The list nobody trusts
You provide occupational health to a logistics company with several depots. Their HR sent a headcount spreadsheet at the start of the contract. Since then there has been a steady flow of new starters, a restructure, and a depot closure. You hear about some of it from referrals, some from the site manager at a clinic day, and some not at all.
So your records show people who left months ago, miss people who have been driving forklifts since spring, and have the wrong job role for half the warehouse. Every piece of work that depends on knowing who works there, from surveillance to invoicing per head, starts with a clean-up.
Why the lists drift
The employer owns the truth about who works for them. You hold a copy. Nothing in most contracts says how often that copy is refreshed or in what format, so it is refreshed when someone on either side gets frustrated enough to ask.
- Each employer sends a different spreadsheet layout, with different column names.
- Employees are matched by name, which breaks on spelling, married names and duplicates.
- Role changes matter more than starters and leavers, and are the least likely to be sent.
- Updates arrive as email attachments to whoever the HR contact knows.
- There is no record of which version of the list your service last loaded.
What a stale list costs
| Area of work | Effect of a stale list |
|---|---|
| Health surveillance | Recalls sent for leavers, exposed new starters missed |
| Per-head invoicing | Billing disputes over who was covered |
| Clinic days | Site contact spends the day correcting your list |
| Management information | Rates calculated against the wrong headcount |
| Referrals | Admin time spent creating records that should already exist |
The problem compounds at renewal. When an employer asks what they got for their money over the year, your figures are only as good as the headcount they were calculated against, and a disputed denominator undermines every other number in the review.
None of these are dramatic on their own. Together they are a steady drain on admin time and a recurring source of friction with the client.
How we keep employee lists in step
- For each employer we agree a feed: a direct connection to their HR or payroll system where they allow it, or a standard upload template sent on a schedule.
- Uploads are mapped once per employer, so their column names and layout are translated to yours automatically after that.
- Records are matched on employee number where possible, with date of birth and name as a fallback, and uncertain matches are held for a person to confirm.
- Each load produces a change report: starters, leavers, role and site changes.
- Starters in roles that need pre-placement checks or surveillance are flagged for action. Role changes that bring someone into or out of an exposure group are flagged too.
- Leavers are closed off in your records, with any open recalls cancelled and open cases left for a clinician to review.
- If an employer's feed has not arrived when expected, your account manager gets a reminder to ask for it.
Working from a list you trust
The change report becomes a routine part of the week rather than an annual clean-up. An administrator spends a few minutes confirming uncertain matches and acting on flagged starters, instead of discovering the problems one bounced recall at a time.
Surveillance recalls go to the right people. Clinic days start with the correct names. Invoices per head match what the employer believes their headcount is, and the change reports give your account managers something useful to talk about at contract review.
Check your own situation
- Employee lists arrive as ad hoc spreadsheets in different layouts.
- You find out about leavers when their recall bounces.
- Role changes are rarely sent, so exposure groups are out of date.
- Per-head invoices are queried because headcounts differ.
- Nobody knows when each client's list was last refreshed.