Ca Record Retention Requirements
Under the Immigration and Control Reform Act of 1986, the Department of Homeland Security`s Form I-9 (“Employment Eligibility Verification Form”) must be retained for three years after the employee is hired and for one year after the end of employment, whichever is later. The original form (no photocopy or fax) must be kept and must be kept in a secure location separate from personnel records due to the private information it contains. [8 CFR 274a.] Documents that are of historical importance or that may be useful for historical references should not be destroyed. CLA will be wrong when it comes to these historical documents on the preservation side. The destruction of such documents requires the approval of CLA`s three presidents, CEOs and executive directors. The Fair Labour Standards Act (RSA) requires employers to keep basic records that include information about employees, payroll, individual or collective agreements, applicable certificates and notices from the payroll manager, sales and purchase records. Payroll records (including each employee`s name, number, address, age, gender, occupation and unemployment insurance records) must be retained for four years after termination of employment. Some “pay files” are not covered by the RSA`s four-year retention requirement and should only be kept for three years: they are tables for calculating the rate of pay (just time versus overtime), work schedules and employment contracts. [Cal. Code Regs., tit. 22, § 1085-2.] This period could be extended if the employer is informed that a complaint has been filed with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). In such cases, an employer is required to keep records until the matter is resolved or until the first date of a civil action expires. The employer must then retain the relevant personal records until it receives a notification that the action has been resolved or after the registration deadline has expired.
Therefore, at least three years after a wage decision where there is a wage gap between two workers performing substantially similar work, the employer should keep all records justifying the calculation of wages on the basis of seniority, earnings, quality or quantity of production or any other bona fide factor such as education, training or experience. The following are some of the relevant laws that affect the retention of personnel records. At the end of this article, you will find an online link to an example of a record retention policy that summarizes the legal requirements discussed here. Drug or alcohol test records: Employers who require a drug or alcohol test must keep test results and other relevant documents for one year. However, for employers subject to the regulations of the Ministry of Transport, the retention period is five years. [49 CFR 40.] California employers should be aware of the myriad of federal and state laws that require them to keep certain records of their employees. In the event of a lawsuit, an employer may be required to provide these records. Failure to do so may result in fines and other adverse measures. Health and pension benefit information: Employers should keep their benefit plan documents for at least six years after these benefits have been revised or are no longer in effect. The law does not set a period for retaining benefit plan documents, but plan documents could be relevant to claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (HPRA), which has a six-year limitation period. The categories of records that are generally considered “personnel records” are those that are used or have been used to determine an employee`s qualifications for promotion, additional compensation, or discipline, including dismissal. Here are some examples of “personnel files” (this list is not exhaustive): 1.
Job application 2. Authorization form 3. Notice of praise, warning, discipline and/or leave 4. Dismissals, leave and leave 5. Garnishments or wage garnishments 6. Notices and records of studies and training 7. Performance evaluations/reviews 8. Attendance lists The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires a protocol and summary of occupational accidents and diseases that briefly describes recordable cases of injury and illness, the extent and outcome of each incident, and totals for each calendar year, as well as an additional data set with more detailed information for each injury or illness event. These documents should be kept by the employer for five years after the end of the calendar year covered by those documents. Noise exposure measurements must be kept for at least two years. Employees` medical records should be retained for up to 30 years after termination of employment (excluding persons employed for less than one year). [29 CFR 1904.33, 29 CFR 1910.95 and 29 CFR 1910.1020.] Before disposing of these documents, employers must give at least three months` notice to the director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), who may ask the employer to send the documents to NIOSH instead of destroying them.
Even if the employer has valid document retention policies, it does not matter that managers and supervisors are not also trained on the policies: although this policy is not designed as a comprehensive policy to assert disputes, IT is CLA`s policy to stop the systematic destruction of files in the ordinary course of business, when a dispute or investigation is ongoing or reasonably expected. This includes backups that are retained in accordance with a disaster recovery or business continuity plan that CLA may adopt. In such a scenario, the personnel responsible for the relevant records must be notified as soon as possible and have been ordered not to destroy, discard, remove or otherwise manipulate the records that can reasonably be considered to be in question. When it comes to getting rid of personnel records, it is important that they are disposed of properly. Appropriate disposal, as required by the Federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FETA), includes “the burning, spraying or shredding of paper containing consumer information” or entering into a “contract with another party engaged in the document destruction business to dispose of material specifically marked as consumer information in a manner consistent with this rule.” [16 CFR 682.] Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), failure to properly destroy these records may result in damages and attorneys` fees awarded to aggrieved parties whose identification or credit is misused. Employers with 100 or more employees must keep a copy of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Form EEO-1, also known as the Employer Information Report. Other records related to training programs must also be kept. The statute of limitations can go back to four years for payroll and hourly class actions under California law, and time records will be the main issues in most cases. California law requires employers to track the start and stop times of non-exempt hourly employees. The law also requires employers to record the employee`s thirty-minute meal times.
The time system must be precise. Employers should be involved in system installation and configuration and should not simply use the default hardware and software settings. Understand what the system tracks and how it records data. Employers should also have a complaint procedure in place and communicate the policy to employees on a regular basis in order to find an effective way to resolve issues. In 2021, California passed SB 807, which amended California Government Code Section 12946 to require employers to keep personnel and other records for at least four years. Article 12946 of the Government Code requires employers “to keep and retain all records and records of applications, personnel, membership or employment for a period of at least four years after the creation or original receipt of records and records, or that employers retain the personnel records of candidates or dismissed employees for a period of at least four years after the date of the employment action taken. not to store”. While many employers kept personal records for four years prior to the passage of SB 807, as many salary and hourly limitation periods can go back four years under California law.
As an employer, it is beneficial to have sound legal advice and representation while navigating through complex detention and other labor laws. In addition to this information, other resources that may be available to you can be found through search queries, such as: SB 807 California Status, California Records Retention Requirements for Employers 2020, California Employee Record Keeping Requirements, California Records Retention Laws 2021, How long should employers keep employee records in California, California Employee Records Retention, California Personal Records Privacy, Employee Record Request, California Employee Personnel Record Disclosure, Permission to Release California Work Documents, California Personnel Record Request, Attorney`s Work Records Request, Licensed Employee Requesting Personnel Records, California, Personnel File Investigation Notes, and California Payroll Records.