The retention schedule is the basic tool of the records management program. It lists how long each type of record is kept, what the final disposition of the records will be when they are no longer needed for business purposes, and other special instructions or information about the records.The retention schedule lists groups of records -- or record series.A record series is a group of related documents which are normally used and filed as a unit, and are evaluated as a unit for retention scheduling purposes. For more at Records retention schedule RRS.
Files in an individual's workstation or office or on a personal hard drive or personal network drive are usually considered work-in process or personal reference materials. Completed work should be filed in a record series folder in the department's hard copy files on the unit’s shared drive. Business unit records which are maintained in an individual’s workstation because of their confidential nature (i.e., personnel files) must be added to the retention schedule.At the United Nations there is a retention schedule for records of a primarily administrative nature which are common to all departments. Eachdepartment at United Nations should also have a retention schedule or schedules covering the substantive records which are unique to the department’s particular function. 1.2 Purpose The purpose of the retention schedule is to establish and monitor the retention, transfer, storage and destruction of records. The retention periods are assigned according to the document's useful business life within UN,applicable statutes and regulations, and any United Nations policies. The retention schedule is a living document designed to reflect each department’s records and procedures. It will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.Any department wishing to revise its retention schedule should contact ARMS. 1.3 Retention Schedule Description Each retention schedule contains the following basic information:
• A list of the Records Series for the unit whose titles briefly describe the contents of the series.
• Each record series is preceded by a unique item number which identifies the series. It is made up of letters which identify the business unit or function, and numbers which identify the specific series. The record series are sorted in alphabetical order by series name.
• The item numbers are not necessarily sequential, since record series can be added and deleted over time.• Record Series Descriptions appear under the record series names.These give more information about the content of the record series. For more at Records retention schedule RRS.
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Retention Periods for the records. The retention periods give the total time the records are to be retained, regardless of their location. If the records are to be retained for more than three years, they may be sent to ARMS to be stored for the period after they are needed for active .use. Retention periods are generally expressed as a code plus a number. The key to the retention codes can be found at the bottom of the schedule. The number is the number of years the records are to be kept after the event or trigger indicated by the code. For example, if the retention is C+2 and the current year is 2008, files in that record series for 2007 and 2006 would be retained.
• The retention period assigned to some records is triggered by an event(i.e., contract expiration, separation of an employee, etc.). The recordyear is the year from which the retention is calculated – the year in which the trigger event occurs.
• To the right of the retention codes is a Disposition Code. This indicates what will happen to the records when they have passed their retention periods and are no longer needed for business purposes. Most records will have a disposition code of “D” for destroy.
• A small portion of the records will be designated “A” for archival review. These records must not be destroyed. They will be reviewed by the UN Archives for inclusion the UN’s collection of documents to be preserved for their historic value.
• To the right of the disposition code are Notes which give additional information about the retention of the record.Following the notes is a column which may contain the letter “V” which indicates that the records series are vital records. Vital records are records the United Nations would need to continue its normal activities in the event of a disaster or emergency. Vital records are specially protected only for the period of time when their uniqueness warrants protection. For example, accounts receivables are vital records only until the payment has been received and booked. The method and time period of protection for vital records is determined by the BusinessContinuity Planning process in cooperation with the records users and creators. Vital records are not necessarily permanent records. Vital records protection periods are frequently shorter than the retention period of the record. For more at Records retention schedule RRS.
• The function or office listed in the Office of Record column is responsible for keeping and preserving the official copy of that record.All other copies are considered reference copies and can be destroyed when no longer needed. Unless there is another office or unit indicated in the Office of Records column, the office or unit on whose retention schedule that record series is listed is the Office of Record.
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