Human resources home

Human Resources Home: What Your HR Home Page Should Include to Pass an HR Audit

If you’re searching for a human resources home (or an HR home page) you’re likely trying to create a single, reliable “front door” for HR—where employees and managers can quickly find policies, forms, required notices, and compliance guidance. For HR professionals and business owners, the goal is simple: reduce risk, prevent missed deadlines, and make it easy for employees to access the information they’re entitled to under federal, state, and local law.

This guide explains what to include on your human resources home so it supports a practical HR audit approach and strengthens labor law compliance—especially around required postings, wage-and-hour basics, leave rights, and documentation.

Why a “Human Resources Home” Matters for HR Audit Readiness

A well-designed HR home page isn’t just a convenience—it’s a compliance control. When information is scattered across shared drives, email threads, and outdated PDFs, organizations tend to miss critical requirements like:

• Posting current labor law notices (physical and, in many cases, electronic posting for remote workers)
• Communicating wage/hour rules and complaint procedures
• Providing legally required leave and anti-discrimination information
• Maintaining consistent onboarding documentation and acknowledgments

A strong HR home page supports repeatable compliance. It also pairs naturally with an HR audit process—if you’re building or refreshing your audit program, SwiftSDS’s Human resource audit hub provides a broader framework for running audits and closing gaps.

Core Sections Every HR Home Page Should Include

Below is a compliance-oriented structure you can apply whether you use SharePoint, an intranet, HRIS portal, or a simple internal website.

1) “Start Here” Navigation for Employees and Managers

Your human resources home should immediately separate content by audience:

• Employees: pay, timekeeping, benefits, leave, workplace policies, complaints, required notices
• Managers: hiring/onboarding steps, discipline guidance, accommodation process, wage/hour rules for scheduling and approvals
• HR/People Ops: templates, audit checklists, recordkeeping calendar, posting tracker

This reduces errors like managers misclassifying time or skipping required steps in an accommodation request.

2) Required Labor Law Notices (Posters) and Posting Compliance

Labor law posting is one of the most commonly audited items because it’s visible, date-sensitive, and jurisdiction-specific. Your HR home page should include:

• A section titled “Required Labor Law Notices”
• The current poster set for each location (and guidance for remote employees, if applicable)
• A posting log: what’s posted, where, last updated date, and owner

If you operate in Massachusetts, your HR home page can link directly to required notices you must keep current, such as:

• Massachusetts Wage & Hour Laws (MA Attorney General)
• Fair Employment in Massachusetts (MCAD anti-discrimination notice)
• Notice: Parental Leave in Massachusetts (MCAD)
• Information about Employees' Unemployment Insurance Coverage (DUA)
• Notice to Employees (Industrial Accidents / workers’ comp)

Location-specific rules change. For multi-state or multi-city employers, include links to SwiftSDS jurisdiction pages so users can confirm what applies at each site. For example:

• Massachusetts (MA) Posting Requirements
• Hopkinton, Middlesex County, MA Posting Requirements
• Harford County, MD Labor Law Posting Requirements

Actionable tip: add a “Poster owner + update cadence” line on the HR home page (e.g., “HR Compliance: Review postings quarterly and after any agency update”).

3) Wage & Hour and Timekeeping Rules (Manager-Proofed)

Wage-and-hour issues are a major driver of claims and audits. Your HR home page should clearly state the basics aligned to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and any applicable state rules:

• Timekeeping expectations (meal/rest breaks where required, rounding rules if used, no off-the-clock work)
• Overtime authorization rules (and a reminder that unauthorized overtime must still be paid under the FLSA)
• Classification guidance (exempt vs. non-exempt overview and who to contact for questions)
• Paydays and pay statement access procedures

If you have Massachusetts employees, referencing the official wage/hour notice in your posting section (like Massachusetts Wage & Hour Laws) reinforces consistency between posted requirements and your internal guidance.

4) Anti-Discrimination, Harassment Prevention, and Complaint Channels

Your HR home page should make it easy to find:

• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement and anti-harassment policy
• How to report concerns (HR email, hotline, anonymous option if available)
• Non-retaliation statement
• Investigation expectations (high-level steps and timelines)

This content should align with federal requirements (e.g., Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, ADA) and state agencies. In Massachusetts, a practical compliance move is to link the posted MCAD notice (e.g., Fair Employment in Massachusetts) from your complaint section so employees can see external rights and pathways.

5) Leave, Accommodation, and Benefits Hub (with “Which Leave Applies?”)

Leave administration is error-prone—especially when federal and state programs overlap. Your HR home page should include:

• A leave request entry point (form/workflow)
• A short “Which leave applies?” guide (FMLA, state paid leave, sick leave, parental leave, military leave)
• ADA accommodations request process and contact
• Required notices and timelines (eligibility, certifications, job protection)

For Massachusetts employers, including the posted Notice: Parental Leave in Massachusetts helps employees find baseline rights quickly.

6) Onboarding, Policy Acknowledgments, and Recordkeeping

From an HR audit perspective, your HR home page should help you prove consistency. Include:

• New hire packet and I-9 instructions (aligned to federal Form I-9 requirements)
• Handbook and policy acknowledgments (digital signatures if available)
• Training assignments (anti-harassment, safety, role-based compliance)
• Records retention basics (where documents live; who can access; retention schedule)

If you want a structured way to track these items, connect your HR home page to SwiftSDS checklists like the Human resources compliance audit checklist and the more document-focused Human resources checklist.

How to Audit Your HR Home Page (Quick HR Audit Workflow)

Use this lightweight audit cycle quarterly (or after regulatory updates):

Step 1: Validate “One Source of Truth”

• Are there duplicate versions of policies/forms elsewhere?
• Does the HR home page clearly mark the “current version” and effective date?

Step 2: Confirm Posting and Notice Coverage by Location

• Compare each worksite to the relevant jurisdiction page (e.g., Bel Air North, Harford County, MD Labor Law Posting Requirements)
• Ensure remote workers can access electronic equivalents if applicable to your workforce model

Step 3: Test Common Employee Journeys

• “I need to report harassment.” (Can they find the channel in 2 clicks?)
• “I need to request leave.” (Is there a clear intake form and guidance?)
• “I have a pay question.” (Is payroll timing and escalation clear?)

Step 4: Assign Owners and Set Reminders

List a named owner for postings, policies, benefits, and HRIS content. Set calendar reminders for reviews.

For deeper context on HR audit essentials and what belongs inside the broader HR function, SwiftSDS also maintains related guidance like hr mgmt and the role-focused hr expert.

Common Mistakes to Avoid on an HR Home Page

Outdated posters or “PDF graveyards”

If posters are stored but not tracked, they go stale. Maintain a “last verified” date and link to your jurisdiction pages such as Massachusetts (MA) Posting Requirements.

Policies without acknowledgments

If employees can’t easily acknowledge updates, enforcement becomes harder. Make acknowledgments part of the HR home workflow.

Confusing terminology and labels

Standardize navigation labels. If your team debates naming conventions, SwiftSDS’s guidance on human resource or human resources can help you choose consistent language across the site.

FAQ: Human Resources Home / HR Home Page

What should be on an HR home page first?

Start with: required labor law notices, key policies (anti-harassment, conduct, timekeeping), leave request pathway, and “contact HR” reporting channels. Then add onboarding and manager resources.

Do we need different HR home pages for each state?

You don’t need separate sites, but you do need state- and local-specific posting and policy references. Use location pages like Harford County, MD Labor Law Posting Requirements to ensure each site is covered.

How often should we update our human resources home?

Review quarterly, and update immediately after changes to labor law posters, wage/hour rules, leave programs, or internal policies. Poster compliance is especially time-sensitive—keep a log with verification dates.

If you’re building your HR home page as part of a broader compliance cleanup, pair it with SwiftSDS’s Human resource audit framework and keep your documentation aligned to the Human resources compliance audit checklist so your HR home becomes a living, auditable compliance tool—not just a resource page.