Records retention is part of an overall records management program that determines how long organizations should keep their records to comply with various legal requirements and operational needs, and what procedures should be followed to destroy them.

Records retention has been important all along to provide an orderly and cost-effective approach to eliminate valueless records from an organization. The enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the increase of litigation involving records, corporations in particular have finally focused on ensuring that they have a legally-defensible records retention program in place. A retention program, properly designed and properly implemented, ensures that required records are maintained for the appropriate period and that records destruction proceeds only when legally permitted.

A records retention schedule must be customized for a particular organization. While legal requirements may be similar for the general business records found in most organizations, the more subjective legal considerations (e.g., statutes of limitation, litigation risk factors, etc.) and user retention needs will differ. In addition, different legal requirements may apply based on jurisdictions (including countries) where you do business, special industry regulations, specific products manufactured, and other factors.

We can assist you to understand your legal responsibilities and liabilities, and help develop and maintain a retention schedule and how to establish a records retention program.