Next we will approach the area of Utilities, from the point of view of the way in which the human resource are organized. Although there are many categories and types of services, from gas, water, electricity, sanitation, etc., they all have one thing in common: employees with specific professional training.

In all these areas there is a very high dynamic especially of the staff working in the field, which puts a lot of pressure on human resources specialists. They must not only find replacements for those who leave in a very short time, but they also have to deal with an extremely large number of documents that must be signed when the employees are hired and also when they end their contracts.

Another impediment is the organization of the HR department – most of the time, at the headquarters – which means that all specific actions are delegated to officials in the territory. In addition to the daily activities they carry out, they must also take over the duties of a human resources specialist, ie schedule and hold interviews, prepare documents, manage both their signing and distribution to both parties, etc. Here is how the schedule of these employees was loaded, leaving them less time for their job-specific activities.

In recent years, more and more companies in various fields of activity have adopted solutions for electronic document signing for several reasons:

• to streamline the entire process of issuing, transmitting and accessing documents related to the employee’s file;
• to give the documents the status of an original document, using a qualified electronic signature;
• to reduce paper consumption, helping to protect the environment;
• to reduce consumable costs.

As for utility providers, almost all issue invoices in electronic format, others even sign contracts using the electronic signature, being already familiar with digital tools. From here to the digital transformation of the HR department is just a step.

In this sense, last year the legislative framework was modified by the publication of Law no. 208/2021, which establishes more clearly than before that the employment  documents can be electronically signed with a qualified electronic signature.

In order to resolve all the above-mentioned impediments, so that human resources specialists can properly manage all the specific processes, returning to the control of the recruitment, employment and termination of employment, the qualified electronic signature is the essential tool.

Another important mention that Law no. 208/2021 brings is the fact that all expenses related to the acquisition of electronic signatures used to sign the documents of conclusion, modification, suspension or, as the case may be, termination of the individual employment contract, are deductible. which comes in support of companies that choose to start the process of digital transformation.