Acknowledge Everything – Training, Handbooks, Etc. – in Business and at Work

Even though the new NYS-mandated Annual Sexual and Other Harassment Prevention Training does not require a signed acknowledgment of an employee’s attendance, the strong recommendation is to provide employees with acknowledgments to sign anyway, at the conclusion of the training.  How else are you going to prove that the employee attended any given mandated training in the event of a third-party audit of your employment records?

The third party can be, including but not limited to: the NYS or federal Department of Labor; OSHA [Occupational Health & Safety Administration]; NYS Department of Financial Services; NYS Department of Taxation and Finance; the Internal Revenue Service, Immigration Customs & Enforcement – you get the picture.

Sign-in sheets, (with the title of the training; the trainer’s name; and each employee’s printed name, signature and date of attendance) are also extremely helpful paper-trail resources in the event of a third-party audit.

For a training acknowledgment for employees to sign – the recommendation is to include, aside from the printed name, signature and date the employee attended the training, other key audit-ready information, such as:

• The title of the training
• The name of the employer
• The location of the training
• The date of the training
• The name of the trainer and their credentials. For example:  the letters after my name are HR certifications: Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) Senior Certified Professional (SCP). I’m also required to provide proof of continuing education with information above and below to maintain these certifications
• The topics covered during the training, such as the required topics for NYS-Mandated Sexual and Other Harassment Prevention training, e.g. sex stereotyping, right of redress, etc.
• Confirmation of understanding of the training.

The same recommendation applies to (including but not limited to) job descriptions (and the job task inventories completed by the employee to help develop their job description), handbook acknowledgments,  separate acknowledgments for important policies like No-Harassment, Drug- and Alcohol-Free workplace, and Safety policies; as well as time sheets and other related payroll records that require employees input / signature.

Do you require signed acknowledgments for key compliance trainings and policies, in business and at work?