Record Retention from A to Z

One of the most passionately discussed topics at Ingram’s Human Resources Industry Outlook was that of government regulation. From the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, employers are subject to an alphabet soup of rules.

Good record keeping and management are crucial to avoid disputes with employees and to prove compliance with government regulations, yet many employers are unaware of even the basic requirements for personnel record retention. Some of the more common rules to keep in mind are:

These are all federal requirements; in the event that two or more federal agencies govern how long a record is to be kept, the employer should comply with the longer requirement. The same is true for differences in federal and state statutes.

According to Cheryl Leichliter of DeFrain Mayer, one area where states definitely rule is in an employee’s right to review his or her employment records. Because this right is governed by states, multistate employers need to check all jurisdictions where they do business.

Leichliter says another major issue today is that of security and confidentiality. All employee records, because they contain such sensitive information as age, Social Security number, and salary, need to be protected and available only to those in the company with a “need-to-know.” The American with Disabilities Act also sets out confidentiality requirements that mandate medical records be kept separate from other personnel records to avoid personnel decisions being made on the basis of medical factors. Regulations apply to both paper and electronic records.

Some helpful steps for setting up a record-management system are:

• Learn which records are appropriate for your company to retain and for what length of time. Keep a log.

• Look at your current records to see if you’re in compliance.

• Choose a safe location to store your records. Take into account security and confidentiality.

• Destroy records in conformance with state and federal laws.

• Establish a standard operating procedure to handle all records in a consistent manner.

• If in doubt about any state or federal regulation, check with your legal counsel.

Complying with personnel record retention requirements can be like trying to slay a six-headed monster, but knowing the rules and regs and putting a workable system into place give employers a fighting chance.