Records Retention

Records retention is the discipline of:

1. Keeping records for the period required by law, regulation, or business need
2. Disposing of them deliberately once retention expires
3. Documenting both the retention period and the disposition in an auditable way

Kenya's retention minimums vary by record type: tax records (5 years), employee records (7 years post-termination), contracts (6 years post-expiry), board minutes (permanent), patient records (25 years).

In Papyrus, retention is enforced by RetentionPolicy objects attached to document classifications. When the retention period expires, documents enter the disposition queue for review — they are not automatically deleted, but the Records Officer is prompted to act.

Documents under a litigation hold are excluded from disposition regardless of retention expiry.

See also

• Retention Policy
• Litigation Hold
• Building a Records Retention Schedule