Picture this, it's Tuesday twenty second, July, I'm under a paper avalanche. Hazel has grabbed a stack of policies and is trotting round like she's doing home delivery for the filing cabinet. Here's the real question. Is your HR paperwork actually protecting you? Or is it just paper snow that protects nothing? Kettalon. Cake within reach. Let's sort the useful from the useless. Welcome. Hello, I'm Kate, and this is Buzzing About HR UK Only, Plain English, no fluff. Today we're talking paperwork, protection or overkill. If you're a small business owner or the HR team of one, you're in the right place. Hazel is supervising and accepts payment in biscuits. Part one What it feels like in real life. Two extremes, no records at all. Trust me, we had a chat. Or a mountain of forms nobody reads, signs, or can ever find again. The truth sits in the middle, enough to show what you did and when. Not so much that everyone gives up in guesses. Future you will love evidence that is short, signed, dated, and findable. Everything else is confetti, pretty, but useless. Part two. Why it matters. When something goes wrong, people ask one thing, show me. Tribunal, show me the policy, show me the training, show me your meeting notes. Regulator, show me the risk assessment, show me the checks, show me the accident book. If you can't show it, in their eyes it often didn't happen. If you can show it, you're taken seriously, and conversations get calmer fast. And whatever the government decides next, more training is coming, not less. Live example from last October. The duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. That means you don't just stick a poster up. You run a short punchy training session, people sign to say they attended, and you add a tiny quiz at the end so you can prove understanding. Ten minutes to learn, two minutes to confirm. That's culture and cover in one move. Part 3. Storytime Why Signatures and Proof Matter. When I first started my business, a woman I'd met back in my hotel days reached out for help with her small company. A few years later, she had multiple sites, and she'd always repeat my line back to me. If it isn't signed, it never happened. Then came a serious health and safety incident at one of her locations, a tragic accident. Someone died. Because she could show training records, attendance sheets, signed acknowledgements, and short quizzes proving people understood the safety steps, the authorities treated it as an accident after a full investigation. It did not become a manslaughter case. Paperwork didn't save a life. It showed she had done what a reasonable employer must do. That is what records are for. Part four. The bare minimum legals you should actually keep. Let's keep this human and short. Give the written statement of main terms on or before day one. Do the right to work check before they start work and keep the copy properly. Pay correctly from day one. Give a basic health and safety induction, and keep proof of training. Follow the disciplinary and grievance code from advisory, conciliation, and arbitration service. If you don't, a tribunal can uplift compensation. Keep working time and paid holiday records. Handle personal data sensibly. Only what you need, stored safely, kept for a sensible time. Remember the sexual harassment duty from October 2024. Reasonable steps include training, clear reporting routes, reminders, and proof it happened. That's enough law for today. Breathe. Part five. Enough to start, not the whole playbook. Think in five buckets. People basics, contract, job description, right to work copy, emergency contact, probation notes, pay and time, hours, holiday, overtime, absences, agreed adjustments, conduct and performance, short notes of important chats, letters and outcomes for disciplinaries or grievances, health and safety, risk assessments, training logs, equipment checks, accident and near-miss entries, data and fairness, who can access what, simple retention notes, brief decision notes for big calls. One rule to live by. If a decision affects pay, safety, hours, or someone's job, write a short note and get a signature or a clear written confirmation. Part 6. Who does what when you're a small team? Most small businesses don't have in-house HR IT or payroll, or those bits are outsourced. This is the version that works when it's basically you, a buddy, and a couple of partners on speed dial, owner or line manager. Send the contract and day one info. Check right to work before the start date. Keep a simple people file. Write brief notes of key meetings. Make sure health and safety training is booked and logged. Buddy or lead hand. Log toolbox talks or on-the-job training. Note when someone has been shown a task safely. Accountant or payroll partner. Store personal details securely. Confirm first pay date and rates in writing. Keep hours and holiday data tidy. Health and safety advisor, if you have one. Review risk assessments and accident entries. Check training frequency and gaps. Admin or virtual assistant. File signed docs in the right folder. Chase missing signatures without drama. Everyone else. Sign what they read. Flag hazards. Record near misses. Hazel's job. Quality control on cake while I file. She is very thorough. Part 7. Paper that saves you, not drowns you. Here are the 10 pieces that actually do work. Contract and day one particulars. Right to work copy with the date and who checked it. Job description that matches the real job. Induction checklist with names, dates, and signatures. Training record that shows what, when, and proof of understanding. A tiny quiz is perfect. Health and safety risk assessments that name the controls you actually use. Accident and near miss entries and what you did next. One page notes for performance and conduct. Signed or confirmed by email. Grievance outcome letters that show you listened, investigated, and decided. Lever checklist with kit returned, final pay agreed, and holiday settled. That fits in one tidy folder per person and a slim set of safety files. Part eight. Mini dramas and quick fixes. The signed policy nobody follows. Manager, we have a policy. Employee, we were never trained. Fix. Pair the policy with a 20-minute briefing and a signed attendance sheet. Add two quiz questions. Store both. The verbal warning that never was. Owner, we had a chat months ago. Tribunal, show me. Fix. Write a short note after any conduct or performance chat. Date it. Share it. Keep it. The accident with no training proof. Supervisor. I showed them on day one. Investigator. Prove it. Fix, use a simple task sign off. Task name, date shown, who showed it, who learned it, quick tick and signature. The harassment poster and nothing else. Team, we saw a poster. Law. Reasonable steps means proper training and reminders. Fix. Short course, tiny quiz, attendance list, six month refresher in the diary. The grievance that lives in WhatsApp. Team. We told the manager in the group. Reality, that's not a record. Fix. Acknowledge by email, log the issue, send a two-line outcome, file it. Part nine. Practical takeaways. Set up your five buckets this week so everyone knows where things live. Move key stuff into one place. Contracts, training, safety, conduct, time. After any important chat, write three lines and get confirmation. Tie training to proof of understanding, not just attendance. Keep records short, signed, dated, and easy to find. If you want the ready-made folder structure, sign-off slips, meeting note templates, and a light retention guide, book a quick call and I'll set you up without the FAF. Part 10. Listener Q and A Q1. Do I really need signatures? A. Yes. Signature or a clear written confirmation turns a memory into evidence. Q2. How long do I keep records? A. It varies. Safety and pay often need longer. If you want a simple UK retention cheat sheet, I've got one. Q3. Is a photo of a whiteboard a record? A. Not on its own. Write a short note of the decision and attach the photo. Q4. Can I use digital signatures? A. Yes. Use a sensible system or a clear email reply that says I confirm I have read and understood. Q five. Are WhatsApp screenshots okay? A. Handy for context, not a full record. Follow up by email and file the outcome. Q six. What if staff refuse to sign? A. Ask them to write why. Note the date you issued the document, offer to explain again. Record it either way. Q seven. How much is too much? A. If nobody can find it or understand it, it's too much. Keep it short and useful. Back to our opening scene, me under a paper blizzard. Hazel redecorating with risk assessments like its festive bunting. Paperwork should protect people and protect you. Short, signed, dated, findable. Training that sticks with a tiny quiz to prove it. That's how you show reasonable steps and sleep at night. If you want a rapid tidy up, I've got a paperwork starter pack and a one hour paperwork audit that sets your folders, your checklists, your sign offs, and your training proof. Book a discovery call and we'll get you from snowstorm to simple. Cake encouraged, Hazel insists. I'm Kate, this is Buzzing About HR, Kettle on, Standards Up. See you next time.