The Records Retention and Document Destruction Policy identifies the record retention responsibilities of staff, volunteers, and members of the board of directors, for maintaining and documenting the storage and destruction of the American Humanist Association’s documents and records.
The American Humanist Association takes seriously its obligations to preserve information relating to donor privacy, litigation, audits and investigations. Records are stored in a safe and secure manner. Documents and financial files that are essential to the operation of the American Humanist Association in an emergency will be duplicated or backed up regularly and maintained off-site or securely on the cloud.
From time to time, the Executive Director or President may issue a notice, known as a “legal hold,” suspending the destruction of records due to pending, threatened, or otherwise reasonably foreseeable litigation, audits, government investigations, or similar proceedings. No records specified in any legal hold may be destroyed, even if the scheduled destruction date has passed, until the legal hold is withdrawn by the Executive Director or President as appropriate, depending on who issued the hold.
File Category |
Item |
Retention Period |
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Corporate Records | Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation | Permanent |
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Corporate resolutions | Permanent | |
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Board and committee meeting agendas and minutes | Permanent | |
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Conflict-of-interest disclosure forms | 4 years | |
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Finance and Administration | Audited financial statements and auditor management letters | 7 years |
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Payroll records, check register and checks, bank deposits and statements | 7 years | |
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General ledgers and journals (includes bank reconciliations | 7 years | |
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Investment performance reports | 7 years | |
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Equipment files and maintenance records | 7 years or after disposition | |
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Contracts and agreements | 7 years after all obligations end | |
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Insurance Records | Policies — occurrence and claim types | Permanent |
Policies — claimed-made type | Permanent | |
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Accident reports, safety (OSHA) reports, and claims | 7 years | |
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Group disability records | 7 years after end of benefits | |
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Real Estate | Deeds | Permanent |
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Leases (expired), mortgages, security agreements | 7 years after all obligations end | |
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Tax | IRS exemption determination and related correspondence | Permanent |
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IRS Form 990 | Permanent | |
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Charitable Organizations Registration Statements | 7 years | |
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Human Resources | Employee personnel files | Permanent |
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Retirement plan benefits (plan descriptions, plan documents | Permanent | |
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Employee handbooks, employee orientation and training materials | Permanent | |
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Workers comp claims (after settlement) | 7 years | |
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IRS Form I-9 (store separate from personnel file) | Greater of 1 year after end of service, or three years | |
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Withholding tax statements | 7 years | |
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Timesheets | 3 years | |
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Technology | Software licenses and support agreements | 7 years after all obligations end |
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Document Destruction
The Executive Director is responsible for the ongoing process of identifying its records, which have met the required retention period, and overseeing their destruction. Destruction of financial and personnel-related documents will be accomplished by shredding.
Electronic Documents
Electronic documents will be retained as if they were paper documents. Therefore, any electronic files that fall into one of the document types on the above schedule will be maintained for the appropriate amount of time. Backup and recovery methods will be tested on a regular basis.
Compliance
Failure on the part of employees to follow this policy can result in possible civil and criminal sanctions against the Organization and its employees and possible disciplinary action against responsible individuals. The President will periodically review these procedures with legal counsel or the organization’s certified public accountant to ensure that they are in compliance with new or revised regulations.