Document Assignment and Acknowledgment: Role-Based and Individual User Approach

Background:

We are currently encountering issues with the document Read and Sign functionality in WM .  We used to issue notifications that require acknowledgment from staff members. These notifications are posted under a specific folder, and access is granted based on user roles which set up per port.

In our operational workflow, notifications are used to share urgent, temporary updates or policy changes with staff. Once the updates are formally incorporated into manuals, the notifications may not be active. As such, newly onboarded staff members should not be required to acknowledge past notifications that were issued before their employment or account creation date. However, the system currently enforces acknowledgment for all historical documents, regardless of join date.

Current Challenges:
1. Irrelevant Acknowledgment Requirements for New Staff
All users assigned to a role, including newly joined staff, are required to acknowledge all existing documents ,even those issued long before their start date. This leads to irrelevant and unnecessary reminders for documents that are no longer applicable.
2. Manual Checkout Creates Audit Risks
Admin can manually check out documents for new staff to remove these acknowledgment . However, this workaround introduces audit concerns and should not be used to bypass system limitations.

3. Role Proliferation Is Not Scalable
Creating different roles or categories to control access for new vs. existing staff is not scalable and would lead to an unmanageable number of roles across ports.

Proposed Enhancements:
1. Join Date–Based Acknowledgment Logic
• Implement a system rule that requires document acknowledgment only for users whose account creation date in WM is on or before the document issue date.
• Users joining after the document was issued should still be able to view the notification for reference but should not be required to acknowledge it.
2. Flexible Acknowledgment Settings per Document
Introduce configurable acknowledgment settings when posting a document:
• Acknowledge by all current and future users in role
• Acknowledge by current users only at the time of issue

3. Allow individuals to assign documents to users based on specific assignments rather than just roles.
Enable Un assignment of documents to users, indicating that document acknowledgment is unnecessary, instead of relying on manual administrator intervention for checkout with dates.