Offer Letters, Onboarding and Policies for HR Teams
Human resources teams spend a surprising share of their week on signatures: offer letters, confidentiality agreements, handbook acknowledgments, policy updates, performance plans. Each one must be signed by the right person, at the right time, and kept where an auditor or attorney can find it. Codec Document helps HR teams send those documents to one employee or to the whole company, and see exactly who has signed.
A handbook nobody signed protects nobody
Policies protect a company only if employees received and acknowledged them. When a dispute arises about harassment reporting, overtime rules or confidentiality, the first question is whether the employee signed the policy. HR teams that collect acknowledgments on paper, or by asking employees to reply to an email, often cannot prove it. The same is true of offer letters: a candidate who accepted verbally and started work may later dispute the salary or the at-will terms that were in a letter they never signed.
How it helps hr teams
Offer letters signed the same day
Send the offer with compensation, start date and at-will language, and get it signed before a competing offer arrives.
Onboarding packets in one flow
Confidentiality agreement, handbook acknowledgment and policy forms sent together, signed from a phone on the new hire first day or before it.
Policy updates to every employee
Send an updated policy to the whole company in bulk and track who has acknowledged it, with a reminder for those who have not.
Audit trail for every acknowledgment
Who signed, when and from where, with a fingerprint of the exact version of the document, available when legal asks.
Background checks and employment forms have their own rules
Employment documents are generally valid when signed electronically under the ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001, but some forms have their own rules. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2), requires that the disclosure for a background check be made in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, and that the candidate authorize it in writing. Form I-9 may be completed electronically only with a system that meets the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 274a.2. State laws also regulate items such as non-compete agreements, so review state-specific documents with counsel.
The acknowledgment that was not there
A 60-person company in Virginia updated its remote work policy by email. When an employee later disputed a disciplinary action based on that policy, HR could show the email was sent but not that the employee had read or accepted it. The next policy update went out as a document for signature to every employee, with automatic tracking. Within a week, HR had signed acknowledgments from everyone, and a list of the three people who needed a reminder.
What to get signed in every employee file
- The offer letter with pay, start date, classification and at-will language where applicable.
- A confidentiality agreement and an invention assignment where roles require one.
- The handbook acknowledgment, renewed each time the handbook changes.
- Background check disclosure and authorization, as a standalone document.
- Policy acknowledgments for remote work, equipment and acceptable use.
- Performance improvement plans and separation agreements, signed and dated.
Questions people ask about this
Can I send one document to the whole company?
Yes. Bulk sending gives each employee their own copy and signing link, and you can track completion from one place.
Are electronically signed offer letters valid?
Yes. Offer letters and most employment agreements can be signed electronically under the ESIGN Act and state UETA laws.
Can employees sign from their phones?
Yes. Employees open the link and sign in the browser, without installing an app or creating an account.
Can we use our own letterhead?
Yes. Company logo and details appear on every document you send.
Documents hr teams send most
- Employee confidentiality agreement
- Bulk signing for teams
- Resignation letter template
- Independent contractor agreement