🗂️ Staff Records Retention Schedule
How long we keep each kind of record about staff, why, who can see it, and how it is destroyed. It sits under our Access, Storage and Retention of Records policy and our privacy notice, which says we keep personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements
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Draft v0.1 · 11 October 2026 · for director approval. The green rows are already our policy. The blue rows are legal minimums to confirm with Peninsula (HR) or the accountant (pay and tax) before relying on them. The amber rows need a decision.
Our policy quoted from a JLK policy · Law minimum confirm with Peninsula / accountant · To decide a director decides
1. Set by our policies
| Record | Keep for | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel files and training records, including disciplinary records and working time records | 7 years From when the person leaves (our reading; the policy doesn’t say from when — confirm). | Access, Storage and Retention of Records | Our policy |
| Allegations about a member of staff (safeguarding records) | All safeguarding records are kept until the person reaches normal retirement age or for 22 years, if that is longer. | Safeguarding and Child Protection | Our policy |
| Low-level concerns about a member of staff | Retained at least until the volunteer, student or staff leaves employment at the nursery | Low-Level Concerns | Our policy |
| DBS checks | Keep the DBS reference number, the date and who obtained it. The nursery will not retain copies of the disclosure itself once the employment decision is taken | Recruitment, Selection and Suitability | Our policy |
| Reportable death, injury, disease or dangerous occurrence (staff, RIDDOR) | 3 years. | Access, Storage and Retention of Records | Our policy |
| Accident forms | The accident forms are kept for at least 22 years | Accidents and First Aid | Our policy |
| Complaints record (including complaints about staff) | 7 years | Access, Storage and Retention of Records | Our policy |
| Visitor signing-in book | Up to 24 years as part of the child protection trail. | Access, Storage and Retention of Records | Our policy |
| Disciplinary warnings: how long they stay live | Verbal 6 months · first written 6 months · final written 12 months. After that they no longer count, but the record stays on the personnel file under the 7-year rule. | Disciplinary Procedure | Our policy |
2. Not in our policies: legal minimums to confirm
These are minimums the law sets, not recommendations. We can keep longer if there is a reason, and the 7-year personnel rule above may already cover some of them. Confirm each with Peninsula (HR) or the accountant (pay, tax, pensions) before relying on it.
| Record | Legal minimum | Proposed for JLK | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right to work checks (passport / share code copies) | For the whole employment and 2 years after it ends (Home Office) | Employment + 2 years, then securely destroyed | Law minimum |
| Payroll, PAYE, statutory sick pay, maternity and other statutory pay | At least 3 years after the end of the tax year they relate to (HMRC) | Ask the accountant: company accounting rules may need longer | Law minimum |
| Pension auto-enrolment records | Most records 6 years; opt-out notices 4 years (The Pensions Regulator) | 6 years | Law minimum |
| Working time records (hours, breaks) | 2 years (Working Time Regulations) | Our policy keeps them 7 years with the personnel file | Law minimum |
3. To decide
| Record | Suggestion to consider | |
|---|---|---|
| Applications, CVs and interview notes for people we did not employ | A short period (6 months is common, to cover a discrimination claim), then destroyed. Ask Peninsula. | To decide |
| Health information (fit notes, occupational health, pregnancy and stress risk assessments) | With the personnel file (7 years), but held separately with tighter access, because it is special category data. | To decide |
| QA audit findings that name or describe staff | 3 years, or until the next inspection after the action closes, whichever is later. | To decide |
| Hub notices and Discord pointers | 12 months. They carry no detail, so there is nothing to keep longer. | To decide |
| CCTV | We don’t operate CCTV, so nothing to keep. Review if that changes. | To decide |
4. The portal’s own staff records
Where each record the portal now holds fits, so nothing sits in a sheet indefinitely.
| Portal record | Where it is | Rule | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision records | Staff Registry · supervisions | Personnel file: 7 years after leaving Our policy | The member of staff, their supervisor, the site manager, directors |
| Staff risk assessments (pregnancy, lone working, stress…) | Staff Registry · risk_assessments (kind “staff”) | Personnel file (health: see section 3) To decide | Deputies, managers, directors |
| Training records, course completions, CPD, practice tasks | Training Records sheet | Training records: 7 years Our policy | The member of staff, managers, directors |
| Timesheets and clock-ins | Timesheet / Staff Registry · attendance | Working time records: 7 years Our policy | The member of staff, managers, directors |
| Staff registry entry (name, role, site, contact, DOB for birthdays) | Staff Registry · staff_registry | Mark “revoked” on leaving; remove the date of birth and contact details then; the rest with the personnel file (7 years) To decide | Directors |
| Safeguarding concerns involving a member of staff | Ofsted script · safeguarding_concerns | Retirement age or 22 years, whichever is longer Our policy | DSL, directors |
| Complaints about a member of staff | Ofsted script · incidents (Complaint, about staff) | 7 years Our policy | Directors |
| Accident reports where a member of staff was hurt | Ofsted script · accident_reports | At least 22 years; RIDDOR records 3 years Our policy | Managers, directors |
| Handover notes (tablet) | Staff Registry · handover_notes | 12 months, then deleted automatically Owner decision, 11 Oct 2026 | Staff at that nursery (on the tablet, for the day), managers, directors |
| QA audits | QA Audits sheet | See section 3 To decide | Managers’ area |
5. How it is kept to
- Once a year (our records policy is reviewed annually), a director goes through each sheet above, removes or anonymises records past their date, and notes the date it was done here.
- Destroyed means gone: deleted from the sheet and its version history, and paper shredded. Our records policy: records not required are
deleted or destroyed in line with the current data protection laws
. - Someone asks for their data to be deleted: it goes to a director, who checks this schedule before agreeing (some records must be kept).
- Never earlier than the policy periods above, and never later without a reason written down.
Approved by: ______________________ (director) Date: ____________ Next review: one year from approval.