The 2026 baseline for HR teams in growing companies. None of this is exciting; all of it is what separates a clean audit from a costly mistake.
Employment documentation
- Signed offer letter and contract for every employee, in their working language
- Proof of right-to-work captured at hire
- Updated handbook acknowledged annually
Payslips and statutory contributions
- Payslip issued every pay cycle with all legally required fields
- Statutory contributions filed on the local schedule (tax, social security, retirement)
- Year-end forms (W-2, P60, etc.) issued on time
Leave and time-off
- Annual, sick, parental leave policies match or exceed local law
- Leave balances tracked in a system, not a spreadsheet
Data protection
- Inventory of every employee data point you store
- Access controls limit who sees sensitive fields
- Retention policy defines how long records are kept
Health & safety
- Risk assessments completed and signed off
- First-aid trained staff identified per location
- Incident reporting log maintained