The rules that matter
- Unique, and never reused. When someone leaves, retire their number. Reusing it mixes up records and access history.
- No personal data. Never base IDs on Social Security numbers, birth dates or phone numbers; the number gets printed and scanned everywhere.
- Fixed length. Pad with leading zeros (000142, not 142) so every ID looks the same and sorts correctly.
- Doesn't change when someone changes department, title or name.
Three common schemes
| Scheme | Example | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Sequential | 000142 | Most organizations. Simple and never runs out. |
| Prefix + sequence | NW-00142 | Several companies or locations sharing one system. Use a prefix that won't change, such as the company, not the department. |
| Year + sequence | 26-0142 | Seeing at a glance when someone started. Restart the sequence each year. |
Optional: a check digit
Adding one extra digit calculated from the others (the Luhn algorithm is the common choice) lets systems catch a mistyped ID. It's worth it if people key IDs in by hand; if IDs are always scanned from a barcode, it's less important.
Putting the number on the badge
- Keep a master list in your HR system or a spreadsheet, and use it as the roster for your badge order.
- In the badge design, print the number as text and as a barcode set to
{{Employee ID}}, so every badge gets its own. - Code 128 handles letters, numbers and dashes; Code 39 only uppercase letters, numbers and a few symbols. Check what your time clock or access software expects.
- In Excel, format the ID column as Text so leading zeros aren't dropped.
← All guides · What to put on an employee badge · Employee ID badges