Save It Shred It Delete It? Developing Best Practices for Record Retention and Destruction

Various regulations and federal and state laws mandate retention of specific documents (both traditional paper documents and electronically stored information) for a designated period of time. Unfortunately, these laws overlap and conflict, causing confusion. As the number of laws and risks related to governing records management continues to increase, it becomes even more paramount that organizations and their counsel follow best practices.

The process of organizing, storing and archiving your organization's records is critical for business success. You need to know what information to store, where to store it, how long to store it and software requirements to access the stored data to ensure the organization is in compliance with government regulations. Just one misstep could lead to legal issues, fines, investigation and possible litigation. If your organization has ever been through a Wage and Hour Audit, Unemployment Claim, Worker Compensation Hearing or Litigation then you know the value of good record keeping.

• Learn what records are required to be maintained
• Determine how long each category of records need to be kept
• Discuss requirements for each department within your organization
• Discuss regulatory requirements of the IRS, Labor Department and other regulatory agencies
• Review most common penalties and fines that are levied by agencies
• Discuss electronic tools that may be useful in managing record retention
   

• What does the law require for record retention
• What are the best practices for record retention and destruction
• How can you identify and safely destroy old records - "Do's and Don'ts"
• What are the best practices for making images of paper records
• How to organize your electronic and paper documentation for swifter access
• How to determine record importance and sensitivity
• Determine when keeping too much can be just as harmful as not enough
• How to determine the lifecycle of records
• How procedures differ for paper files and for e-files
• Understanding DIN Security Level and Compliance DIN 32757-1 standard
• Understand record schedule defensibility and steps toward improvements
   

Consistent management of documents and data reduces litigation exposure and regulatory criticism. However, conquering the challenges you encounter in managing, retaining, and disposing information on the road to legal compliance is more complicated than ever.

Don't spend one more day struggling with crammed file cabinets, multiple thumb drives, and CD's looking for the information you need. Better information and record storage compliance will provide you with faster reaction and data integrity that will lead to improved productivity, increased efficiency and provide a competitive advantage.

Attend the webinar to learn the best practice techniques, strategies for developing a record retention and destruction process that will save your time, effort in retrieving, archiving and destroying documents.

• Department Managers
• Accounting staff
• HR staff
• Employee benefits professionals
• Business owners
• Anyone who wishes to increase or refresh their knowledge of Record Retention and Destruction
• Any employee responsible for developing and/or maintaining an effective records retention, access and destruction program
   

Candace Curry Leuck is owner of Athena Finance Group, Inc. specializing in strategic planning, distressed entity recovery, valuations, and educational programs. Athena's mission is to pursue and communicate the information clients need. This is accomplished through a cooperative working relationship. Based on solid strategy, the outcome is an expansion of the opportunities of those served. Candace was associated with Ernst & Young in the tax and then auditing area, serving small, midsized and SEC clients during her tenure. She gained significant experience with various industries including manufacturers, automobile dealerships and securities brokers. Upon leaving Ernst & Young, Candace pursued and obtained her Masters of Professional Accountancy from Clemson University and proceeded to her career in the educational arena, teaching at Clemson University, Furman University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She returned to Clemson in the Fall of 2006 and remained through Spring of 2012. In addition to undergraduate and graduate education, Candace has developed and taught various continuing education courses in both live format and through webcast technology.