The person component contains information about people in the database (employees and contractors) and includes data elements such as name, date of birth, address, emergency contact details, education details, etc. Deciding what information to collect is based on statutory requirements, company policy or a genuine business need-to-know. Some countries restrict the collection of certain types of information, such as ethnicity, religion, etc, or impose restrictions about when certain information can be collected, such as age, marital status, etc. This is done to avoid possible discrimination during the recruitment process.

The employment status of people also contributes to the range of information that needs to be kept. For example, there may be permanent, part-time, or casual employees, and/or contract workers.

The person record (Person ID) is often the key record for many components in the HRIS. For that reason the rules surrounding the use of the person identification record (also known as employee ID, staff number, etc) need to be known before data is stored in the HRIS. For example, is the Person ID to be unique for companies that have a global operation? If there is an operation in Australia employing people and an operation in Singapore, is it necessary to have unique numbers? Usually the answer is yes; numbers must be globally unique, because the database may end up being a single instance for global records. Also, the issue of whether a person's Person IDs will be reused if he/she is re-employed needs to be decided.

The person record issues and other similar issues should be the subject of "discussion papers" before any HRIS replacement project commences. Unless issues are identified early, decisions are made and rules communicated, it will only lead to confusion and costly re-works during the project.  

Level TWO - Transactions / Reports