OK

MsLady

...I have been working for this organization for a little over a month. Payroll is in the process of an audit. I was asked to provide some files of past employees. There were about five files I was unable to provide to the auditor. I contacted to person who was in this position (she retired) and she stated that if the person had left employment 5 years ago, she shreded the personnel file. The auditor still wants to know where these files are because these people are collecting there pensions. Can anyone help me with this one, am I right to say that in the state of MO, we are not required to keep personnel files past five years? Should we have kept the files on the employees that are collecting a pension? Again, thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Kari Swenson

LindaS

Not sure about the state of MO but in Wisconsin you are required to keep the records for three years from the date of termination but it is recommended to keep them for six years from the date of termination. In addition, documents used in the preparation of reports required under ERISA must be retained for six years from the date of filing.

If your auditor is looking for information regarding a pension plan, find out exactly what he is looking for and you should be able to contact the financial institution that is administering the plan and obtain copies of their records.

Pork

Kari: Do you have anything in your company policy manual that speaks to company policy and retention of personnel records and payroll records? Does your payroll information system have a 5 year retention or a perpetual retention. If your company policy states 5 years, then so inform the auditor, however, only inform the auditor if the Information Systems manager can not print out a wage and salary history pertaining to these individuals. WE retain personnel records forever due to our need for past employment information. The company is only 12 years old in this state; I'm sure we will change our policy as my file cabinets get more numerous. I started with the company 4 years ago and one file cabinet for terminated employees and now we are up to two five drawer/4 feet wide cabinets. A life time of file keeping would not be cost effective, but then, I had a need to retreive an 9 year old file last month. The auditors are there, mostlike, because one of those missing files has made a complaint and he/she knows the records are destroyed after 5 years. While the records are destroyed I bet the payroll information is still available unless you did it manual. The previous post suggestion is probably right that they have the plan document records associated with these five x employees. Hope the helps, PORK

RoseF

That's a LOT of terminated ee's to fill that much storage space! Turnover is a real hassle, ain't it? This is a very mobile, restless workforce we have these days. This seems to be true across the country, across the industry-business world. When and How DOES one determine it's safe to toss? What did you need to find from a 9 yo file? We are in Louisiana and save ee files for 7 years, then shred. Some of our ees are very part-time, seasonal workers. Many are college kids who only work a semester or two. If we kept files indefinitely we would be pressed for space.

Don D

Linda is right. You should be able to take a deep breath and get a copy of the financials from the plan administrator or financial institution. There are indeed longer retention requirements related to ERISA and Pension Plans.