Hello Roo friends and fans,
Spring has almost sprung which gives me the urge to sort, organize and purge. Human Resources and Finance tend to be magnets for paperwork; some are valuable and some just add clutter. State and federal record retention requirements vary and some people are afraid to throw out anything. However, keeping records too long (a/k/a forever) or keeping them in the wrong file can hurt more than help. Whether your records are paper-based or electronic, take some time for spring cleaning.
Throw Away
Keeping records beyond their usefulness adds to clutter, confusion regarding current revision levels, and potential exposure to fines for non-compliance. A few of my colleagues have suffered through several months of audits in the past year, and an auditor will cite you for something that is not 100% compliant whether you are required to keep the document or not.
Suggested record retention guidelines include:
- Recruiting and Selection: One year
- Payroll records: Three years
- Federal Taxes (FICA) paid: Four years
- Benefits Information: Six years
- Drug and Alcohol Testing: Five years
- OSHA logs: Five years
- Leave of absence records: Three years
- Legal issues / disputes: One year following final disposition
- I-9: Three years from hire or one year post termination
Dust Off
Spring is a great time to start fresh and update policies, practices and procedures in your organization. Internal policies and practices change frequently, as do state and federal regulations. Take an hour or two to review your employee handbook and supervisory manuals to determine what needs updating.
If you haven’t updated your handbook in a while, you probably need to update the following:
- Update for new employment laws. In Minnesota this includes paid family medical leave, statewide ESST, expansion of protected classes and more.
- Employee Classifications (part time / full time / temporary, exemption status, independent contractor vs. employee)
- Background Screenings procedure and evaluation criteria – be sure your plan reflects recent “Ban the Box” legislation
- Networking and social media policies – set clear rules for how and when employees are permitted to represent the organization and when they need to make it clear they are expressing personal opinions. Also consider adding an AI policy.
- I-9 forms –make sure you are using the current form and that all fields are completed correctly. This is an area of enforcement activity.
Organize
Keeping employment related records in the wrong place also exposes the employer to fines and liability. If all records are kept in one personnel folder supervisors may have access to records they should not see, or auditors may gain access to documents that are outside the scope of the audit. Organizations should maintain separate files for separate types of records:
- Personnel file: application, wage and status changes, performance reviews, disciplinary actions and recognition documents. Employees and supervisors have access to this file.
- Confidential file: benefits information, medical and FMLA-related. Only HR and employees have access to this file.
- Training file: training records if you are subject to ISO, FDA, NADCAP or other outside audits. If you are not, training records can be kept in the regular personnel file. HR, supervisors, employees and auditors have access to this file
- Individual files. Some records should be kept separate from all other types of employee records. These include:
- I-9s
- Workers’ Compensation
- Background screenings
- Drug and Alcohol testing
- Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action data
- Litigation files
Not sure where to start? Roo can help you create the structure, or complete the entire audit and update for you. Call Kelly at 763.228.8496 or email today.