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Human resources retention schedule

Version 7.01, adopted October 2024, expires at the end of April 2026.


A PDF version of this retention schedule, including full version history, is held in the EDRM Retention Schedules folder.

See an explanation of the 6+ Rule and all other standard disposition codes.

Introduction

It is important to make consistent choices about how and where to retain documents. Employees are expected to work electronically wherever possible, using approved record-keeping systems for case-specific records (for example, Recruit for recruitment), the EDRM for other records, and Teams sites for collaborative work.

HR administration

HR 01.01: Number not used

Formerly: Personnel record, summary information.

HR 01.02: Personal employment and training record (excluding staff covered by HR.1.03, 1.09, 1.10, 1.11)

Disposition: CASE+6 (closure point: one year from end of employment).

Example(s): Personal employee file, SAP record, Derbyshire Learning Online (learning and development system) record, Performance Development Review, one-to-one discussions and supervision notes.

Rationale: Limitation Act 1980.

Note: Personal employee record excludes health and safety, DBS forms, and safeguarding information.

Location: EDRM HR Files, SAP, Derbyshire Learning Online.

HR 01.03: Personal employment and training record of staff who: (a) work with children (includes all local authority-maintained school employees); (b) work with vulnerable adults; (c) are in high risk groups (road-workers, craft-workers, and landscape staff)

Disposition: CASE+25 (closure point: end of employment)

Example(s): See HR 1.02

Rationale: Business requirement

Where records are located on the employee record this retention will be assumed to cover all content with some exceptions (including health and safety, DBS forms, and safeguarding information).

Location: EDRM HR Files, SAP, Derbyshire Learning Online

HR 01.04: Salary records

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Wage; overtime; additional hours payments

Rationale: Taxes Management Act 1970 (Section 103)

Location: SAP

HR 01.05: Derbyshire Pension Fund payroll

Disposition: CASE+6 (closure point: final pension payment)

Example(s): Leaver Information

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: SAP

HR 01.06: CPRS Records

Disposition: Manage legacy records in accordance with this retention schedule

Example(s): Personal information

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Mainframe legacy vault

HR 01.07: Payroll records (i.e. SAP record) relating to elected members and external clients other than local authority-maintained schools

Disposition: CASE+6 (closure point: one year from end of employment)

External client examples: academies, multi-academy trusts

Examples: SAP records containing contractual data. Excludes transactional paperwork (see HR 1.08)

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Electronic - SAP data

HR 01.08: Transactional documents relating to employees of external clients, schools, academies, pensioners and elected members

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): New starter forms, adjustments, leavers forms

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: HR Services

HR 01.09: Personal employment and training record of staff under regular health surveillance

Disposition: DOB+100

Example(s): See HR 1.02

Rationale: Business requirement

Note: Where date of birth is unknown, or record is held in SAP, destroy 40 years from last use

Location: EDRM HR Files, SAP, Derbyshire Learning Online

HR 01.10: Personal employment and training record of staff who may have been exposed to asbestos

Disposition: DOB+100

Example(s): See HR 1.02

Rationale: Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Note: Where date of birth is unknown, or record is held in SAP, destroy 40 years from last use

Location: Line manager, departmental HR officer, SAP, Derbyshire Learning Online

HR 01.11: Personal employment and training record of staff who may have been exposed to radiation

Disposition: ACTION+50

Example(s): See HR 1.02

Rationale: Ionising Radiation Regulations 2017.

Location: EDRM HR Files, SAP, Derbyshire Learning Online

HR 01.12: Number not used (formerly payroll records relating to employees of local authority-maintained schools - see HR 01.03)

HR casework and employment policies / procedures

HR 02.01: Casework records relating to staff not working with children/vulnerable adults and high risk groups (road-workers, craft-workers, and landscape staff)

Disposition: CASE+6 (closure point: end of employment)

Example(s): Notes of meetings; letters; witness statements; statements of case

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: EDRM personnel folders, HR Services

HR 02.02: Casework records relating to staff working with children/vulnerable adults and high risk groups (road-workers, craft-workers, and landscape staff)

Disposition: CASE+25 (closure point: end of employment)

Example(s): Notes of meetings; letters; witness statements; statements of case

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: EDRM personnel folders, HR Services

HR 02.03: Records relating to safeguarding investigations

Disposition: ACTION+75 (see also CHILD 1.02).

Example(s): Notes of meetings

Rationale: Safeguarding regulations

Location: Safeguarding officers

HR 02.04: Records relating to the implementation of employment policies/procedures

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Consultation/approval records relating to code of conduct revisions; recruitment and selection; redundancy, redeployment and protection of earnings

Rationale: Business requirement

Note: Policy/procedures are retained permanently (see MA 2.3.2)

Location: HR officers

HR 02.05: Criminal records disclosure – disclosure details

Disposition: D<1 (destroy 6 months from check)

Example(s): DBS checks

Rationale: DBS code of practice

HR 02.06: Operational staff planning

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Rotas, skills matrix

Rationale: Business requirement

For staff rosters in children's homes, see the children's services retention schedule

Location: Service area

Leave, absence, working time, travel

HR 03.01: Records relating to annual leave, flexi time, working time and other leave records

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Annual leave, flexitime, working time arrangements, special leave

Rationale: Business requirement

If stored on the employee record refer to either HR 01.02 or 01.03

Location: Electronic - SAP data, service areas

HR 03.02: Sickness absence records (retained within business areas)

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Collective summary information

Rationale: If stored on the employee record refer to section 1.

Location: Service areas

HR 03.03: Travel claim records

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Receipts

Rationale: Financial regulations

Location: stored by employee

If stored on the employee record refer to section 1.

Job Evaluation and Equal Pay

HR 04.01: Single status appeals

Disposition: Store on employee record (see section 1)

HR 04.02: Job evaluation – employee groups

Disposition: PERM

Example(s): Correspondence, analysis of evidence gathered, consultation with stakeholders

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Held by pay and reward team

HR 04.03: Job evaluation – individual employees

Disposition: Store on employee record (see section 1)

HR 04.04: Job evaluation – summary information

Disposition: PERM

Example(s): Summary information

Rationale: Business Requirement

Location: Held by pay and reward team

HR 04.05: Equal pay records – relating to individual employees

Disposition: CASE+6 (closure point: end of employment)

Example(s): Chronology; COT3; risk assessment

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Held by pay and reward team

Employee and Industrial Relations

HR 05.01: Corporate and departmental consultations, negotiations, and dispute resolutions

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Generic agreements and awards, consultations, negotiations, disputes, notes of joint meetings, claims logged

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Held by advice and support team

HR 05.02: Minor and routine industrial relations and trade union matters

Disposition: ACTION+15

Example(s): Day-to-day industrial relations management

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Held by advice and support team

HR 05.03: Employment tribunal cases

Disposition: ACTION+15

Example(s): Notes of meetings; letters; witness statements; statements of case

Rationale: Business requirement

If stored on the employee record refer to Section 1

Where case relates to staff working with children or vulnerable adults, as well as staff working in high risk groups or safeguarding, refer to HR 02.02 and HR 02.03

Location: Held by advice and support team

Recruitment

HR 06.01: appointing an individual to a post – unsuccessful candidates

Disposition: D<1 (destroy 12 months from end of recruitment process)

Example(s): Advertisements, applications, references, interview/shortlisting notes, vetting information

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Recruiting manager

Note: People conducting job interviews should avoid recording special category data within interview notes (for example, references to health conditions, ethnic origins etc).

HR 06.02: appointing an individual to a post – successful candidates

Disposition: Retain as per employee file – see section 1

Example(s): Advertisements, applications, references, interview/shortlisting notes, vetting information

Rationale: Compliance requirement; Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, explained at employ someone: step by step on gov.uk

Files should include copy evidence of legal right to work in the UK

Location: Employee file

HR 06.03: Preparations for a recruitment process

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Interview questions, role-based succession planning documents

Interview tests

Rationale: Business requirement. Note: Review after 6 years – may be appropriate to retain for future recruitments

Location: Service areas

HR 06.04: Work experience and volunteer records

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Basic personnel data, details of placement

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Central register of work experience placements; Volunteer records in service areas

HR 06.05: Role profiles and job descriptions

Disposition: PERM

Example(s): Role profiles, job descriptions

Rationale: Business requirement

Location: Held by service areas

Workforce management

HR 07.01: Number not used

Formerly: Managing team performance. See MAR 06.01

Equalities

HR 08.01: Monitoring of staff recruitment and data from ongoing employee equalities monitoring exercises

Disposition: Retain in line with associated records, for example, report on workforce diversity submitted to an operational meeting should be retained according to MAR 01.02

HR 08.02: Number not used

Formerly: Developing council equalities and diversity initiatives. See MAR 03.07

HR 08.03: Number not used

Formerly: Monitoring the workforce in terms of equalities. See POL 01.01

Health and wellbeing

If stored on the employee record refer to either HR 01.02 or 01.03

HR 09.01: managing the occupational health of council employees and the employees of external clients

Disposition: DOB+100

Examples: Health checks on individuals who have worked with vibrating machinery, or with chemicals

Rationale: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, Control of Vibrations at Work Regulations 2005

Business need: evidence of health at start of employment may take on legal significance later (for example, early access to pension under Local Government Pension Scheme rules) so occupational health files are retained for 100 years from birth, as an estimated lifespan.

HR 09.02: All other wellbeing records (i.e. not covered elsewhere in section 9)

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Counselling service file, sickness forms and other routine wellbeing records are stored on the personnel file (see section 1)

Rationale: Limitation Act 1980.

Training and development

HR 10.01: Administration of routine staff training

Disposition: 6+

Example(s): Course details; training register (if not recorded on Derbyshire Learning Online)

Rationale: Business requirement

Note: Most training records are held in parallel with personal employee record (see section 1)

Location: Line managers