I recently started working at a small company, and I've noticed that during the off-boarding process, they take a full copy of an employee's work data, zip it up, and store it on the server. This raises some concerns for me. Specifically, how long is it standard practice for a company to retain a former employee's data after they leave? I'm talking about files like reports, screenshots, and PowerPoints, rather than HR or financial details. I'm still new to this role and trying to figure things out.
5 Answers
This isn't strictly an IT issue. I’ve seen situations where keeping the data was beneficial, but it can definitely lead to complications. It’s all about weighing the risks against the rewards and costs, which is something for leadership to decide.
The data belongs to the company, so they can do what they want with it. If anyone’s leaving personal data on their work PC, that’s on the individual. However, it would be wise for the company to clarify this in their employee handbook or policy documents to avoid confusion in the future.
The retention of employee data really depends on company policy and applicable laws. Some organizations may keep data indefinitely, while others purge it right after someone leaves. It’s a good idea to discuss this with management about what data needs to be retained and for how long.
If it's on a work device, it belongs to the company. As for how long to keep it, I’d suggest giving supervisors access to it for a limited time—say three months—before planning to delete it, with a couple of extensions if necessary.
You should definitely check with the legal department. Policies can vary significantly between companies based on any regulatory requirements. For example, my current employer deletes personal files after 180 days post-termination.
In my experience, legal teams usually prefer to keep data only as long as absolutely necessary—beyond that, it just adds to liability. If the data isn’t there, it can't be subpoenaed.
Exactly. The bigger concern is what happens if they need to sift through that massive amount of archived data for any legal reasons.