What is the time frame for retaining employee information after employment has ended?

The most appropriate way to consider this query is to look at the retention of employee information generally.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 records must be kept for a set period of time. The Act does not however set out any specific minimum or maximum periods for retaining personal data.

Instead, it says that: “Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.”

This is the fifth data protection principle and in practice it means that an employer will need to:

• review the length of time they keep personal data;
• consider the purpose or purposes they hold the information for in deciding whether (and for