The electronic age

Ric · #1 05-09-2009, 01:41 AM

Hi all, this one had me totally lost for words.

I recieved a call from our HR department yesteday and a young gentleman on the phone said that he had a casual contract renewal for one of our staff but couldn't send it to him as he didn't have an email address.

"Don't they have a postal address you can mail it to?" was my first question to which the reply was "Oh I didn't think of that".

I didn't think we were at the stage where we are totally dependent on emails as our only source of communication but at this rate Australia Post will be out of a job within ten years.

Cheers

Dennis · #2 05-09-2009, 06:04 AM

Hi Ric

That is a very interesting insight into the “inner world” that the HR employee lives in along with the environment and tools of his choice!

Cheers

Dennis

TrevorW · #3 05-09-2009, 08:34 AM

On the other side of the coin I work for a Govt Dept where people still like to waste trees and money

They'll print 100 odd a 30 page documents

Get a large envelope and mail things

instead of PDF'in the contract and emailing to the other party for them to sign and return

koputai (Jason) · #4 05-09-2009, 09:15 AM

I work with a guy who prints out 3 full copies, 600 pages each, in colour, of the users manual for a product we sell. He does this each time a new version of the software comes out. Problem is, a new release comes out every three to four weeks!

Cheers,
Jason.

Starkler (Geoff) · #5 05-09-2009, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorW

instead of PDF'in the contract and emailing to the other party for them to sign and return

How do you sign a pdf file? Someone has to kill some trees it may as well be the sender if they want something signed.

TrevorW · #6 06-09-2009, 12:10 AM

you can scan signatures then paste them into a PDF documents with Adobe Writer

if fact if done correctly no hard copy would be necessary

mithrandir (Andrew) · #7 06-09-2009, 05:10 PM

The whole purpose of signing something is to provide authentication and nonrefutability. How do you think that can work if anyone can paste your signature into a pdf?

These days our security teams will accept electronic forms, but the entire email has to be digitally signed by a key which they can verify. It is only a couple of years since they insisted on the original of all forms. A FAX was not good enough.

TrevorW · #8 06-09-2009, 05:21 PM

Here they accept fax copies

Ric · #9 06-09-2009, 11:52 PM

Hi all,

Our HR dept which is a govt dept and will remain nameless has now decided on a new plan of attack for those who do not have emails.

This plan they believe will make things easier for all ??????

1. they will email me a copy of the contract.

2. I will print it out and get our staff member to sign it.

3. I will then scan it and email it back to HR so they can get things started at their end.

4. I am to then photocopy the hard copy and post the original to HR and send the other to Payroll.

Yep, there's nothing a govt dept to simplify the entire process.

dpastern (Dave Pastern) · #10 07-09-2009, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorW

you can scan signatures then paste them into a PDF documents with Adobe Writer

if fact if done correctly no hard copy would be necessary

I doubt that it'd be legally considered valid contract wise though...

Dave

dpastern (Dave Pastern) · #11 07-09-2009, 10:47 AM

hahaha! Wouldn't it be cheaper to post it to him/her and have them complete and post back?

Dave

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ric

Hi all,

Our HR dept which is a govt dept and will remain nameless has now decided on a new plan of attack for those who do not have emails.

This plan they believe will make things easier for all ??????

1. they will email me a copy of the contract.

2. I will print it out and get our staff member to sign it.

3. I will then scan it and email it back to HR so they can get things started at their end.

4. I am to then photocopy the hard copy and post the original to HR and send the other to Payroll.

Yep, there's nothing a govt dept to simplify the entire process.

SkyViking (Rolf) · #12 07-09-2009, 12:20 PM

I worked for a large insurance company, and once they decided that all correspondence with customers now had to be scanned and stored electronically - great I thought.
However, because of the way they organised their systems they also meticulously printed out each and every email received, and then scanned it...!
Suffice to say it was not the most efficient company I've been working for.