FAQ Category
HR Records & Compliance FAQs
Recordkeeping, retention, personnel files, and the documentation infrastructure that supports every other HR decision.
Last updated: July 03, 2026 • 12 answers in this category
- How can a Texas employer reduce HR compliance risk and cost?
- How does outsourced HR help with compliance, investigations, and employee relations?
- How much does an HR audit usually cost?
- How often should a small business conduct an HR audit?
- How often should managers receive HR compliance training?
- How should a Texas employer preserve records after a legal threat?
- What does HR compliance mean for a Texas small business?
- What employee training records should Texas small businesses keep?
- What is an HR audit for a Texas business?
- What should be included in a basic HR compliance checklist for Texas employers?
- What should Texas employers do after an HR audit identifies compliance gaps?
- What should Texas employers include in an HR audit checklist?
Six statutes, six retention periods, and the one that governs
Controlling authority: DOL FLSA recordkeeping, EEOC recordkeeping requirements, OSHA recordkeeping and ERISA. The longest applicable period governs, and a litigation hold overrides all of them.
| Record | Retain for | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll records | 3 years | FLSA (and ADEA for payroll) |
| Wage rates, job evaluations, seniority and merit systems, and anything explaining a pay differential | 2 years | FLSA supplementary records |
| Personnel and employment records — hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, discipline, termination | 1 year from the record or the action, whichever is later | Title VII and the ADA. Covered federal contractors: 2 years |
| FMLA leave records, including certifications | 3 years | FMLA — and certifications live in the confidential medical file |
| OSHA injury and illness records (300, 300A, 301) | 5 years following the year covered | OSHA recordkeeping |
| Benefit plan documents | 6 years | ERISA, matching the limitation period |
| Form I-9 | 3 years after hire or 1 year after termination, whichever is later | USCIS |
| Anything under a litigation hold | Until the hold is lifted | A hold overrides every schedule above |
Preservation after a complaint, charge or threat
| Step | What it covers | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Issue a litigation hold | Email, chat, devices, access logs, personnel and payroll records for the parties and comparators | On the credible threat, not on the lawsuit. |
| Suspend auto-deletion | Retention policies that would destroy relevant records | Immediately. This is the failure judged most harshly. |
| Preserve the investigation file | Scope, interview notes, evidence considered, findings, and the action taken | Ongoing |
| Preserve comparator evidence | How the same standard was applied to others, in the same period | With the hold |
| Segregate confidential material | Medical, other charges, trade secret, financial | At creation, not at production. |
| Track the deadlines | Position statement date, the charging party’s 20-day window, and the 90-day suit period | From receipt of each notice. |
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