Useful Document Storage Information

Listed below are the retention schedules for a range of business records. The categories included are
Admin  ~  Company  ~  Employment  ~  Financial  ~  Health & Safety  ~  Insurance  ~  Legal  ~ Pensions  ~ Sales Records  ~  Transport

 

Archive Retention Schedule

Archive category

 Specific archive type Retention period Reason for retention
FINANCIAL
RECORDS

Maternity pay records
Personnel records
Medical records

 Current year plus 3 years
7 years after employment ceases
12 years		 Legal
Legal
Legal
Training course details
& attendee list
Staff appraisals
Labour agreements
Group health / accident
policies		 6 years after course

Current plus 1 year
Permanently
12 years after benefit ends		 Commercial

Commercial
Legal
Legal
Patent / secrecy
agreements		 20 years after employment ceases Commercial
Applications for jobs
(unsuccessful)
Early retirement/
redundancy documents		 Up to 1 year

6 years after date of retirement		 Legal

Legal
Expense accounts
Payrolls
Staff personal records
Salary registers
Salary revision schedules
Tax returns
Time cards and piece
work records
Wage records (including
overtime details)		 7 years
12 years
7 years after employment ceases
Up to 5 years
Up to 5 years
Permanently
2 years

5 years		 Legal
Legal
Legal
Legal
Legal
Legal
Legal

Legal

Please note

All material on this website is based on the working practices of
Ardington Archives and is intended for guidance purposes only.
While every reasonable effort has been made to verify the accuracy
of the information provided, no liability can be accepted in respect
of any errors or discrepancies and the content of the website is
not intended to be relied upon for legal purposes.