No more filing cabinets: a digital personnel file that thinks ahead.
Personal details, contracts, payroll data, documents and equipment — one place per employee, stored to UK GDPR standards with a full audit trail.
- UK GDPR compliant
- EU data centres
- Access logged
- One file
- everything about one employee
- 6 sections
- personal details to payroll
- Audit trail
- tamper-evident storage
In short: one file per employee — tidy, secure, always to hand.
- Six sections per file: personal details, HR & contract, payroll & tax, equipment, documents, scheduling.
- Document vault with checksum, retention period and access log — tamper-evident and integrity-checked.
- Expiring records such as a driving licence or first-aid certificate are flagged in colour before they lapse.
- Department, position, line manager and scheduling rules feed straight into the rota and payroll prep.
- From £4 per employee/month · no setup fee, EU data centres.
Four questions nobody can answer on the spot today
Each one costs a phone call, a search or an excuse. On the left is how it works today — on the right, how it should work.
“Where's Sofia's contract?”
In a lever-arch file at the other site“Documents” tab, two clicks“Who opened the payroll list?”
No way to tellAccess log with timestamps“Is the driving licence still valid?”
On a photocopy in the filing cabinetAmber from 30 days out, red on expiry“Am I allowed to delete this document?”
GuessworkThe retention period and any legal hold decideWhat belongs in a digital personnel file?
A digital personnel file brings together all of an employee's data and documents in one place: personal details, contract, payroll and tax details, records and issued equipment. Instead of filing cabinets and scattered documents you maintain everything once — and find it again in seconds.
UK GDPR requires personal data to be held securely, with restricted access, and kept no longer than you need it. Separate rules set their own periods: HMRC payroll records for three years after the tax year, National Minimum Wage records for six, and — since 6 April 2026 — annual leave records for six years as well. An electronic personnel file handles both sides: encrypted storage, logged access, a checksum per document and a retention period you set per category.
In PlanState the personnel file software isn't an archive but the data foundation: department, position, line manager, site and scheduling rules flow straight into the rota and payroll prep. The file flags expiring records such as a driving licence or a first-aid certificate before they lapse.
Employees can't change their address, emergency contact or bank details themselves.
From empty to complete — in half an hour
No scanning project, no consultant on site. The file grows with whatever you already have.
- 15 minutes
Add your team
Add them individually or import from a list. Department, position and line manager are set straight away.
- 210 minutes
Set up categories
Per document type: who can see it, whether an expiry date is required, how long it's kept.
- 315 minutes
Upload documents
Store contracts and records. Every file gets a checksum, a retention period and a log.
- from then on
Then it runs in the background
New records go straight into the file, expiry dates flag themselves, and the rota picks up the data.
Only someone with team-management permissions can open the file. Employees can't change sensitive fields themselves. “Tamper-evident & integrity-checked” means checksum and log — not a qualified electronic signature.
File it, monitor it, lose nothing
Two things decide whether a personnel file holds up day to day: how a document gets in, and what happens when it expires or needs deleting.
Store a document securely
The upload runs in three steps: create a draft, generate a signed upload URL, finalise with a checksum. Only then does the document count as stored.
Employment_contract_Sofia_R.pdf
1.8 MB
“Contract” category selected · start upload
Expiry & retention under control
Records with an expiry date are flagged in colour before they lapse. And deleting isn't just a button — it's a decision the system checks against your rules.
Retention rule: 6 years · until 05/04/2032
A file that stores and keeps watch
On the left is what you maintain in the file. On the right, what the file does on its own.
Personal details & contact
Name, address, emergency contact, bank details — complete and in one place.
Payroll & tax
Tax code, National Insurance number, pension scheme, cost centre — ready for payroll.
Equipment register
SIM, vehicle, laptop and peripherals with serial number — who has what.
Document vault
Private storage, a checksum that proves the file hasn't changed, downloads only via 60-second links.
Expiry monitoring
Amber from 30 days remaining, red on expiry — before the record lapses.
Access log
Every view, download and deletion is recorded — in the audit trail.
Linked to the rota
Weekly hours, rest periods, preferences and geofence feed into auto-scheduling.
Export for payroll
Payroll number, cost centre, tax code and National Insurance details go out as CSV or PDF, ready for your payroll software.
Why paper personnel files are a risk in 2026
Personal data has to be held with restricted access and deleted once you no longer need it, while pay and working time records have to be kept for the periods HMRC and the Working Time Regulations set — since 6 April 2026 that includes six years of annual leave records. A lever-arch file can prove neither: it doesn't know who looked inside, and it can't warn you before a record expires. An electronic file keeps that evidence for you — so when HMRC or the Fair Work Agency asks, answering takes minutes.
A personnel file for every industry
Every industry has its mandatory records — the file knows them and flags when one is about to expire.
Care
Professional registration, first-aid certificates and mandatory training have expiry dates. The file flags them before the rota relies on them.
Personnel file for care →Restaurants
Food hygiene training and fitness-to-work declarations belong in every file, and casual staff change often. Add, upload, done.
Personnel file for hospitality →Beauty & Wellness
Training records, treatment certificates and casual-contract paperwork usually end up scattered. Here they live in the file.
Personnel file for beauty & wellness →Hotels
Many departments, many contracts, seasonal staff. Cost centre and site live in the file, so your reporting breaks down by both.
Personnel file for hotels →Retail & Fashion
Part-time, zero-hours and student contracts — every contract type brings its own paperwork. The file keeps contract and payroll details together.
Personnel file for fashion & retail →Construction & Trades
Driving licence, CSCS card, site induction and issued vehicles or tools are all in the file, with number plate and serial number.
Personnel file for construction & trades →What our customers say
Seven questions to ask about any personnel-file software
These are the points that show whether a file holds up day to day and in an audit. Feel free to put them to us too.
- 1Is the data held in EU data centres, and is there a data processing agreement (DPA)?
- 2Are documents encrypted and access logged?
- 3Are retention periods and legal hold covered?
- 4Does the system warn about expiring records?
- 5Can employees only see the documents released to them?
- 6Can the file connect to the rota and payroll — or is it another standalone tool?
- 7How quickly is the file ready to go, including import?
PlanState answers yes to all seven.
Try it nowTransparent from £4 per employee
Example calculation
All prices exclude VAT, with annual billing.
PlanState vs. filing cabinets & Excel
Filing cabinets & Excel
The way it's always been
PlanState
Everything in one platform
What you want to know
Common questions about the “digital personnel file” and our answers.
A digital personnel file brings together all of an employee's data and documents — personal details, contract, payroll details, records, equipment — in one secure, access-restricted place instead of in filing cabinets and Excel spreadsheets.
Yes. In PlanState the data sits in EU data centres, every access is logged, documents are stored encrypted and delivered only via short-lived, protected links; a data processing agreement (DPA) is available.
It depends on the record. HMRC payroll records run three years past the end of the tax year, National Minimum Wage records six years, working time records two years, and — since 6 April 2026 — annual leave records six years. Everything else falls under UK GDPR, where you set your own retention schedule. PlanState holds a retention period per document category, blocks early deletion and stores a checksum for every file.
Yes, if the document category allows it. Categories let you control, per document type, who can view and upload.
The personnel file marks expiring documents (e.g. driving licence, first-aid certificate) in colour — amber from 30 days remaining, red on expiry.
Documents stay subject to your retention rules and can only be deleted once the period has elapsed; a legal hold can block deletion on top of that.
Personnel file, rota, time tracking, absences and recruiting all run in one platform — the personnel file is the shared data foundation.