Using E-Signature for Different Types of Government Contracts

As a legally-admissible solution that is more secure than using paper-based processes, e-signatures have gained a high-level of acceptance in the United States.

In the government arena, e-signatures have been proven to deliver better, faster and more efficient constituent experiences, while helping to make government employees happier and more productive.

For different types of government processes, e-signature has come into the forefront as an fast-to-value solution for workflows with applications, forms, reports, and other documents involved in procurement, human resources, licensing and permitting, as well as case management.

In the end, government agencies are able to increase operational efficiencies and simplify mission-critical processes faster by moving away from cumbersome paper-based processes. The following are examples of the types of government contracts that can be created, routed and signed using e-signature.

Workforce transformation and human resources

With the “Great Resignation” continuing to fuel a competitive hiring environment, the ability to effectively and efficiently hire and onboard government employees remains a critical priority for government. These types of government contracts span a wide-range of vital processes, which include:

• Hiring and onboarding: Connect, automate and accelerate government employee agreement processes so that agencies can spend time on people, not paper. This includes using e-signature for everything from employee offer letters to expediting tax forms such as W-4s and I-9s.
• Policy documents, equipment requisitions: Streamline and automate the signing of all employee policy documents, as well as equipment requisitions for acquiring products, supplies and equipment directly from the General Services Administration (GSA).
• Performance management and role changes: Centralize and streamline the entire employee performance review process, as well as policy updates to employee role changes.
• Contractor agreements and ACA documentation: Enhance the signing and management of all contractor agreements, as well as Affordable Care Act (ACA) employee documentation.
• Benefits summary plan descriptions and annual notices: Digitally share all benefit summary plan descriptions and annual notices with all agency employees.

How DocuSign can help support a hybrid workforce

DocuSign eSignature offers prebuilt templates for common HR forms, which can make processing employee information remotely much easier. These templates include employee change forms, FMLA Leave Request forms, as well as W-4 and I-9 forms. Check out these success stories from some of our government customers:

• The New Mexico Educational Retirement Board uses DocuSign eSignature to minimize all of their paper-based processes, such as retirement applications and processing payroll checks.
• The City of Memphis uses DocuSign eSignature to eliminate errors in new hire paperwork and streamline timesheet approvals for contract workers.

Licensing, permitting and inspections

Each month, government agencies approve and issue a high volume of licenses and permits. Many of these include critical citizen-facing forms, such as business licenses, drivers license, occupational licenses, as well as health and building permits and workplace safety inspections.

For many state and local government agencies, licensing, permitting and inspection processes are manual or paper-based, and can lead to backlogs and delays, especially as the volume of these requests increases.

How DocuSign can help speed up government licensing, permitting and inspections

By using DocuSign eSignature, all government licensing, permitting and inspections processes are fully digitized and streamlined where applicants can easily sign and receive completed permits and licenses. Here’s how eSignature can help:

• Create a self-service online application for signature with DocuSign PowerForms
• Manage all license and permit requests in a centralized repository
• Automatically generate an audit trail for all issued permits and licenses
• Report on upcoming inspections
• Accelerate sign-off on completed inspections
• Automate notification of permit or license renewal

Case management for HHS agencies

For HHS agencies, there is a wide-range of processes that require a high-level of manual, paper-driven processes.

From child welfare and child support applications to public health and vaccine management efforts, court orders, and aging and adult services, all of these are critical processes aimed at enhancing the health and wellbeing of citizens.

However, it requires two-to-five hours of paperwork for every 45 minutes that a caseworker spends with a family, and workload is one of the top five reasons human services employees quit their jobs. On top of this, it costs approximately $54,000 to replace a caseworker.

Thankfully, here are several use cases for how all government case management efforts can be streamlined:

• Incident reporting and investigations: Reporting and associated investigations for incidents like child or adult protection, welfare or medical incidents.
• Benefit applications: Application, authorizations and associated documentation needed to apply for funds, services or other government benefits.
• Legal casework: Court-defensible reports and documentation associated with legal proceedings.
• Status reports: Documentation of ongoing cases or investigations.

How DocuSign can reduce time spent on case management paperwork

For these types of government contracts and use cases, DocuSign eSignature allows agencies to serve more people with a convenient, yet highly secure platform for efficiently managing large volumes of sensitive documentation, reducing caseloads and backlogs. See how the Indiana Department of Child Services integrated DocuSign eSignature with Salesforce to modernize its child welfare case management system.

Government procurement

Government procurement leaders have the important responsibility to drive the best value contracts and solutions to meet agency and community needs.

Historically, government procurement processes have been slow moving and paper based, making it difficult for agencies to rapidly acquire the right solutions in a timely manner. 

The procurement cycle can also be complicated and involve everything from solution sourcing and RFP management, contracting, purchasing, vendor management, to the receiving of goods, and vendor payments. 

How DocuSign can help accelerate contract turnaround times

DocuSign offers comprehensive solutions for centralizing all contracts management efforts to help agencies save money, accelerate contract turnaround times and comply with reporting requirements. Learn how the California Natural Resources Agency implemented DocuSign eSignature to streamline the procurement process for purchasing contracts, and then expanded DocuSign usage into their HR processes.

Learn more about the DocuSign Agreement Cloud for Government.