Candidate situation

What documents we keep & why

Candidate has applied for work with us, provided consent to hold their data and has been interviewed but has never worked with us

We will retain for 1 year pending: a) Becoming a worker b) Being instructed otherwise. After this time period, all personal data will be sercurely destroyed.

Reason: Time invested by both parties in the registration process. Should the candidate become available again we will not need to re-interview them until after 12 months

Candidate is fully registered with Mana, consent to hold data has been provided and the candidate has worked with us

Candidate paperwork and all data kept for 2 years (unless instructed to destroy*)

If the candidate is a temporary worker through Mana Resourcing, candidate name, work history, and date of birth will be retained for 10 years in order to provide references for the candidate

Candidate has applied and given consent to hold data. May or may not have been registered. May or may not have worked

If information comes to light of a safeguarding issue relating to the candidates’ conduct, the candidate name, date of birth and details of the safeguarding issue will be kept indefinitely.

Document Type

How long to keep for (and source of requirement)

Personnel records

 • Work-seeker records including

application form/CV, ID checks, terms

of engagement (see also below),

details of assignments, opt-out notices

and interview notes

• Hirer records including client details,

terms of business (see below),

assignment/vacancy details.

Employment

1 year from the last date of providing work-finding services as an Employment Agency or

Business (Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (Conduct Regulations))

Please note, there is no legal obligation to keep records where you take no action in relation to an application.

Terms of engagement with temporary worker and terms of business with clients

6 years in order to deal with any civil action in the form of contractual claim (Limitation Act 1980) (5 years in Scotland). Please note that 6 years is not a minimum legal requirement but is the time period in which a contractual claim can be made. You will still have to establish why it is necessary to keep these records.

Working time records:

• 48 hour opt out notice

• Annual leave records

2 years from the time they were created

Annual appraisal/assessment records

No specific period – under data protection laws you should only keep records for as long as is necessary.

References

Under data protection laws, only keep records for as long as is necessary. However, the Conduct Regulations require references to be kept for 1 year following the introduction or supply of a workseeker to a client.

Records held relating to right to work in the UK

2 years after employment or engagement has ended – must not be alterable

Criminal records checks/ Disclosure Barring checks

There is no longer a 6 month time limit on how long DBS certificates can be kept for. When it comes to handling and storing certificates the new DBS Code requires registered bodies to ‘handle all information provided to them by DBS, as a consequence of applying for a DBS product, in line with the obligations under Data protection Act 1998’ .

National Minimum Wage documentation:

• Total pay by the worker and the hours worked by the worker

• Overtime/shift premia;

• Any deduction or payment of accommodation;

• Any absences e.g rest breaks, sick leave, holiday;

• Any travel or training during working hours and its length;

 • Total number of hours in a pay reference period

For HMRC purposes: 3 years after the end of the pay reference period following the one that the records cover (National Minimum Wage Act 1998) Or 6 years (5 in Scotland) in order to show that you have paid at least national minimum wage rates if a breach of contract claim is brought against you.

Sickness records – statutory sick pay

Records can be kept in a flexible manner which best suits your business but should be kept for payroll purposes (see below)

Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption pay

3 years from the end of the tax year to which it relates  

Pensions auto-enrolment (including auto-enrolment date, joining date, opt in and opt out notices, contributions paid)

6 years except for opt out notices which should be kept for 4 years. For further information please see The Pensions Regulator’s detailed guidance for employers.

Gender pay gap reporting

1 year (but the statement must be kept on the Government website and organisation’s own website for 3 years).