Staff records

As an employer, you must adhere to the Data Protection Act and keep and protect certain records in relation to your workers.

Under the Data Protection Act you must:

• only collect information you need for a specific purpose
• keep the information secure
• ensure the information you have is relevant and up-to-date
• only hold as much as you need and only for as long as you need it
• allow the subject of the information to see it on request

This guide outlines the staff records you must and should keep, your data protection obligations for staff records and how long you must keep staff records for. It also explains the advantages of keeping staff records and how to set up a staff records system.

It also explains your legal obligations as an employer and a worker's right to access their records and data you hold on them.