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ans Serif">A personal file should be kept for each employee. The amount of information on these files will depend partially on the range of information available, but should always include (if available):

• ans Serif">Copy of job advertisement
• ans Serif">Copy of job description
• ans Serif">Copy of offer and acceptance of employment.
• ans Serif">Any other correspondence about the offer and acceptance of employment, and medical clearance.
• ans Serif">References received, and copies of written references given to other organisations. Notes of telephone references.
• ans Serif">Selection test results
• ans Serif">Correspondence/documentation about payment of relocation expenses.
• ans Serif">Authorisations, and offer and acceptance documentation, for any contractual changes to terms and conditions
• ans Serif">Documentation about performance appraisal and performance payments
• ans Serif">Documentation about disciplinary action: particularly formal warnings, dismissal letters and records of disciplinary inquiries
• ans Serif">Documentation about sickness and other absences
• ans Serif">Documentation about accidents at work: particularly correspondence about claims and records of related accident investigations
• ans Serif">Documentation about the employee's grievances, appeals or other complaints

ans Serif">Personal files must be given highly confidential status, and be available only to relevant, authorised staff (normally the employee's line manager and Human Resources staff).

ans Serif">Employees should be permitted, on request, to have copies of appropriate documentation on their own personal files, except for:

• ans Serif">References received or given in confidence
• ans Serif">Any other document involving a third party (i.e. not the employee or his/her management) who has properly and necessarily been given assurances of confidentiality
• ans Serif">Documentation dealing with the organisation's case in any legal action

ans Serif">Employees must also be given access to personal data that has been computerised.

ans Serif">Note: The power of the Employment Authority to require production of all documentation relevant to a case should be borne in mind when drafting and filing personnel documents and records.

ans Serif">Personal files should be kept for as long after employees leave the employment of the organisation as is advised as necessary for legal purposes - generally speaking it is wise to keep files for seven years. Archiving of outdated files needs to occur in line with the Privacy Act.

ans Serif">When personnel data is required for central or corporate purposes (e.g. to monitor turnover or other statistical purposes) you should

• ans Serif">Ensure that their input to any corporate, computerised database meets the specification and is accurate and up-to-date
• ans Serif">Provide such additional manually produced data as may be properly and reasonably be requested

ans Serif">You should keep such other records and statistics as may be needed to ensure that whenever possible, decisions about the human resources are based on objective analysis (of volumes, costs trends etc) rather than on subjective assumptions.