This article is about Justworks PEO, Payroll and Employer of Record. What product am I using?
The Justworks Document Center makes it easy to upload, assign, track, download, and store company and employee documents all in one place. Whether you're sharing policies or collecting signatures, everything you need to manage documentation is accessible right through your Justworks account.
Search
You can search for documents by document title or employee name. Search is based on document details like the file name or assignee, not the contents inside. You can use filters such as:
Category
Assignment type
Uploaded by
Upload date
File format
Signature status
Search and filters can be used together to help you find the documents you need more efficiently.
Uploading and assigning documents
From the dashboard, navigate to “Documents” under “HR” on the left navigation bar. Select “Upload document” and drag and drop or upload your document in the “Upload a document” box. Give your document a name and select the best category for the document. Only PDF documents are supported at this time.
Uploading a document to a company’s document center
Next, decide whether or not the document requires action by your team.There are two options:
- Signature required
- No signature
Selecting whether the document requires a signature
Assigning Signature Required Documents on Justworks PEO
If you want employees to electronically sign a document, select “Signature required”.
After choosing “Signature required,” decide if you’d like employees to receive email reminders. Automatic email reminders are sent to assignees once every 7 days, up to three times after assigning the document. Email reminders stop after an employee signs their document in Justworks. Select “One reminder every 7 days, up to 3 times” to enable reminders or “No reminders needed” if none are needed.
Selecting whether employees will be reminded that they have a document to sign
Please note that, at this time, adding reminders to signature required documents is only available to PEO customers.
Select Submit to continue. On this page, you can preview your document and assign the document to specific employees. You can filter employees by department, office, or member type.
Selecting employees to receive the document to sign
Once you select your assignees, select Assign. . Employees will receive an email from Justworks alerting them of their new document and will be directed to their Justworks account to sign.
Employees access their documents through their Justworks account and are required to scroll through an entire document before providing their signature. After viewing the entire document, employees are presented with the following:
“I acknowledge receipt of the forgoing document and agree to all applicable terms therein. By clicking to sign, I adopt the signature as my signature and I acknowledge and agree that it has the same force and effect as a hard copy signature signed by me in pen and ink.”
After signing, the employee’s signature is appended to the document and includes their signature, date and time signed, and IP address of where the document was signed. Signed documents are stored in the employee’s profile and can be downloaded at any time.
Example of a document signed by an employee
Archiving Signature Required Documents
If you're a Justworks PEO customer, you can archive any document you upload that requires an employee signature. If the document is In Progress, meaning there are still signatures being collected, you’ll see it right at the top of the page. If all signatures have been collected, you’ll find the document in its assigned folder.
When looking to archive that document, you can select Manage next to the document.
In progress documents that can be managed
You can add new members to sign the document, preview and archive the document from this page.
Managing a company’s action required document
You’ll want to confirm here before the document is fully archived. Note that archiving the document may take a few minutes to complete.
Once the document is archived, it will be stored in the applicable folder in the Archived section of the page. Members without documents permissions will no longer be able to access the document.
Archived section of a company’s document center
Please note that, at this time, the ability to archive documents is only available to PEO customers.
What happens to any completed signatures when a document is archived?
In the event of a document being archived, all employees who have signed their document will no longer be able to access the document. And employees who were assigned the document for signature but had not completed will not be able to sign the document.
Any remaining reminder emails that are sent to the employee for the Signature Required Document will cease to be sent out.
Restoring Archived Signature Required Documents
If a document that has been archived needs to be restored, you’ll be able to do so by clicking “Manage” next to the archived document. In the Manage page, you’ll see the option to Unarchive
What happens to any completed signatures when an archived document is restored?
Once a document has been restored, any employees who have signed the document will be able to view it in their Justworks account. Any employee who has not signed the document will be able to sign the document.
Any remaining reminder emails that are sent to the employee for the Signature Required Document will be sent out.
Uploading No Signature Required Documents
If you do not need an employee to provide an electronic signature, select “No signature” in the “Signature” box and Select Next.
On this page you can choose who should be able to view the document. You’ll have the option to share the document with the entire company, all employees, only admins with document permissions, or a specific individual.
Assignment choices for a no signature required document
Once you have selected the people you would like to have access to this document, select Upload and the document will be uploaded to your Documents Center with the visibility settings you selected.
How do I track signature progress and completion?
With signature completion tracking, you are able to see what documents are out for signature and their progress, at a glance.
From the Document center, you will be able to find all assigned documents, the status of each document, and when the document was last assigned.
In progress documents
To see a detailed report of who has and has not signed a document, click “Manage” next to a document under the “In Progress” section of the Documents Center. On this page, you can check the signature status for individual assignees, unassign the document, add new members, and view the document that’s out for signature.
Signature status of in progress signature required document
How are documents stored?
Documents requiring acknowledgement are securely stored in the employee’s profile once they have been signed. Documents that do not require any action from your employees are automatically filed in the employee’s documents center unless it’s noted that only admins with document permissions should see the document.
Individual employees document center
Bulk Document Downloads
The bulk downloads feature allows you to download multiple employee or company documents at once directly from the Document Center. This includes files such as W-2s, 1099s, I-9s, paystubs, and other company documents.
This feature can be used to collect documents for year-end reporting, employee offboarding, or audit and compliance purposes. Please note, you can only bulk download files within a single folder; the selected files will be downloaded into one zip folder.
This feature is available to all company admins with access to the Document Center. Follow the steps below to download your files in bulk:
First, navigate to the Document Center from the left-side menu.
Documents Center
Select the folder you want to download from by clicking “View all.” Use the checkboxes to select individual files, or click the top checkbox to select all.
Folder within the documents center displaying checkboxes
Once multiple files are selected, a bar will appear at the bottom of the screen. Click “Download ZIP” to start the download. Please note, clicking the “x” will clear your selections.
Bar that pops up once a checkbox is clicked prompting download
Once the download is ready, a pop-up will appear where you can rename the zip folder and choose where to save it on your computer.
Pop up to save zip folder
Tax documents
W-2 and 1099 forms are automatically available under "Documents" as soon as they're generated in January of each year. Employees and contractors can view and download their own tax documents by navigating to "Documents" under You. Tax documents are only generated during appropriate tax times and not for special requests.
Tax documents are also available to employers. Simply view the profile of the employee or contractor, and any applicable tax documents will be listed in the lower right corner under "Documents".
FAQ
Are electronic signatures in Justworks legally binding?
In general, electronic signatures have the same legal weight as traditional pen-and-paper signatures. However, Justworks’ electronic signature may not be appropriate for every purpose, and you should consult legal counsel for specific questions.
What can I use electronic signatures for in Justworks?
Justworks electronic signature is best suited for employment documents like:
- Company handbooks
- Performance improvement plans
- Pay change notices
- Onboarding documents
There are some types of documents where electronic signatures may not be appropriate, such as court documents and certain real estate or family law documents, or for which Justworks’ e-signature functionality may not be best suited. This list is not extensive, and you should consult legal counsel to determine whether Justworks’ e-signature functionality suits your needs.
Who can sign documents in Justworks?
Active employees and contractors who have completed setting up their Justworks accounts can be assigned documents. New employees cannot be assigned a document for e-signature until their start date in Justworks.
Employees who have not started at the company, separated employees, and vendors are not able to be assigned documents at this time.
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.