How long should an employer keep an employee or ex-employee’s personnel files?

For how long should an employer keep an employee or ex-employee’s personnel files?

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) sets no specific periods for retention of employees’ personal data, but one of the key principles of the UK GDPR is that personal data should not be kept longer than is necessary for the purpose or purposes for which it is being processed.

Employers must therefore set their own retention periods for HR records, based on business needs, professional guidelines and statutory requirements. For example, there is a statutory requirement to keep national minimum wage records for six years after the pay reference period following the pay period that they cover. For a detailed (though not exhaustive) list of specific record-keeping requirements in the employment field.

Where the data is kept after the termination of employment for the purposes of defending possible tribunal and court claims, the time limits for bringing claims will inform the retention period. Where the act complained of occurs on or after 1 October 2026, an employment tribunal claim must be brought within six months of the date of the act. For claims about events before 1 October 2026, the previous time limit of three months applies for most claims (some claims, such as equal pay and redundancy pay, already had a time limit of six months).

The employment tribunal time limit can be extended to allow the employee to contact Acas about early conciliation, and in other limited circumstances. So a retention period of at least 12 months is recommended for information that may be relevant for a tribunal claim, unless it may also be relevant for a breach of contract claim.

Claims for breach of contract can be brought in the civil courts at any time within six years of the alleged breach. So employers should keep information relating to the contractual relationship with the employee for at least six years from the end of employment (plus some time to allow for notification of a claim).