Both California state and federal laws impact how long it is necessary to keep employment records after an employee terminates (resigns, retires, discharged, etc). A good, reasonable time seems to be at least FOUR YEARS from termination for most employment records based upon what individual laws may permit as a "contest period" or the "legal right" of a governmental agency to request records from a California employer. There are exceptions that require some records to be kept longer, for example, six years for pension and welfare plan information.
Two years is the legal requirement, although sometimes files contain information which should be kept longer than that, payroll information for example. It is a good idea to keep the file longer than the legal requirement because of the possibility of legal action, etc. If you will e-Mail me at [email]shugh@westernu.edu[/email] and give me your fax number I will send you an outline of Ca. requirements.
We generally recommend that you keep personnel records for at least five years from the date of termination or the resolution of any employment-related action.
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