Records Retention Part 1 or 2
We have put together a two part series to assist you in taking the Risk out of Records Retention
Introduction
To truly get all the benefits from your RM program, you need to map your functional classification system to the right retention schedule. Getting this right is critical because it affects many aspects of your organization, from the amount of storage space you need to the effectiveness of your risk management program.
The growing use of electronic documents, records management systems, document management solutions and in particular email, has made retention a critical corporate responsibility. Accordingly, many organizations are confused about how long to keep e-documents, but the good news is that a good retention schedule is designed to cover both electronic and paper documents!
In this guide we'll take a look at what a retention schedule is, how it can benefit your organization, and some best practices to help you create the retention schedule you need
What is it?
Records retention is the process of determining how long an organization needs to keep its records. It is based on operational business needs, legal, and regulatory requirements. Retention schedules specify how long and where records must be kept as they progress through the phases of their life cycle, including whether records are destroyed or archived at the end of their life cycle.
Retain the Benefits:
A properly outlined and legally compliant retention schedule can help minimize storage and handling costs by reducing the volume of paper and electronic records an organization needs to store. It also ensures records that serve important business or legal interests are maintained and remain easy to access by staff.
Storage:
A good records retention program is an effective strategy for controlling the growth of records within an organization. The economic objective of a retention program is to stabilize the growth of records by providing for the disposal of useless records at about the same time as new ones are created. Many organizations can reduce their records storage costs by up to one-third or greater by implementing a sound retention program.
Access:
By reducing and minimizing the total amount of records kept in active storage, a records retention program will facilitate and accelerate the day-to-day retrieval of active records.
Risk Management:
From a legal perspective, a sound records retention program will assist an organization in minimizing the risks and liabilities that can be associated with document retention. The existence of old inactive records can potentially embarrass an organization or result in more legal difficulties. Rather than arbitrary records disposal made selectively by managers and corporate executives, established retention methods help demonstrate that disposal actions are not motivated to suppress or conceal unfavourable evidence or information, should these actions become the subject of criminal or civil proceedings.
Implementation:
It is critical to start by building your functional classification system. Once this is done, a review of applicable legislation within all jurisdictions should be completed, and legal requirements are set for each classification with the applicable law noted.
As the legal requirements are completed, organizational and operational requirements are factored in to determine retention time periods for each class. These retention schedules must be reviewed and approved by corporate legal counsel, and final sign off obtained.
Once the retention schedule is approved, implementation is completed by identifying every record series in your organization. A final evaluation of the maximum length of time these series could be of use is made. From there you should make appropriate plans for disposing, storing or transferring those records.
We find this site http://archives.govt.nz/advice useful for guidance around record retention and archiving.