I've just started at a small company, and I've noticed that when employees leave, the company takes a full copy of their data, zips it up, and stores it on the server for potential future use. This raises some concerns for me, particularly about how long the company should retain this data after someone is no longer with us. I'm not talking about HR or financial information—just the regular files that people use day-to-day, like reports, screenshots, and presentations. I'm still quite new in my role and trying to navigate these issues.
5 Answers
At the end of the day, if it’s on a work device, it really belongs to the company. If there are personal files mixed in, that’s on the employee. Just keep it clear in the policies.
It's more about weighing the risks versus rewards when it comes to data retention. Keeping all that info can definitely accrue costs, plus having potentially incriminating data on file can be a legal risk. I'd still recommend bringing this to the legal team.
The retention of employee data really depends on the company's policies and relevant laws. Some businesses keep files indefinitely, while others delete them immediately after an employee leaves. It’s something you should discuss with management to determine what data they want to keep and for how long.
A straightforward approach could be giving the employee's supervisor access to the data and letting them know it will be deleted in three months, with the option for a couple of one-month extensions.
Definitely consult your legal department on this one. Different companies have different requirements, especially if they're obligated to retain documents for regulatory reasons. For instance, at my current job, we purge personal files after about 180 days.
Exactly! Legal usually wants to keep data only as long as required to avoid any legal complications.