Document Signatures is similar to some of the electronic signature services you'll be familiar with, like DocuSign or HelloSign, but as it's fully integrated in Rotaready there are several benefits:

Above all, it's 100% legally binding in the UK and across Europe. We comply with the eIDAS and eSign regulations.

Before we go any further, it's a good idea to know how Documents work in Rotaready first by reading our help guide here.

💎Document signatures is only available with the Pro and Premium packages

📚 A quick note on terminology. We refer to the primary person who needs to sign the document as the employee or the recipient. In some cases, you'll want a second person to countersign the document; we refer to them as the employer.

👀 Find out more in our Spotlight Session 'Redefining document signing'.

Click on Staff in the navigation menu, search for the employee you wish to send a document to, click on the Documents tab, then under Document signatures click Send a document to sign.

🔒 You need permission to send documents to sign.

To prepare your document, you need to insert a Merge Tag... or several! Merge Tags are special strings of text which tell Rotaready that something needs to be substituted into the document before it's sent out to be signed.

The most important Merge Tag is the one that controls where the signature box should appear, but there are loads more: the recipient employee's personal details (such as their name, address, date of birth), their employment/appointment information (such as their current job role, site, line manager), their pay information (such as their pay rate) and handy things like today's date.

We have a separate article that lists all the available Merge Tags and how to use them.

If your document is ready, let's upload it. Select upload a one-off file and browse for the file, or drag it into the drop zone.

❗️ Your file must be in .doc or .docx format. Files created in Microsoft Word will already be in this format, but most other software (such as Google Docs and Apple Pages) have an option to export in this format.

👍 If you find yourself uploading the same file multiple times, it'll be quicker to store it as a template. There's an explanation below on how to do this. If you've already done this, select use an existing template.

Don't forget to use the Download preview option at the bottom of the form. This downloads a preview of the document the signer(s) would see, with all the Merge Tags substituted with their corresponding values. It's always worth double checking that your Merge Tags work correctly.

You can optionally require a second signature from someone acting on behalf of your employer. This could be you or another employee on Rotaready. They'll be emailed a link to sign the document after the employee has signed.

A quick note: If you're using Merge Tags to substitute data that requires special permission to view, such as an employee's pay rate, the employer signatory must also have permission to view it (along with you) otherwise it won't be substituted.

When the document has been signed, it'll be saved as a PDF and uploaded to Rotaready automatically. The Save to drop-down determines the document category the file will be uploaded to for the chosen employee.

✅ When this happens, you'll see a green check mark alongside the document's name to show it was signed through Rotaready.

Some categories require every document to have an expiry date set; if your chosen category is one of these, you'll have to set the expiry date now. Rotaready will warn you when this date approaches and when it elapses, unless you've uploaded a new document with a future-dated expiry.

If you choose Electronic signing, Rotaready will send an email to the employee with a secure link to sign the document online. They'll be given three signing choices:

(1) type their signature, (2) draw it with their mouse, or (3) upload a photo of their hand drawn signature.

If you'd rather the document was signed the old fashioned way, you can choose Manual signing. When you click Save your browser will download the document, with all the necessary substitutions made, ready for printing out or signing by other means.

The Document Signing report keeps track of all documents you've created through Rotaready document signatures so you can monitor their progress. There's also options to cancel pending documents and download the original file.

For documents awaiting electronic signature, you have the option to send a reminder email. This is useful if you've recently updated their email address.

For documents awaiting manual signature, be sure to use the Upload signed document option when you have a signed copy ready. It'll save the document to the correct category for the employee and an orange check mark will appear alongside its name in the documents list.

Uploading a document template is a time-saving way of re-using the same document whenever you want to send a document to sign.

🔒 You need permission to create and delete document templates.

You can delete a template at any time without affecting documents that have been sent out, regardless of whether they are signed of awaiting signature.