies are relying on Pearl Scan to assist them.

How does document scanning help with GDPR compliance?

Scanned documents can help your business to guarantee GDPR compliance due to the following:

    • Data retention – Data retention is taken care of much more easily, particularly if software is used to set rules and processes. Once guidelines are in place, the software will do the rest. Even if a breach occurs you can show that you did all possible to comply and may avoid huge fines.
    • Security and privacy – Why take the risk of leaving sensitive data on paper files? Easier to copy, steal, lose or destroy, it is only when digitised that they can be password protected when stored. You can even add digitally encryption for a belt-and-braces approach.

Image is displaying a monitor with has document management software open similar to our Halogen software that is free for our clients throughout London and the UK.

  • Data Search and retrieval – Compare the time taken to access important data in a paper file and then compare it to a computer based data search and you will see why having digitised files is essential. GDPR Article 17 makes it clear that: “The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning him or her without undue delay and the controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay.” Fulfilling this task manually with paper files will be a nightmare, wasting time and money. With digital files it takes just seconds. When employees ask for their right of access, right to rectification and right to restriction of processing, digital is king.
  • Cost – This is an easy one as the cost taken to process paper files compared to digital is much higher due to time taken and staff deployed on specific tasks. With digital also enabling you to better avoid fines, it makes so much sense to go down this rout

Trust Pearl Scan to take care of your document scanning

When looking for a professional and reputable company to turn your paper files into digital versions, enabling you to comply far easier with GDPR, Pearl Scan are experts. For over 15 years we have been working with organisations across every sector to scan their paper. Even the most sensitive of data is converted to digital in our capable hands.

Trusted by so many businesses, make us your chosen partner to help you to work towards and maintain full GDPR compliance. Get in touch with us today to find out more about our Document Scanning Service.

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Four Industries that can be Revolutionised with Scanning Documents

An image of a person searching through documents in a filing cabinet. The image relates to the blog article, as the article gives the user information on how scanning docuemnts to a digital file can save time in various departments in all types of organisations in London and all over the UK. Our document scanning services in London and the UK offer a cost effective solution to help organisations go paper free.

The term ‘digital transformation’ has been a buzz word skimming around the business world for many years and document scanning in London is at the heart of that. The single best way to bring a business bang up to date and increase efficiency from the ground up is scanning your paper documents to digital files. It can help almost every industry to automate and drive up productivity. Although document scanning is imperative for almost all industries, there are some where it is necessary to take a leap into the 21st century. Here are the top four industries that can be revolutionised with document scanning:

Scanning finance documents into digital platforms will streamline your financial department

Finance, by nature, is a paper-dense industry. But it doesn’t have to be. Thanks to the rise in computer systems and processes, the finance industry has taken a giant leap towards digital means over the last five years. But there is still a lot of work to be done in order to bring it up to date. Scanning services that include invoice scanning can overhaul finance departments by getting rid of bulky and unorganised filing cabinets, paving the way for digital stores of organised and correctly labelled files and folders.

Educational documents converted to a digital platform through document scanning services

The education sector relies on mountains of paper every single day in classrooms, offices and receptions, the education sector as a whole is, in general, behind the times when it comes to digitalisation. Although it has moved forward over the last few years, there is still a lot that can be done to improve processes. Using a professional scanning company in London to begin scanning and digitising student records and attendance is one of the first steps, while reducing the number of handouts by driving forward a technological culture in the classroom is another. This will not only help staff to deal with an increasing number of students, but also help to minimise teachers’ precious time being wasted.

Digital medical files mean editing and sharing instantly with other nurses, doctors, office staff, etc

The NHS’ drive to be paperless by 2020 has been at the forefront of the digital industry for many years. Yet all signs are pointing to it missing its target. However, the medical industry can benefit from a scanning service greatly by switching to a paperless system, cutting down on time wasted search for records, instantly sharing with other colleagues, the endless capabilities of updating and editing the digital documents, ensuring information is correct and minimising clutter.

Document management solutions for the documents used in human resources and other heavy paper departments

Human resources are another typically paper-heavy sector. Essentially the heart of a business, HR is there to ensure workers are happy, healthy and trained. And as a result, the sector demands a lot of paperwork for each employee. And even in a relatively small business, they can generate a lot of paper work. When choosing a scanning service to digitise your employee records, training and procedures, your files will never be misplaced, document and records are kept up to date with re-edits made on the digital file. Your Essential HR department can run even more efficiently.

To find out more information and discover the full range of our accredited scanning services that we offer in London and throughout the UK or contact us online.

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Why HR document scanning is necessary for a competitive workplace

Why HR document scanning is necessary for a competitive workplace

An article that was posted in HR Magazine last September made a very bold statement in the world of human resources - ‘It’s time HR got smart about smart technology’. While this article was urging HR professionals to utilise smartphone technology, apps specifically, in order to operate in the working world that is increasingly becoming more mobile and flexible, we agree that HR professionals should also be embracing another technology in order to implement change. This technology is document scanning. When using digitisation techniques, HR document management is revolutionised in a way that can give any business a competitive edge.

How does HR files scanning work?

When using our HR document management and scanning service we collect all of your files directly from your office. Our document scanning service is available in London, and we can gather documents from the north, south, east and west areas of the capital. From here, they are stored in our secure facility, then systematically digitised in our dedicated scanning bureau. We use the latest technology and machinery in the scanning industry and are capable of processing traditional documents as well as forms, surveys, photographs, books, records and more. Once digitised, we run them through OCR software to convert them into fully text searchable documents. We then present them to you in your chosen digital format, including PDF, JPEG and TIFF.  All of our customers are also given free access to our cloud storage platform, Halogen Cloud. This document management software was designed with HR departments in mind, enabling you to quickly access important files whenever they are needed.

What are the benefits?

When working in HR, whether you are responsible for recruitment, training, internal communications or payroll, your role relies on you having access to lots of information on a daily basis. And often when completing your tasks, you will also generate a lot more paper work that also needs to be filed and considered for later use.

Employee file scanning, invoice scanning, record scanning, feedback form scanning and more can help to create a digital HR document management system that can save time, remove margin for error and reduce cost. What’s more, with huge amounts of data stored in a digital, OCR searchable and indexed format, new insights can be found from the improved analysis that this instant access enables.

In addition, businesses looking to utilise smartphone technology, as suggested by HR Magazine, can do so with a digital document management system. No matter where an employee is based, files can be sent and viewed in an instant.

Tasks can be completed much faster with the documents required available at the click of a mouse boosting productivity, efficiency and eventually, profits. With these benefits, HR document scanning gives your company a competitive edge.   

At Pearl Scan we offer our document scanning in London for a wide range of organisations, working closely with many HR departments to help them dramatically improve their processes. 

Do you want to utilise the benefits of document scanning for your HR department? Learn more on our website. 

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Why choose Pearl Scan

Document scanning | Audits

We are backed up by external quality and security audits. Our operations have been audited and approved by many NHS, Local Authorities, Private blue chip companies and we pride ourselves on the high levels of quality and security we provide to each and every one of our clients.

Our data capture and document scanning services offered in London are accredited to industry standards.