Most businesses know they should be keeping HR records. Fewer know exactly which ones, for how long, or what happens when they get it wrong.
The rules around record retention aren’t new, but they catch people out more often than you’d think. Especially when a former employee brings a claim two or three years after leaving, and suddenly you’re scrambling to find paperwork that may or may not exist.
This blog sets out what you actually need to keep, why the six-year rule matters, and how to make sure your records are in order. Because at Supportis, we don’t just explain the rules. We help you put them into practice.
Why record retention matters
Employment tribunal claims can be brought months or even years after someone has left your business. Discrimination claims, for example, can surface long after the employment relationship has ended. Contract disputes can rumble on. And if you ever end up defending a claim, your records are your evidence.
The problem is that memory fades. The manager who dealt with a grievance might have moved on. The HR person who handled a disciplinary might not remember the details. Without written records, you’re relying on recollection against recollection. That’s a weak position to be in, even if you handled everything properly at the time.
There’s also GDPR to think about. You can’t keep personal data indefinitely without a good reason. So record retention is a balancing act. Keep enough to protect the business. Don’t keep so much that you create a data protection problem.
Getting this right isn’t complicated. But it does need some thought and a bit of discipline.
What records must be retained for six years
The six-year rule comes from the Limitation Act 1980. In simple terms, most contractual claims must be brought within six years. That’s why employment records generally need to be kept for six years after the employment ends. Not six years from when the document was created. Six years from when the person left.
Here’s what that means in practice.
Contracts of employment
Every employee should have a written contract or statement of terms. Keep these for six years after they leave. If terms changed during employment, keep records of those changes too.
Disciplinary and grievance records
If someone was subject to a disciplinary process, keep the notes, the outcome letter, and any investigation records. Same goes for grievances. These are often the documents you’ll need if a claim is brought later.
Performance management records
Formal performance improvement plans, written warnings, review meeting notes. If it was documented at the time, keep it. Informal conversations don’t need to be retained forever, but anything that fed into a formal process should be.
Termination records
Resignation letters, dismissal letters, redundancy consultation records, settlement agreements. All of these should be kept for six years after the person leaves. If the exit was difficult or contentious, this is even more important.
Payroll records
HMRC requires you to keep payroll records for at least three years after the end of the tax year they relate to. But for employment law purposes, keeping them for six years is safer. Pay disputes can come up years later, and you’ll want the records to hand.
Working time records
If you need to demonstrate compliance with working time rules, keep records of hours worked, opt-outs, and rest breaks. This is particularly relevant for roles with variable hours or where overtime is common.
Training records
Records of mandatory training, health and safety training, and any training that relates to someone’s competence in their role. These can be important if you ever need to show that someone was properly trained before an incident.
Right to work checks
These have their own rules. You must keep a copy of the documents you checked for the duration of employment plus two years. Not six years. This catches people out because it’s different from the general rule.
What you don’t need to keep forever
Retention isn’t about hoarding everything just in case. That creates its own problems.
Unsuccessful candidate records
If someone applied for a role and didn’t get it, you don’t need to keep their CV and application for six years. Six to twelve months is usually enough, in case they bring a discrimination claim about the recruitment process. After that, delete them.
Informal notes
If a manager jotted down some thoughts about a conversation and those notes were never used for anything formal, you don’t need to keep them. In fact, keeping informal notes that were never shared with the employee can create more problems than it solves.
Duplicate documents
There’s no need to keep three copies of the same contract in three different folders. Pick one source of truth and stick with it.
Data you no longer have a reason to hold
Under GDPR, you need to be able to justify why you’re keeping personal data. “We might need it one day” isn’t good enough. If there’s no realistic prospect of needing a document, consider whether it should be deleted.
Regular reviews help. Set a reminder once a year to go through old files and clear out what’s no longer needed.
Common mistakes we see
We work with a lot of businesses on their HR processes, and the same problems come up again and again.
No retention policy
Some businesses have never actually written down what they keep and for how long. That means everyone does something slightly different, and no one really knows what’s where.
Records scattered everywhere
Paper files in one cabinet, scanned documents on a shared drive, emails in someone’s inbox. When you need to find something quickly, this is a nightmare.
Destroying records too early
Someone leaves and their file gets deleted or shredded a few months later. Then a claim lands eighteen months down the line and you’ve got nothing to refer back to.
Keeping things too long
The opposite problem. Boxes of files from employees who left a decade ago, sitting in a storage cupboard. No one knows what’s in them, but no one wants to throw them away. This is a GDPR risk and it’s clutter you don’t need.
Inconsistency between managers
One manager keeps detailed notes on everything. Another keeps nothing. When something goes wrong, you’re dependent on who happened to be involved.
These aren’t unusual. But they’re all fixable.
How to get your record retention right
If you’re not sure whether your current approach is good enough, here’s where to start.
Write a retention policy
It doesn’t need to be long. Just a clear statement of what you keep, where it’s stored, and when it gets deleted. Make sure managers know it exists and understand what’s expected of them.
Audit what you currently hold
Work out where your records actually are. Paper files, HR systems, email folders, shared drives. You might find you have more than you realised, or that things are stored in places that aren’t secure.
Train managers on what matters
Line managers are often the ones creating records in the first place. Make sure they know what to document, how to store it, and what not to keep. A quick briefing can save a lot of problems later.
Build retention into your offboarding process
When someone leaves, that’s the point to gather up their records, check everything’s in order, and note the date when they can be deleted. Don’t leave it until someone asks for them years later.
Set calendar reminders
Six years goes quickly. Put a reminder in the calendar to review and destroy records at the appropriate time. Otherwise it doesn’t happen.
If this feels like a lot, it doesn’t have to be done all at once. Start with your current employees. Get those records in order first. Then work backwards.
We can help you fix this
Record retention isn’t exciting. But getting it wrong can cost you.
If you’re not confident that your HR records are where they should be, or you don’t have a policy in place, we can help. We’ll work with you to figure out what you’ve got, what you need, and how to keep on top of it going forward.
That’s what we do at Supportis. We don’t just explain what the law says. We help you sort it out.
Get in touch if you’d like to talk it through.
