A company ID card is issued by the administration or operations team of a company to all of its employees as a verification of employment. The card serves the prime purpose of segregating the company’s officials from non-officials. It not only helps in determining the employee’s identity but can also be used to track and monitor the employee’s activities at the workplace.
Unlike a business card, a company ID card is issued once to a particular employee. If an employee misplaces the card or it gets stolen, the employee must immediately report it to the relevant authority at the workplace.
ID card is not a business card…
A company ID card cannot be given or issued to anyone other than the authorized employee. While, the business card, also known as a visiting card, is used for networking and exchanging contact details with potential stakeholders, clients, or partners.
An ID card is an asset and serves various purposes…
A company ID card is considered to be an essential part of the company’s assets issued to the employees. Besides serving as an identity of the employee, the card fulfills numerous other purposes, such as:
- Ensuring the security of the workplace – As a part of the company’s security protocols, only authorized employees can enter the workplace. In some cases, even within the workplace, only certain employees are granted permission to access offices or resources. Such authorization is governed by the employee’s ID which is issued to the employee, at the time of employment and is encoded on the employee’s ID card.
- Strengthening relations – It gets difficult to memorize names and get familiar with colleagues, upon new hiring. Thus an ID card provides an easier way to identify the newly hired employee and helps the newly hired to get him/her familiarize himself with other fellow colleagues. Moreover, it also helps in building trust while connecting with potential partners, clients, or customers.
- Monitoring and Tracking – Several companies issue encoded ID cards, which are to be swiped at the workplace entrance or access control systems. It, therefore, provides a complete record of an employee’s attendance and also identifies the employees who enter authorized premises at the workplace.
- Exclusive offers Employees – Few companies establish partnerships with financial institutions, food franchises, clothing outlets, etc. Thus the employees of those companies can avail of exclusive memberships or discounts offered by the company’s partners, by making use of the company’s ID card.
The companies, therefore, make it part of the Employee’s Rules and Regulations to either wear the company’s ID card or keep it in their wallet, for ensuring safety and security at the workplace.
The rules may also mention the penalties in case of fraudulent use of the card, which includes the use of the card by any person other than to whom it is issued to gain access or avail exclusive offers.
Wearing the company’s ID card is not always mandatory, but keeping it at an approachable place is. The employee needs to keep it with him/her to show it urgently when deemed necessary. But the companies, which make employees duty-bound to wear ID cards, have strict guidelines attached to them. Such companies hold the employees accountable, if seen without ID cards, and consider the ID card as an embodiment of professional work ethics.
Important features of the card…
A company can choose to create ID cards by using any desired design. The features which a company ID card covers include:
- Company’s Logo – the company’s logo should be placed as per the company’s branding guidelines. The logo is the first visual representation of a company.
- Company’s Details – this should include the name, contact number, email ID, and complete address of the company. It helps in posting the card to the company, in case it gets lost or is misplaced. The complete name should be added, to avoid any misunderstanding or inconvenience which may arise from the abbreviated name.
- Employee’s Photograph – a clear picture should be added, to make identification easier and more convenient for the people while communicating with a particular employee.
- Employee’s Details – It should cover the name, designation, and contact details of the employee. It helps in employee verification.
- Card’s validity details – the validity of the card should be clearly mentioned. The cards expire on the same dates as of contractual termination and can be re-issued upon signing of a new contract.
- Data Encoding – adding bar codes, tracking chips, or magnetic strip can help in monitoring the employee’s activity at the workplace because the generated data provides information about the workplace’s premises and resources accessed by certain employees. It also gives information on employee check-in and out timings, thus assisting in generating automated attendance records.
- Signatures – the signature policy for a company’s ID card varies for different companies. Few companies add signatures of cardholders/employees to validate the card’s information and several companies add signatures of issuing authority to verify the card’s authorization for a particular employee.
ID card orientation…
The orientation may vary based on the orientation of the card’s content. But the size of the card is not affected by the orientation of the text.
Most companies prefer creating cards as per the standard defined by the International Organization for Standards (ISO). According to ISO/IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 7810:2003, the dimension of an identity card is specified as:
ID-1 85.60 mm x 53.98 mm 3.370” x 2.125”
ID-1 is also known as CR80, which is commonly used for designing and printing PVC cards.
In the above-quoted specification, 3.370 inches is for width and 2.125 is for height. The thickness of such a card is specified as 0.76 mm or 0.03 inches also referred to as “30 mils”.
How to get an ID card designed?
A company can get ID cards designed and printed by two means:
- Local Printing – a company may opt for designing the cards with the help of the company’s designers, and later get those printed by availing the services of a local vendor.
- Online Designing and Printing Service -there are multiple online sources available that provide templates, of ID cards, for a company to choose from, and also provide an option for custom designs for designing cards as per the client’s requirement. A company can then place an online order and get those cards delivered to a company’s doorstep without any hassle.
Looking for an online source for the cards’ design and printing is an efficient way to get the cards ready. A company may choose from the existing templates, available on a website, and design the cards.
It is not mandatory to place printing orders on the same website. If needed, the company can place an online order and get the cards shipped. The process is efficient and does not require much effort thus it saves time, money, and energy.
Pre-designed formats…
Want to get a ready-made company ID card or a customized one? We offer a wide range of free templates of ID cards, as displayed in <Home>. There is no need to go through designing it from scratch, the templates are pre-designed.
Add creativity of your own, by personalizing it, and get your very own customized design within no time. So what else do you require? Begin today!
You may opt to print the card directly or after downloading it. Convert the template to pdf by using the option Generate PDF which appears at the time of download or saves as PDF.
Since CR80 cards are mainly printed on PVC (polyvinyl chloride) sheet, which is placed in the printer’s tray, you would require a compatible card printer and the sheet.
The use of a laser printer should be avoided as it can melt the sheet.
- Once the PDF is ready click Print in the File tab or Ctrl+P
- Select the Printer
- If the card’s template is to dual-sided, click printer properties and check print on both sides in the finishing/layout tab
- Select the number of copies
- Give the print command
See the list —>