Want to Jumpstart Your Compliant Records Management Program?

Start with a Records Retention Schedule

A Records Retention schedule is the platform for the protection of your corporate records - and the surest first step to avoiding recordkeeping risks and litigation. It provides the documentation to ensure that records are kept only as long as legally and operationally required, and that obsolete records are disposed of in a systematic and controlled manner. It is the foundation of a Compliant Records Management program. The development of a legally credible Records Retention Schedule should be broken down into four steps:

• Step One: Identify major record groups.
• Step Two: Create a universal classification scheme.
• Step Three: Perform legal research.
• Step Four: Overlay operational retention requirements.

Step One: Identify Major Record Groups

The first task in identifying major record groups is to inventory each type of record and record keeping system within your organization. Your records inventory should be a complete and accurate listing of the locations and contents of your organization's records - both physical and electronic. When you are creating your records inventory, group records into broad categories - called record classes. These classes will form the basis of your Records Retention Schedule. Ultimately, the records inventory becomes the basis for preparing the retention schedule. Until you know what you have, it is impossible to establish any type of records program. Conducting a records inventory is a critical first requirement because it identifies and quantifies all of the records created and processed by your organization.

Step Two: Create A Universal Record Classification Scheme

A record classification scheme is a practical way to deal with high volumes of records by grouping them according to business function, record class, and record type. Record classification schemes provide a basis for making correct decisions about each record's retention and destruction. Many companies can establish ten (or fewer) broad record functions, such as Operations, Accounting, Financial, Tax, and Legal. These top-level record functions are broken down into record classes, which are, in turn, broken down into record types. The following is an example:

• Federal
• State
• Local
• International (if relevant)

Examples of groups that issue such regulations include:

• Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Step 4: Overlay Operational Retention Requirements

Business retention requirements must also be taken into account. This is the length of time that a record must be retained to meet departmental, operational or user group record needs. The final retention period should be the longer of either the legal or business retention requirements.

Jumpstart Your Compliant Records Management Program with a Records Retention Schedule

Instituting a formal and legally credible Records Retention Schedule will put your company in a much better position to:

• Protect your intellectual property.
• Control the costs of information storage.
• Locate and retrieve documents for legal discovery.
• Dispose of records at the end of their business life.