Data Retention Policy

1. Purpose, Scope, and Users

This policy sets the required retention periods for specified categories of personal data and sets out the minimum standards to be applied when destroying certain information within Blakell Europlacer Ltd (further: the “Company”). This Policy applies to all business units, processes, and systems in all countries in which the Company conducts business and has dealings or other business relationships with third parties. This Policy applies to all Company officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, contractors, consultants, advisors or service providers that may collect, process, or have access to data (including personal data and/or sensitive personal data). It is the responsibility of all of the above to familiarise themselves with this Policy and ensure adequate compliance with it. This policy applies to all information used at the Company. Examples of documents include:

  • Emails
  • Hard copy documents
  • Soft copy documents
  • Video and audio
  • Data generated by physical access control systems

2. Reference Documents

  • EU GDPR 2016/679 (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC)
  • Personal Data Protection Policy

3. Retention Rules

3.1. Retention General Principle

In the event, for any category of documents not specifically defined elsewhere in this Policy, (and in particular within the Data Retention Schedule) unless otherwise mandated differently by applicable law, the required retention period for such document will be deemed to be 3 years from the date of creation of the document.

3.2. Retention General Schedule

The Data Protection Officer defines the time period for which the documents and electronic records should to be retained through the Data Retention Schedule. As an exemption, retention periods within Data Retention Schedule can be prolonged in cases such as:

  • Ongoing investigations from authorities, if there are records of personal data that are needed by the Company to prove compliance with any legal requirements; or
  • When exercising legal rights in cases of lawsuits or similar court proceeding recognized under local law.

3.3. Safeguarding of Data during Retention Period

The possibility that data media used for archiving will wear out shall be considered. If electronic storage media are chosen, any procedures and systems ensuring that the information can be accessed during the retention period (both with respect to the information carrier and the readability of formats) shall also be stored in order to safeguard the information against loss as a result of future technological changes.

3.4. Destruction of Data

The Company and its employees should therefore, on a regular basis, review all data, whether held electronically on their device or on paper, to decide whether to destroy or delete any data once the purpose for which those documents were created is no longer relevant. Once the decision is made to dispose according to the Retention Schedule, the data should be deleted, shredded or otherwise destroyed to a degree equivalent to their value to others and their level of confidentiality. The method of disposal varies and is dependent upon the nature of the document. For example, any documents that contain sensitive or confidential information (and particularly sensitive personal data) must be disposed of as confidential waste and be subject to secure electronic deletion; some expired or superseded contracts may only warrant in-house shredding. The Document Disposal Schedule section below defines the mode of disposal. In this context, the employee shall perform the tasks and assume the responsibilities relevant for the information destruction in an appropriate way. The specific deletion or destruction process may be carried out either by an employee or by an internal or external service provider that the Data Protection Officer subcontracts for this purpose. Any applicable general provisions under relevant data protection laws and the Company’s Personal Data Protection Policy shall be complied with. Appropriate controls shall be in place that prevents the permanent loss of essential information of the company as a result of malicious or unintentional destruction of information – these controls are described in the company’s IT Security Policy. The applicable statutory requirements for the destruction of information, particularly requirements under applicable data protection laws, shall be fully observed.

3.5. Breach, Enforcement and Compliance

The persons appointed with responsibility for Data Protection have the responsibility to ensure that each of the Company’s offices complies with this Policy. It is also the responsibility of the Data Protection Steering group to assist any local office with enquiries from any local data protection or governmental authority. Any suspicion of a breach of this Policy must be reported immediately to the Data Protection Steering Group. All instances of suspected breaches of the Policy shall be investigated and action taken as appropriate. Failure to comply with this Policy may result in adverse consequences, including, but not limited to, loss of customer confidence, litigation and loss of competitive advantage, financial loss and damage to the Company’s reputation, personal injury, harm or loss. Non-compliance with this Policy by permanent, temporary or contract employees, or any third parties, who have been granted access to Company premises or information, may therefore result in disciplinary proceedings or termination of their employment or contract. Such non-compliance may also lead to legal action against the parties involved in such activities.

4. Document Disposal

4.1. Routine Disposal Schedule

Records which may be routinely destroyed unless subject to an on-going legal or regulatory inquiry are as follows:

  • Announcements and notices of day-to-day meetings and other events including acceptances and apologies;
  • Requests for ordinary information such as travel directions;
  • Reservations for internal meetings without charges / external costs;
  • Transmission documents such as letters, fax cover sheets, e-mail messages, routing slips, compliments slips and similar items that accompany documents but do not add any value;
  • Message slips;
  • Superseded address list, distribution lists etc.;
  • Duplicate documents such as CC and FYI copies, unaltered drafts, snapshot printouts or extracts from databases and day files;
  • Stock in-house publications which are obsolete or superseded; and
  • Trade magazines, vendor catalogues, flyers and newsletters from vendors or other external organisations.

In all cases, disposal is subject to any disclosure requirements which may exist in the context of litigation.

4.2. Destruction Method

Level I documents are those that contain information that is of the highest security and confidentiality and those that include any personal data. These documents shall be disposed of as confidential waste (cross-cut shredded and incinerated) and shall be subject to secure electronic deletion. Disposal of the documents should include proof of destruction. Level II documents are proprietary documents that contain confidential information such as parties’ names, signatures and addresses, or which could be used by third parties to commit fraud, but which do not contain any personal data. The documents should be cross-cut shredded and then placed into locked rubbish bins for collection by an approved disposal firm, and electronic documents will be subject to secure electronic deletion. Level III documents are those that do not contain any confidential information or personal data and are published Company documents. These should be strip-shredded or disposed of through a recycling company and include, among other things, advertisements, catalogues, flyers, and newsletters. These may be disposed of without an audit trail.

5. Validity and document management

This document is valid as of Jan 2019 The owner of this document is the Data Protection Steering Group who must check and, if necessary, update the document at least once a year.

6. Appendices

Appendix – Data Retention Schedule Financial Records

Personal data record category Mandated retention period Record owner
Payroll records Seven years after audit Finance
Supplier contracts Seven years after contract is terminated Finance
Chart of Accounts Permanent Finance
Fiscal Policies and Procedures Permanent Finance
Permanent Audits Permanent Finance
Financial statements Permanent Finance
General Ledger Permanent Finance
Investment records (deposits, earnings, withdrawals) 7 years Finance
Invoices 7 years Finance
Cancelled checks 7 years Finance
Bank deposit slips 7 years Finance
Business expenses documents 7 years Finance
Check registers/books 7 years Finance
Property/asset inventories 7 years Finance
Credit card receipts 3 years Finance
Petty cash receipts/documents 3 years Finance

Business Records

Personal data record category Mandated retention period Record owner
Article of Incorporation to apply for corporate status Permanent Finance
Board policies Permanent Finance
Board meeting minutes Permanent Finance
Tax or employee identification number designation Permanent Finance
Office and team meeting minutes Annual corporate filings Permanent Finance

HR: Employee Records

Personal data record category Mandated retention period Record owner
Disciplinary, grievance proceedings records, oral/verbal, written, final warnings, appeals As per legal requirement HR
Applications for jobs, interview notes – Recruitment/promotion panel Internal Where the candidate is unsuccessful Where the candidate is successful Deleted immediately Duration of employment HR
Payroll input forms, wages/salary records, overtime/bonus payments Payroll sheets, copies 7 years HR
Bank details – current Duration of employment HR
Payrolls/wages Duration of employment HR
Job history including staff personal records: contract(s), Ts & Cs; previous service dates; pay and pension history, pension estimates, resignation/termination letters As per legal requirement HR
Employee address details Duration of employment HR
Expense claims As per legal requirement HR
Annual leave records Duration of employment HR
Accident books Accident reports and correspondence As per legal requirement HR
Certificates and self-certificates unrelated to workplace injury; statutory sick pay forms As per legal requirement HR
Pregnancy/childbirth certification As per legal requirement HR
Parental leave Duration of employment HR
Maternity pay records and calculations As per legal requirement HR
Redundancy details, payment calculations, refunds, notifications As per legal requirement HR
Training and development records Duration of employment HR

Contracts

Personal data record category Mandated retention period Record owner
Signed Permanent Finance
Contract amendments Permanent  
Successful tender documents Permanent  
Unsuccessful tenders’ documents Permanent  
Tender – user requirements, specification, evaluation criteria, invitation Permanent  
Contractors’ reports Permanent  
Operation and monitoring, eg complaints Permanent  

Customer Data

Personal data record category Mandated retention period Record owner
Platform data – inclusive of Video data, comments, attachments, profile picture, email address, first and second name Retained whilst organisation remains a customer or deleted by user. Once an organisation requests all records to be deleted, data will be removed from the back-ups within 9 months Customer
Screen recordings from support session Automatically deleted after 90 days Support
CRM data – inclusive of Name, Email address, mobile number, address, emails and phone call summaries, DPO information Retained whilst organisation remains a customer or deleted by user. Once an organisation requests all records to be deleted, data will be removed from the back-ups within X months Support
Metrics data Retained whilst organisation remains a customer or deleted by user. Once an organisation requests all records to be deleted, data will be anonymised Development Team

Non – Customer Data

Personal data record category Mandated retention period Record owner
Name, email address Kept until person unsubscribes / requests to be removed from system Marketing & Sales
Call recordings Automatically deleted after 6 months Sales

IT

Personal data record category Mandated retention period Record owner
Recycle Bins Cleared monthly Individual employee
Downloads Cleared monthly Individual employee
Inbox All emails containing PII attachments deleted after 3 years. Individual employee
Deleted Emails Cleared monthly Individual employee
Personal Network Drive Reviewed quarterly, any documents containing PII deleted after 3 years Individual employee
Local Drives & files Moved to network drive monthly, then deleted from local drive Individual employee
Onedrive/Dropbox Reviewed quarterly, any documents containing PII deleted after 3 years Individual employee