Performance Reviews

hrqueen

I would like to get an idea as to how long companies retain copies of performance reviews in employees personnel files. I'm considering disposing of documentation more than three years old, and using that as a rule of thumb. Any pros or cons?

cebudragonlady

Best to keep the reviews as long as employees are with you, and longer . Especially in Worker's Comp cases - in which everything should be kept.I have dealt with open WC cases four and five years old, in which the company was ordered by supoena to copy EVERYTHING in the personnel file.

hrqueen

Thanks for your response. The reason I would like to set a time limit on keeping this type of document is because of the way reviews were prepared in the past at this location. Management has changed in the last two years, and we are trying to give more realistic reviews. Some of the old reviews rate employees as "excellent" when in fact they are marginal and have always been marginal.

bsa

As you would with all HR related topics -- if you do it for one, do it for all of them. There is nothing wrong with purging old information out of your personnel files (no federal statues). Just be consistent with the change in your procedures and document the change via memo or revised procedures manual. I would keep more than 2 years of reviews though, maybe 5. A change in management and review format would have reflected throughout your population and could be confirmed by a review of other files if the need arose in a lawsuit.