This article explains how to review and sign a document with an electronic signature. You can receive signature requests for:

• Employee documents: Files added to an employee profile in Personio.
• Work contracts for applicants: Job offer documents sent using Personio Recruiting.

How you sign a document depends on whether you can log in to Personio and the signature request type. 

To sign a document with a qualified electronic signature, you need to complete additional identity verification steps. Visit our article about qualified electronic signatures instead.

Before you start

• If you can log in to Personio and have an Active status, or if you’ve been invited to Personio, you can sign documents directly in Personio. Otherwise, you receive the request by email from Docusign and sign from there. 
• To complete Advanced signature requests, signers must complete a multi-step verification by entering a code sent to their email.
• To complete qualified electronic signature requests, signers need to verify their identity. See how to sign a document with a qualified signature and verify your identity. 
• To use electronic signatures through Docusign, your organization needs to allow access to Docusign's domains and IP addresses. Check the allowlists section of Docusign's trust center for the complete list. 

Sign a document in Personio

To sign an employee document as a user logging into Personio, follow these steps:

Open the signature request

1. Log in to Personio and open your Inbox.
2. Select the signature request item. If the signature environment doesn’t open automatically, click Sign document.
3. Review the document, then click the designated signature area or drag and drop the signature field from the side panel onto the document.
4. Adopt a signature by choosing a style, drawing your own, or uploading one. 
5. Click Adopt and Sign.
6. Click Finish.
7. Depending on the type of signature requested, additional verification steps may be required. Continue to the steps below to verify based on signature type and complete the signature request.

Verify based on signature type

The next steps depend on the signature type:

• Simple electronic signature: Continue to complete the signature steps below.
• Advanced electronic signature: Check your email (and spam folder) for a verification code, then return to the signature environment in Personio and enter it.
• Qualified electronic signature: Verify your identity live or with a Docusign Identity Wallet. Complete multi-step verification by entering a security code sent to your mobile phone. See the article on how to sign a document with a qualified electronic signature and verify your identity. 

Complete the signature

To complete the signature, follow these steps:

1. Select the checkbox to agree to the terms and conditions.
2. Click Sign to finalize the document.

You can see the status of your signature requests in the Documents tab of your employee profile. Administrators can monitor signature requests in the Documents Hub. For more detail, check the Signature Overview page in the Automations area.

Sign a document by email

Applicants, active employees without a Personio login, and employees with an Onboarding or Leave status can sign documents by following these steps:

1. Open the email inbox associated with your application or Personio account.
2. Find and open the email from Personio via Docusign.
   If you don't see it, check your spam folder for an email from "dse@eumail.docusign.net".
3. Click Review Document.
4. Review the document. Click Start to sign, or drag and drop the signature field onto the document.
5. Adopt a signature by choosing a style, drawing your own, or uploading one. 
6. Click Adopt and Sign.
7. Click Finish.
8. If the document requires an advanced or qualified signature, see how to verify your identity by signature type. For more details, see Docusign advanced signatures or European Qualified Signatures.

When everyone completes their signatures, you get a notification email. You can open the email to see the signed document.

Note:
External signers can reply directly to the Docusign email with questions or concerns. Personio pre-fills the requester's email address and name in the reply, making it easy to reach the right person.

Sign a document with a qualified electronic signature

Only customers with the qualified signatures app can use this signature type. Qualified electronic signature requests always require an identity verification before you can sign. See the article for steps on how to sign a document with a qualified signature and verify your identity. 

Decline a signature request

If you notice an error or issue with the document, contact the requester directly so they can fix it and send a new signature request. Only decline formally if that's not an option. We provide the steps below strictly for formal declines.

You can formally decline a signature request in two ways:

Before reviewing the document

1. Find and open the signature request.
2. On the signature page, review the disclosure info.
3. Click Other Options > Decline, then Continue.
4. Enter a reason and click Decline.

After reviewing the document

1. Find and open the signature request.
2. On the signature page, review the disclosure info.
3. At the top next to Continue, click the down arrow > Decline.
4. Follow the steps to finish declining.