HR Files App Overview

HR Files

1. What it is

HR Files is your secure document vault for employee records, contracts, compliance documents, and any other file that belongs in an HR file cabinet. You upload files, assign them to employees, choose who can see them, and the app tracks every view, download, and change in an audit log.

• Enablement: Requires a license. An admin enables it from Admin → Apps → All Apps. It is not turned on automatically.
• What it is not: HR Files stores and governs documents. It does not create them — offer letters come from Recruiting, signed forms from E-Signature, submitted forms from Forms, and so on. Those apps can sync their output into HR Files automatically (see Document sync in §3), but the authoring happens there.

2. Standing it up

1. Enable the app — go to Admin → Apps → All Apps, find HR Files, and enable it.
2. Choose which file categories and types to offer — go to HR Files → Settings → File Organization. By default four categories are enabled (Employee Records, Candidate Documents, Contracts, Policies) and all 13 file types are available. Disable any your organization does not use so they do not appear in upload forms.
3. Decide on the approval workflow — under Settings → Workflow Settings, the Approval Workflow toggle is on by default. When it is on, files that are sensitive — flagged Sensitive, matching a type on the File Types Requiring Approval list, or marked as a compliance document — enter a pending-approval queue. Until an approver signs off, only the uploader, admins, HR Files app admins, the approvers Settings names, the assigned employee, and anyone with an explicit access grant can see the file. Turn this off if your organization does not need a review gate.
4. Grant access — any user with the app enabled can upload and view files scoped to them. The Admin tab appears only for business admins and HR Files app admins. The Approvals and Requests tabs appear for them too, and for anyone Settings names under Who can approve or reject a file? and Who can request a document from an employee?. The Compliance and Audit Log tabs appear for managers and above, and for anyone with direct reports.
5. Confirm it worked — upload a test file from HR Files → Files → Upload. You should see it in the file list, and the dashboard tiles should update.

Silent dependency: If you enable the approval workflow but leave the default sensitive file types unchanged, every Background Check, ID Document, Tax Document, and Performance Review will sit in the Approvals queue until an approver acts. Approvers are notified of each new file (and, while Daily Approval Digest is on, sent a daily digest of what is still waiting), but make sure someone is watching the queue.

3. How it fits together

Audience — who can see a file

Every file has a single Who can see this? setting (the audience). This is the most important concept in the app — it governs visibility everywhere: the file list, search, the mobile app, and the AI agent.

Audience	Who can see the file
Just HR & admins	Business admins, HR Files app admins, and the uploader — not the employee the file is about
HR + the employee	Plus the assigned employee
HR + employee + reporting chain	Plus everyone above the employee in their reporting chain
HR + specific roles	Plus active members whose business role matches the roles you pick (and the employee, if one is assigned)
All active employees	Every active member of the business

The uploader, business admins, and HR Files app admins always have access regardless of audience. Explicit access grants (added from the file’s Access Control page) also override the audience. The upload form opens on Just HR & admins and switches to HR + the employee when you choose an employee, until you pick an audience yourself.

Restricted file types override the audience. File types on File types limited to HR & the employee (Medical, Garnishment, and Disciplinary by default) are always treated as HR + the employee — narrower if the uploader picked a wider audience, and still open to the employee if they picked Just HR & admins; with no employee assigned, Just HR & admins. This prevents a manager from seeing a direct report’s medical record through the reporting chain. Beyond HR, the uploader, the employee and — while the file awaits approval — its approvers, only an explicit access grant opens a restricted file, and the employee is told when one is given.

Approval workflow

When the approval workflow is enabled, sensitive files enter a Pending state. While pending — and if rejected — the file’s audience beyond the assigned employee is suspended: reporting-chain managers, role matches, and all-employees access are blocked until an approver approves. The uploader, admins, HR Files app admins, the employee, and explicit grants keep access throughout; the approvers Settings names see it only while it waits for them.

A file is considered sensitive when any of these are true: it is flagged Sensitive, the file’s type is on the admin’s File Types Requiring Approval list, or the file is marked as a compliance document. Two things send a file back to the approvers automatically: editing an approved sensitive file (any change, whether it already was sensitive or the edit made it so), and replacing the document of a rejected file.

The Sensitive flag

The uploader can tick Sensitive on any file; a type on File Types Requiring Approval sets it automatically, and so does the AI review when it finds personal data. The flag holds the file for approval while the workflow is on, 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, and keeps the file’s contents away from AI suggestions while Never send sensitive or restricted file types to AI is on. It does not narrow who can see the file once it is approved — the audience and the restricted file types do that.

Document sync

Other apps can push their completed documents into HR Files automatically. You configure which sources are active under HR Files → Admin → Sync Settings. Seven source apps are available: Recruiting, Onboarding Hub, Forms, E-Signature, Employee Data, Employee Profile, and Policy Hub. Each source has its own trigger rules (e.g., Recruiting syncs when a candidate is hired; E-Signature syncs when signing is completed; Policy Hub files the signature receipt when an employee signs a policy). Synced files are auto-approved and do not enter the approval queue, and only admins and HR Files app admins can edit or delete them. Sync can be paused globally or per source.

Retention policies

Each file can carry a named 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 upload date if none is set). When the retention period lapses, a daily check asks admins to review the file — archive it, extend its retention, or delete it. If Automatically archive files past retention is on, the check archives those files instead 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 entirely.

E-Signature integration

Files marked Requires signature can be sent to their assigned employee for signing through the E-Signature app, with Send for signature on the file’s page. Only PDF files are eligible, the employee needs an email address, and the E-Signature app must be enabled for the business; when one of these is missing, a note in place of the button says which. A dedicated signature page is appended to the document, and the employee receives the request. When signing completes, the file is automatically marked as signed.

4. Running it

Uploading files

1. Go to HR Files → Files and click Upload.
2. Choose a file, assign an employee (optional — leave blank for company-wide documents), select a category and type, and set the audience.
3. A live Visibility Preview shows exactly who will be able to see the file with the settings you picked.
4. Click Upload. If the approval workflow is on and the file is sensitive, it enters the Approvals queue.

After upload, AI reads the document and suggests a file type, category, and expiry date. These appear as pending suggestions on the file page — you review and apply or dismiss them. AI also auto-flags files that contain PII or sensitive content (it only ever promotes the flag, never removes it).

Bulk upload: Admins can upload up to 50 files at once from Admin → Bulk Upload. All files in a batch share the same category, type, audience, and sensitivity setting.

Approving files

1. Go to HR Files → Approvals to see the pending queue, oldest first.
2. Open a file to review it, or use the checkboxes for bulk approve/reject.
3. Approving makes the file’s full audience take effect. Rejecting needs a reason, which the uploader is told. To correct a rejected file, replace its document from Edit — that sends it back to the approvers.

Business admins and HR Files app admins can approve or reject, and so can anyone Settings names under Who can approve or reject a file?. A named approver cannot approve or reject a file they uploaded themselves, or replaced with a new version — another approver has to. Admins can decide their own uploads, so a company with a single admin is never left waiting.

Requesting documents from employees

1. Go to HR Files → Requests and click Request a document.
2. Choose an employee, a file type, and optionally a due date and note.
3. The employee is notified. When they (or anyone) uploads a new file of that type for that employee — on the web, on the phone, or in a bulk upload — the request is automatically 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. One open request per employee per file type. You can send reminders (deduped to once per day) or cancel the request; while Document Request Reminders is on, overdue requests — and requests with no due date that are a week old — are also reminded automatically once a week.

Reviewing compliance

Go to HR Files → Compliance (managers and above, and anyone with direct reports). This page shows:

• Expiring documents — files whose expiry date is within the next 30 days.
• Compliance documents — files marked as compliance/legal-hold documents.
• Document Coverage — a roster of every employee with their file count. When the minimum-documents rule is enabled, employees below the threshold or missing a required document type are flagged.

From the coverage roster, anyone who can open this page can download an employee’s files as a zip (Download Employee Packet) — managers for the people on their roster, admins for anyone. The packet holds only the files the person downloading it is allowed to download.

Reviewing the audit log

Go to HR Files → Audit Log (managers and above). Every file view, download, upload, edit, approval, access grant, and export is recorded with the user, timestamp, IP address, and file version at the time.

Admins see the full business-wide log (defaulting to the last 30 days). Managers see only the audit trail for files they can view. The log can be exported as CSV, JSON, or PDF. Per-file logs are reached from the file detail page.

5. Settings

All settings are under HR Files → Settings.

Setting	Default	What it changes
Enable AI Agent	On	Lets users ask about their documents through Ask AI.
AI metadata suggestions on upload	On	After each upload, AI suggests file type, category, and expiry and flags PII. Suggestions must be reviewed — never applied silently.
Enabled File Categories	Employee Records, Candidate Documents, Contracts, Policies	Which categories appear in upload/edit forms.
Enabled File Types	All 13 types	Which file types appear in upload/edit forms.
File types limited to HR & the employee	Medical, Garnishment, Disciplinary	File types always treated as HR + the employee (or Just HR & admins with no employee assigned), regardless of the uploader’s choice.
Approval Workflow	On	Holds sensitive files for an approver before the reporting chain, specific roles, or all active employees can see them.
Identity Verification for Sensitive Downloads	Off	Requires users to re-verify their identity before downloading or previewing a file flagged Sensitive or of a restricted type. Verification lasts 15 minutes.
Expiry Reminders	On	Reminds the uploader, and the employee when they can see the file, before it expires (HR Files admins when neither can be told; nobody for a file about someone who has left) — 30 and 7 days ahead by default; choose the days under Remind this many days ahead — and marks overdue files as expired.
Flag employees below a document minimum	Off	Surfaces employees with fewer than the minimum number of HR files on the Compliance page.
Minimum documents	3	The threshold for the rule above.
Required document types	None	Each employee must have at least one file of every checked type — a count alone can pass three resumes while the ID document is missing.
Archive HR files when an employee is deactivated	Off	Archives a deactivated employee’s active files. Compliance documents stay active. Files are retained, not deleted.
Notify admins when files pass their retention period	On	A daily check queues expired-retention files for admin review. Files on legal hold are exempt.
Automatically archive files past retention	Off	Moves retention-expired files to Archived and notifies admins to confirm or restore.
Retention policy durations	1 Year, 3 Years, 5 Years, 7 Years, 10 Years	How long each named policy keeps a file. Adjust to match your jurisdiction. Permanent never expires.

Three platform security settings are always on and cannot be disabled: Secure Cloud Storage, File Encryption (at rest), and Comprehensive Audit Logging.

6. More help

• HR Files FAQ — specific setup and operating questions.
• Ask AI — the assistant answers questions about HR Files from these articles.