Employers increasingly are relying on electronic signatures in personnel records and other documents relevant to employer-employee relationships. Both state and federal laws treat “electronic signatures” as valid as so-called wet signatures, but only when the electronic signature meets statutory requirements. Employers must carefully comply with these conditions to ensure electronic signatures on arbitration agreements, employment contracts, handbooks receipts, and other acknowledgments not only are legally enforceable but also have evidentiary value. Agreeing to Conduct the Transaction Electronically California’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UTEA) and the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN) require the parties to agree to conduct a transaction electronically for the electronic signature to be enforceable. The agreement to conduct the transaction electronically must be separate from the underlying transaction. There is no prescribed form of agreement. But if there is ambiguity, a court will have to decide based on the circumstances, including the parties’ conduct. For example, despite emails, texts, and voicemails between the parties specifying the terms of a settlement agreement, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in J.B.B. Inv. Partners, Ltd. v. Fair, that the parties never agreed to conduct the transaction electronically. So, the defendant’s printed name on an … Continue reading ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES AND PERSONNEL RECORDS