The dematerialized delivery of the payslip commits the employer to a duration of availability that far exceeds the lifecycle of an HRIS. Article D3243-8 of the Labor Code mandates guaranteed access for 50 years or until the employee turns 76. This temporal constraint transforms the choice of a digital safe into an infrastructure decision, not just a software purchase.
Distinction between NF Z42-020 and NF Z42-013: two normative scopes for Arkevia
The market consistently confuses digital safes with electronic archiving systems. The NF Z42-020 standard covers the safe component: it regulates the deposit, storage, and retrieval of digital objects in a secured space. The NF Z42-013 standard, on the other hand, governs the electronic archiving system (EAS) as a whole, including capture, indexing, lifecycle management, and controlled destruction.
Arkevia, developed by Cegedim SRH, positions itself as a digital safe compliant with NF Z42-020. This guarantees the integrity of the document once deposited. In contrast, NF Z42-013 compliance covers a broader scope: complete traceability of the acquisition chain, formalized retention policy, and event logging throughout the document lifecycle.
We recommend checking precisely which certification is claimed by the provider. A safe compliant with NF Z42-020 does not automatically constitute an EAS in the sense of NF Z42-013. For organizations that need legal retention with Arkevia safe enforceable in labor disputes, this nuance changes the legal significance of archived documents.
Probative value of the dematerialized payslip via Arkevia
A payslip deposited in a digital safe has probative value only if three technical conditions are met simultaneously: file integrity, qualified timestamp, and proof of delivery. The absence of even one link weakens the entire case before a labor court.
The timestamp certifies the date and time of the deposit. Integrity relies on a sealing (cryptographic fingerprint) that makes any modification detectable. Proof of delivery, often overlooked during the initial setup, confirms that the document has indeed been made available in the employee’s personal space.
Employer and employee obligations
The employer bears the burden of proof of delivery. Without a timestamped acknowledgment of receipt, an employee can contest having never received their payslip. The employer’s retention obligation is limited to 5 years, but availability for the employee extends over several decades.
The employee retains a permanent right of access to their space, even after leaving the company. The portability of the safe relies on the personal email address provided during account activation. An employee who has not provided a personal address risks losing access to their documents if their work email is deactivated.
Operational reliability of Arkevia: what field feedback indicates
Normative compliance is not enough if the platform has recurring access issues. Field feedback published in 2026 indicates connectivity difficulties on MyArkevia, particularly during peak usage periods at payroll closing times.
We observe that the discussion around Arkevia has shifted: questions are less about regulatory compliance (generally achieved) and more about operational reliability on a daily basis. A safe that is inaccessible when the employee needs proof for a mortgage application or an administrative process loses part of its usability value.
Before deploying the solution, we recommend checking several concrete points:
- Does the password recovery procedure work without intervention from HR, including for former employees?
- Is the platform’s response time during monthly peaks of payslip deposits still acceptable?
- Do the service level agreements (SLAs) explicitly cover availability on critical business days?
Reversibility and portability of documents stored in Arkevia
Reversibility refers to the ability to recover all documents in a usable format if the company changes providers or if the service is interrupted. Without a clear reversibility clause, documents remain captive to the provider’s infrastructure.
On this point, the issue goes beyond Arkevia: any digital safe must contractually provide for export in the original format (signed PDF, structured XML) accompanied by timestamping and traceability metadata. A raw export without associated proofs deprives the documents of their probative value.
GDPR and employee rights over their data
The employee has a right of access, rectification, and portability under the GDPR. In practice, the right to portability applies to data provided by the employee themselves, not necessarily to documents deposited by the employer. This legal distinction should be clarified in internal communication during deployment.
- The right to deletion does not apply to payslips as long as the legal retention period has not expired
- The employee can request a copy of all their documents at any time, without justification
- The employer must inform each employee of the existence of the safe and the access modalities, in writing, during setup
The choice of a digital safe for the legal retention of HR documents hinges on three axes: actual normative compliance (NF Z42-020 and, if necessary, NF Z42-013), operational robustness measured in the field, and contractual guarantees of reversibility. A successful deployment relies less on the advertised features than on the rigor of the initial setup and the clarity of the provider’s commitments over time.