> The general practice for employees records is termination of
> employment plus
> 6 years unless you are expecting possible litigation from an employee
> then I
> would suggest termination plus 12. The only reason for keeping them
> any
> longer would be in compliance with health and safety legislation such
> as
> asbestos, noise and radiation exposure.
>
I'm hoping that a "general practice" is based on something a bit more
concrete than this... the concept of " unless you are expecting
possible litigation from an employee " resulting in a retention period
of 12 versus 6 years beyond termination would seem a bit difficult to
justify. Essentially ANY employee COULD fit into this category, even a
deceased employee's family has the right to file a suit.
In the US, Federal employees records must be retained for 75 years
after separation form employment. My understanding is that the
reasoning is based on that is as long as the family members of the
employee are expected to be around to potentially file a suit, if it's
thought at some point the employee might have been subjected to some
harmful substance while employed, etc. This same policy extends to the
Contractors and their subcontractors in some instances of Federal work,
depending on the Agency you're working with and the nature of the work
you're performing.
Larry Medina
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