Records of people

University staff

The Human Resources (HR) department has well developed record retention practices, and some schedules are integrated within the appropriate HR policies and procedures, including:

Recruitment

When the recruitment procedure has been completed, the Department should send originals of all documentation to the Personnel Office, as described in the Post interview section of the recruitment and selection process.

CRB checks

Usually a record of the check, or enhanced check, date is kept within the HR record, and the report is held for a minimum period, usually 6 months. Further details are given in the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Policy (PDF-199KB)

On the basis of work so far, current advice for schools that do not have a retention schedule in place already, is to dispose of staff records a maximum of 10 years after their departure. As with student records, it is likely that this period will be reduced to a maximum of 6 or 7 years as the schedule is finalised, and that, in due course as the new system is rolled out, everyone will be encouraged to increase the use of centralised e-records in place of local paper records.

A more detailed retention schedule, based on the revised "JISC HE Business Classification Scheme and Records Retention Scheme", is under development.

"Others"

As well as staff and students, the University depends on a variety of "others", including visiting academics and researchers, collaborators, volunteers, group members and event attendees. In many cases, records of such individuals will only be known to local schools and departments, so it is important that records are held appropriately, and in accordance with data protection principles.

A general rule of thumb may be to hold records for 6 years after the final contact with the University, but this needs to be tempered case by case. Issues to consider include:

• Potential or recorded exposure to hazards
• Duration of any projects involving the person (or organisation)
• Contractual agreements
• Information, tacit knowledge and expertise
• Potential future contact

If records are to be kept for an extended period, especially where there may be future contact, the individual's consent may be required to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Before adapting these retention periods to your local situation, please see the advice given above, and, as with all record retention matters, ensure you follow the more general advice about Record Retention and Disposal Schedules.

And as always, do contact IMPS if you want to check specific instances.