Q How long can records of ex-employees be retained for?
A Personal data should be kept for no longer than is necessary, but there are no specific limits set out in GDPR or the Data Protection Act. The Information Commissioner’s Office has published a good practice code on retention of employment records. In some cases, there are minimum retention periods (for example, with immigration checks and PAYE).
A risk analysis should be done to determine the retention periods for different types of data, with those periods then set out in a policy.
Nurseries will often retain data for up to seven years after the employment has ended to ensure that it has access to it in the event of litigation. However, there is no justification for retaining some data, e.g. bank details.
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