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Page History
Policy Name: | Electronic Signatures |
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Scope: | All Employees |
Revision Date: | November 21, 2017 |
Last Review Date: | June 16, 2023 |
Policy Summary
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Reliant accepts legally binding approval from our |
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employees via electronic means such as email or being logged in to web applications. These |
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kinds of |
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approval are in lieu of a traditional "pen and ink" signature. This makes administration easier for our |
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employees worldwide. Such "signatures" need to meet two conditions:
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Common Examples: an email from a verified Reliant.org email account and |
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an employee saying "I approve this change." or |
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an employee logged in to a web application, who submits a form online while logged in and stored as a record in our database. As of the 2015 update of this policy, Reliant can no longer accept e-signatures from a personal email account. |
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On June 30, 2000, Congress enacted the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act ("ESIGN"). The result of this Act made it possible for an electronic signature to be used as a valid replacement |
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for a traditional pen and ink signature
In 2011, Reliant first adopted an electronic signature policy. It required an email with the sender hand typing a signature block in the body of the email and/or the body of the document that included Full Name, Home phone number (or mobile phone), Ministry Fund Number, E-Mail address, and date. The 2015 updated policy supersedes previous policies and is updated to acknowledge:
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ELECTRONIC RECORDThe term means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. For Reliant, examples include: an email from a verified account, a CRM record, a stored Google document or record in a spreadsheet, a submitted web form via Google or Sitefinity, a PDF document ELECTRONIC SIGNATUREA technologically neutral term indicating various methods of signing an electronic message that:
For Reliant, an item that is identified with a person includes an email from a verified Reliant.org account (as the user has used a name and password) or a record via a Reliant web application that records the name of the user. For approval, language such as "I approve" "Please make this change" and "Yes, we agree" in an email is sufficient. In applications that make approval explicit, clicking a checkbox or submitting via a button could indicate approval. Other general examples of electronic signature technologies include PINs, user identifications and passwords, digital signatures, digitized signatures, and hardware and biometric token ELECTRONIC APPROVAL / E-SIGNEquivalent terms for ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE. |
MISSIONARY
EmployeesCollective for all employed or associate |
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staff—all of whom are issued a Reliant.org account. PARTYAny other non- |
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employee external party who is communicating with Reliant staff for the purposes of approval, such as a local church partner, supervisor, vendor, etc. |
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The general principle for electronic approval is:
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Consider these example cases and notes. Attachments to Email: Microsoft Office or PDF Documents
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Google Documents from Reliant Verified AccountA Google Document, Spreadsheet, or Form |
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submitted from a verified @reliant.org Google Account verifies identity (
A comment or interaction in the form or document can verify both identity and indicate approval. See also Supervisor Approval for Google Forms. Comments, Interactions, or Forms using any Reliant Verified Account
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Date and TimeAccepted documents or records should include the date they were submitted (and date approved and date received, if different).
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A Reliant-verified account is any that
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In August 2015, Reliant-verified accounts are currently the following. Verified Services for Field |
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Employees
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Verified Services for Office StaffBoth accounts above, and
Future ServicesReliant could employ future services such as Adobe's Echosign or a forms system that would qualify for electronic approval as long as it met the standards of a Reliant- |
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verified account above. Technology for ID VerificationUser name and password are the |
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standards for ID verification.
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However, we will continue to try to stay with industry standards. We have the option via Google of employing two-factor authentication, and we expect similar methods to improve in the future. |
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Traditional Approvals Still AcceptedReliant still accepts traditional methods of approval. Including:
However,
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Email Sent from Non-Reliant Account
Reliant will accept an approval from a non-Reliant account when the party is not an employed or associate Reliant missionary staff member or office staff member.
Keep in mind that the two general principles for electronic approval. You should:
- Reasonably be able to confirm the identity of the party.
- Reasonably understand that they are positively approving
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To make things easy for you, Reliant can accept your approval ("signature") electronically. Please reply to this email. Guidelines:
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This required information above can also be entered directly by the provider onto the actual form or document. The form or document can then be attached to an email.
Prior Application of Policy
Form Forms and documents that were accepted by the Reliant office with electronic signatures prior to the adoption of this electronic policy are considered valid. The acceptance must be after June 30, 2000 – this was the enactment date of the ESIGN Act.
Exceptions to Policy
All documents can be approved or acknowleged acknowledged via our policy except the items explicitly listed here
Document | Reason for Exception | Required By |
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I-9 Form | I-9 forms must include |
an identification verification process by an approved Reliant employee. |
See Also
- Supervisor Approval for Google Forms
- Policy: Field Missionaries Official @Reliant.org Email Accounts
- Your @reliant.org Google Account
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