The RED / AMBER / GREEN framework gives you an immediate picture of where your business stands on workforce compliance. Rather than guessing whether you are at risk, this scoring model checks your employee records against specific requirements and assigns a status that tells you what action is needed, if any.

What each status means

GREEN means all active employees have complete, compliant records. Contracts are signed and current. NIC numbers are registered. Personnel files are complete. No contract expiry alerts are pending. This is the target state.

AMBER means the business is operational but has important gaps. Employees can work, payroll can run, but there are outstanding items that need to be addressed before they become serious problems.

RED means there is a critical compliance failure that requires immediate attention. A RED status is the kind of issue that creates legal exposure if a Labour Department inspection occurs or an employee raises a formal complaint.

What triggers RED

Critical issues: RED status

  • Any active employee with no signed employment contract on file
  • Any active employee with no NIC number registered
  • National ID not received for an active employee
  • Missing or zero salary or rate data for an active employee
  • A fixed-term contract that has expired with no renewal
  • Onboarding incomplete for an employee who is actively working

Each of these represents a direct breach of either the Labour Act, NIC regulations, or both. They are not administrative inconveniences: they are grounds for penalties if identified in an inspection.

What triggers AMBER

AMBER issues are important but not immediately critical. They should be resolved within a defined timeframe.

  • Emergency contact not on file
  • Tax Account Number missing
  • Bank account details not recorded
  • Online onboarding not completed
  • A fixed-term contract expiring within the next 30 days
  • Personnel file partially complete

An AMBER issue left unaddressed becomes a RED issue. A contract expiring in 30 days that is not renewed becomes an expired contract, triggering RED.

What makes it GREEN

GREEN requires every active employee record to be complete.

What Every Active Employee Record Needs

  • All mandatory fields populated
  • Signed contract on file
  • NIC number registered
  • National ID received
  • Emergency contact recorded
  • Tax Account Number and bank details on file

One employee can change your overall status

Your compliance status reflects your weakest record. If 19 out of 20 employees are complete but one is missing an NIC number, your overall status is RED, not GREEN. The status is only as strong as the most exposed employee in your workforce.

Using the status to prioritise

When you see a RED or AMBER status, the compliance dashboard does not just tell you the status: it tells you which employees are affected and what is missing. This turns a broad compliance problem into a specific action list. Address the RED items first, then work through the AMBER items by priority.

See where your business currently sits, in a few minutes, with the SafeDocs Compliance Control Room.

Try the Compliance Control Room