HR Files FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about HR Files.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
HR Files Overview.
Setup
What do I need to configure before HR Files is ready to use?
Enable the app from Admin → Apps → All Apps (it requires a licence and is disabled by default). Once enabled, open Settings inside the app. The two things most admins configure first are the approval workflow (on by default — sensitive files wait in the Approvals queue until an approver decides) and auto-sync (which connected apps automatically file documents into HR Files). Both work with sensible defaults, so the app is usable immediately after enabling it.
Who can see and manage files once the app is enabled?
Everyone in the business sees the Home and Files tabs. What files they see depends on each file’s audience setting. Business admins and HR Files app admins see every file, whatever its audience, and get the Admin tab: Settings, Bulk Upload, Sync Settings, and Document Consolidation. The Approvals and Requests tabs appear for them too, and for anyone in the groups Settings names under Who can approve or reject a file? and Who can request a document from an employee?. Managers and above — and anyone with direct reports — also see the Compliance view and the Audit Log, scoped to files they can access. Any user can upload a file for themselves; a manager can also upload for someone who reports to them.
Permissions and access
How does the audience setting control who sees a file?
Every file has exactly one Who can see this file? setting (the audience):
- Just HR & admins — business admins, HR Files app admins, and the person who uploaded it. Not the employee the file is about.
- HR + the employee — plus the employee the file is assigned to.
- HR + employee + reporting chain — plus everyone above that employee in their reporting chain.
- HR + specific roles — plus active members whose role in the business is one you tick on the file (and the employee, if one is assigned).
- All active employees — every active member of the business.
The upload form opens on Just HR & admins; choosing an employee switches it to HR + the employee until you pick an audience yourself. Admins and HR Files app admins can choose any of the five; everyone else chooses from the first three.
On top of the audience, you can add per-person access grants for finer control.
What do restricted file types do?
Some file types are too personal for the audience setting alone. Files of a type on Settings → File types limited to HR & the employee (default: Medical, Garnishment, and Disciplinary) are always treated as HR + the employee, whatever audience the uploader chose — narrower if they picked a wider audience, and still open to the employee if they picked Just HR & admins. A restricted file with no employee assigned is Just HR & admins. The uploader, admins, HR Files app admins, and anyone with an explicit access grant can still see the file; the employee is told when someone is granted access to it.
What does marking a file Sensitive do?
A file is flagged Sensitive when the uploader ticks it, when its type is on File Types Requiring Approval (the flag is set automatically), or when the AI review finds personal data in it. The flag:
- Holds the file for approval while the approval workflow is on — see below.
- Keeps an All active employees file out of the Former Employee Portal.
- Asks for identity re-verification before a download or preview, when Identity Verification for Sensitive Downloads is on (restricted file types ask too).
- Keeps the file’s contents away from AI suggestions, while Never send sensitive or restricted file types to AI is on (the default).
It does not narrow who can see the file once it is approved — use the audience, or a restricted file type, for that.
How do per-person access grants work?
From a file’s Access Control page, admins and HR Files app admins — and anyone in the groups Settings names under Who can grant a person access to a file? — can give one person access with one of four permission levels:
| Level | View | Download | Edit, replace, archive | Delete |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read Only | Yes | No | No | No |
| Read & Download | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Full Access | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Admin Access | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Editing and deleting rights from a grant do not apply to a file synced from another app — only admins and HR Files app admins manage those.
Each grant is Permanent (until revoked), Temporary, or Emergency; Temporary and Emergency grants need an end date and stop working on their own when it passes. You can suspend, restore, or revoke any grant at any time; the person is notified of the grant and of each change (when they can open HR Files), and every change is audit-logged.
Day-to-day
How does the approval workflow decide which files need approval?
When the approval workflow is enabled (it is by default), a file enters the pending-approval queue if it is sensitive. A file counts as sensitive when any of these is true: (1) it is flagged Sensitive, (2) its type is on File Types Requiring Approval (default: Background Check, ID Document, Tax Document, Performance Review), or (3) it is marked as a compliance document. Files that are not sensitive are approved on upload, and files synced from other apps are always approved on arrival.
Business admins and HR Files app admins approve or reject files, as does anyone in the groups Settings names under Who can approve or reject a file?. A named approver cannot decide a file they uploaded themselves, replaced with a new version, or that is about them — another approver has to; admins can decide these too, so a company with one admin is never stuck. Rejecting always needs a reason, which the uploader is told.
While a file is pending, only the uploader, admins, HR Files app admins, the approvers, the assigned employee, and anyone with an explicit access grant can see it; if it is rejected, the same people except the approvers named in Settings. The reporting chain, specific roles and all active employees see it only once it is approved.
A file can come back to the queue later:
- Editing an approved sensitive file — any change, whether the file already was sensitive or the edit made it so — sends it back for approval.
- Replacing the document of a rejected file sends it back to the approvers, so the corrected version gets a fresh decision.
Can I request a specific document from an employee?
Yes. From the Requests tab, an admin, an HR Files app admin, or anyone in the groups Settings names under Who can request a document from an employee? can ask a specific employee for a specific document type (e.g. “please upload your tax document by Friday”). The employee is notified and sees the open request at the top of their HR Files page. When anyone uploads a new file of the matching type for that employee — on the web, on the phone, or in a bulk upload — the oldest open request is fulfilled and the requester is told. A document that arrives through sync (for example a signed form from E-Signature) does not fulfil a request; once it is there, cancel the request from the Requests tab. Only one open request per employee and document type is allowed at a time.
Can I send a document out for signature from HR Files?
Yes. On a file marked Requires signature, the people who can manage the file see Send for signature, which sends it to the employee through the E-Signature app. It needs the E-Signature app enabled, a PDF, and an assigned employee with an email address — when one is missing, a note in place of the button says which. When the employee completes signing, the file is automatically marked as signed with the date and signer recorded. If the initial send fails, you can send it again from the same button.
Which apps auto-sync documents into HR Files?
Seven sources can be enabled in Sync Settings:
- Recruiting — resumes, cover letters, offer letters, background checks (on hire).
- Onboarding Hub — all document types (on signed or verified).
- Forms — HR, onboarding, compliance, and tax form submissions (on submission).
- E-Signature — completed signed documents in employment, HR, compliance, and onboarding categories.
- Employee Data — approved employee data documents.
- Employee Profile — all profile documents (on creation).
- Policy Hub — the signature receipt when an employee signs a policy.
Each source has its own rules for which document types and events trigger a sync. When a previously-synced document is updated at the source, a new version is created on the existing HR file rather than a duplicate. You can pause all syncing globally or disable individual sources.
What happens when an employee is offboarded?
By default, nothing changes — the employee’s files stay active and accessible to anyone who could already see them. If you turn on Archive HR files when an employee is deactivated in Settings (off by default), deactivating an employee automatically archives their active, non-compliance files. Compliance documents are never archived by this setting — they stay active. Archived files can always be restored.
When something looks wrong
“I uploaded a file but my employees can’t see it”
The most common causes, in order:
- The file is pending approval, or was rejected. If the approval workflow is on and the file is sensitive, the reporting chain, specific roles and all active employees are blocked until an approver approves it. Check the file’s approval status on its detail page.
- The audience is too narrow. A file set to Just HR & admins is hidden even from the employee it is about, and HR + the employee is hidden from everyone else. Change the audience or add an explicit access grant.
- The file type is restricted. File types on File types limited to HR & the employee (default: Medical, Garnishment, Disciplinary) are treated as HR + the employee regardless of the audience setting.
- The file is not assigned to an employee. Company-wide files (no employee selected) are only visible through the audience setting — an employee-specific view won’t show them.
“I can’t delete this file”
Two kinds of hold block deletion:
- A compliance document. A file marked as a compliance document cannot be deleted. Remove the compliance flag first if retention is no longer required.
- A legal hold. A legal hold placed in Admin → Compliance on the file, or on the employee it is about, blocks deletion until the hold is lifted.
A file that has already been deleted cannot be deleted again. If you are told you can’t delete it at all, you are not one of the people who can: admins, HR Files app admins, someone with an Admin Access grant, and the uploader — but only until someone else approves the file. After that, archive it instead or ask an HR Files admin.
What is the difference between archiving and deleting a file?
Archive (open to anyone who can edit the file) takes an active file out of the working set: it stops expiry reminders and leaves the retention review, but stays visible to everyone it is shared with, and Restore brings it back. Delete removes the file from HR Files for everyone; there is no restore for a deleted file anywhere in HR Files, and the delete is recorded in the audit log, with the reason if one was given. Archive when you might need the file again; delete only when it should be gone.
“The document coverage roster says an employee is missing documents”
The Compliance view flags employees in two ways when the minimum-documents rule is enabled: (1) their total file count is below the configured minimum (default 3, adjustable from 1 to 20 in Settings), or (2) they are missing one of the required document types you configured. An employee can have three files and still be flagged if one of the required types is absent. Only non-deleted files count.
Licensing and limits
Does HR Files require a licence?
Yes. HR Files requires a licence and is disabled by default. An administrator enables it for the business from Admin → Apps → All Apps.
What are the file size and upload limits?
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum file size (non-video) | 100 MB |
| Maximum file size (video) | 500 MB |
| Bulk upload — files per batch | 50 |
| Bulk upload — per-file size cap | 50 MB |
| Employee file-packet zip | 200 files / 500 MB total |
| File name length | 255 characters |
Accepted formats: PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, TXT, JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, MP4, MOV, AVI, WEBM, MPEG.
How long are download and preview links valid?
Download links are valid for 1 hour. Preview links are valid for 5 minutes. Both are signed links created each time you click Download or Preview, so a copied link stops working when it expires.
What retention policies are available and how do they work?
Each file can be assigned a retention policy: 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years, or Permanent. The retention clock starts from the file’s document date (or the upload date if no document date is set). Admins can customise the duration for each named policy in Settings (from 1 to 100 years). When a file’s retention period passes, a daily check asks admins to review it — archive it, extend its retention, or delete it. Automatically archive files past retention is off by default; turned on, the check archives those files and tells admins, who can restore any of them. Nothing is ever deleted automatically. Files on hold — compliance documents, and files under a legal hold placed in Admin → Compliance on the file or its employee — are exempt from the retention review.
More help
- HR Files Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers HR Files questions from these articles.