What documents need to be stored, and for how long, from the hiring process?

Posted by Ellen Schlosser on 11 July 2011 | 0 Comments

Answer (from Ellen Schlosser, Senior Consultant with The HR Group):  First of all, we recommend that all employers use a job application form that collects consistent information on candidates as well as providing the appropriate “legal” disclaimers from those candidates.  Resumes are just not sufficient.  We also recommend that you do not use or keep unsolicited resumes.

Secondly, the number of years that you should retain records depends on a number of factors, primarily, the number of employees.  Many nonprofit organizations have policies that they intend to comply with the spirit of anti-discrimination regulations, even though they may not be legally obligated to do so.  According to SHRM, the national human resources association:

Major federal antidiscrimination laws addressing the retention of employment records and, specifically, hiring records, include Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Title VII and the ADA apply to employers of 15 or more employees. The ADEA applies to employers with 20 or more employees. Employers covered under any, or all, of these laws must retain hiring records for each position for at least one year from the date of the hiring decision (i.e., the date the position was filled). Hiring records include, but are not limited to, all applications and resumes considered for the position, selection testing (employment tests, drug tests) and investigations (reference checks, background or credit checks). In addition, under the antidiscrimination laws, if there is a pending charge or claim of discrimination against the organization, all relevant hiring records must be retained until the conclusion of the case.

Retention periods are the same for hardcopy as well as for electronic versions of documents.  As a general rule, we recommend that you keep documents that are used in the employment process for the current year plus four years. 

As a general rule, we recommend the following process for managing recruiting documents:

1. Accept resumes and applications ONLY when you have a valid job opening.  Unsolicited resumes and/or applications that are received other than in direct response to a specific job opening should be properly discarded upon receipt.  You are under no legal obligation to respond to people who send unsolicited resumes.  You may send them a letter, but would do so only as a courtesy.  The caution here is, as in so many things related to human resources, to be consistent.  If you send letters or notes to one, be prepared to send them to all.  Again, we don't recommend the practice of responding to unsolicited applications.
2. Be sure that, if you do anything with a candidate beyond the first review of the resume, you make sure you get a signed application from the candidate.  In other words, if you choose not to interview the candidate, you do not need to obtain the application.  Again, be consistent - follow the same procedure for all candidates.
3. Proper documentation of the hiring process is essential for defending your hiring decision should you be challenged later on.   Never make notes in margins or on documents that could be construed as discriminatory or that identify protected characteristics, such as race, sex, national origin, etc.  Proper documentation means that all notes should be strictly job related and not make reference to any protected class characteristics.  A helpful tool to  ensure that your documentation is proper would be a decision matrix for the job where you list the essential qualifications and aspects of the job then rate each candidate against the various items on your list.  Such a scorecard helps to keep your decision focused on bona fide job requirements.