Below is a list of laws that may be relevant in developing employee record retention policies. The application of the laws may depend on the number of employees at your bank; we believe that the laws below would apply to an institution with approximately twenty-five employees.

Illinois contract law: Generally speaking, the statute of limitations for contracts in Illinois is ten years. 735 ILCS 5/13-206. Consequently, you may wish to retain any employment contracts for ten years after the termination of the contract. In addition, you may also wish to retain the following documents, which may be relevant in contract-related disputes:

• evaluations
• employee handbooks and any revisions
• acknowledgment forms for handbooks
• disclaimers
• settlement or severance agreements
• job descriptions
• memoranda or documents summarizing oral agreements
• agreements or terms and conditions of employment (federal retention requirements are 3 years)
• tuition reimbursement or denials

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA): If you have an employee welfare benefit plan, the statute of repose expires after six years. 29 USC 1113.

• records relating to employee benefit plans
• summary plan descriptions (SPDs)
• records supporting data in SPDs
• notice of plan changes
• amendments or terminations and related welfare and pension reports

Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act: Employers must retain the following records and reports (or reproductions thereof) for five years (or longer, if the records are contested or litigated). 820 ILCS 405/180156 Ill. Adm. Code 2760.115.

• For each pay period:

• The beginning and ending dates for such period;
• The total amount of wages for employment paid in such pay period.

• For each worker:

• His name and Social Security account number, and address;
• The dates on which he performed any service in employment;
• The place of his employment.

• For the purpose of this record, the place of employment of a worker shall be recorded as the city or county in which he performs his work unless a worker performs his work in more than one city or county;

• In such event, the place of employment shall be recorded as the city or county in Illinois in which the worker has his base of operations; or, if he has no base of operations in Illinois, as the city or county in Illinois from which his services are directed or controlled; or if the place from which his services are directed or controlled is also outside Illinois, as the city or county within Illinois in which he has his residence.

• His wages for each pay period, and the date such wages were paid, showing separately:

• Money wages;

• Reasonable cash value of remuneration paid by the employing unit in any medium other than cash as determined in accordance with the provisions of 56 Ill. Adm. Code 2730.100

• Amount of gratuities (tips) received in the course of employment from persons other than the employing unit as determined in accordance with the provisions of 56 Ill. Adm. Code 2730.105

Internal Revenue Code: IRS Publication 15 (Employer’s Tax Guide) states that employers should keep the following employment tax records for four years:

• Amounts and dates of all wage, annuity, and pension payments;
• The fair market value of in-kind wages paid;
• Names, addresses, social security numbers, and occupations of employees and recipients;
• Any employee copies of Forms W-2 and W-2c returned to you as undeliverable;
• Dates of employment for each employee;
• Periods for which employees and recipients were paid while absent due to sickness or injury and the amount and weekly rate of payments you or third-party payers made to them;
• Copies of employees’ and recipients’ income tax withholding allowance certificates (Forms W-4, W-4P, W-4(SP), W-4S, and W-4V);
• Copies of employees’ Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificates (Forms W-5 and W-5(SP));
• Dates and amounts of tax deposits you made and acknowledgment numbers for deposits made by EFTPS;
• Records of fringe benefits and expense reimbursements provided to your employees, including substantiation.

Federal Unemployment Tax Act: Retain the following records for four years (Treas. Reg.  31.6001-1(e)31.6001-4see also IRS Reporter, Spring 2011, p. 5):

• The name, address, and account number of the employee;
• The total amount of employee compensation paid during the calendar year;
• The amount of compensation subject to FUTA tax;
• State unemployment contributions made;
• All information shown on Form 940;
• The reason why total compensation and the taxable amounts are different, if that is the case.

Equal Pay Act of 1963: Retain the following records for three years (29 CFR 516.2(a)(1)–(5); 29 CFR 516.3):

• Name in full, as used for Social Security recordkeeping purposes, and on the same record, the employee’s identifying symbol or number if such is used in place of name on any time, work, or payroll records,
• Home address, including zip code,
• Date of birth, if under 19,
• Sex and occupation in which employed (sex may be indicated by use of the prefixes Mr., Mrs., Miss., or Ms.) (Employee’s sex identification is related to the equal pay provisions of the Act which are administered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Other equal pay recordkeeping requirements are contained in 29 CFR part 1620.)
• Time of day and day of week on which the employee’s workweek begins.

Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act: For each employee, retain the following records for three years (56 Ill. Adm. Code 300.630(a)):

• name and address,
• the hours worked each day in each work week,
• the rate of pay,
• the amount paid each pay period and all deductions made from wages or final compensation, and
• the number of vacation days earned for each year and the dates on which vacation days were taken and paid.

Equal Pay Act of 2003: Retain the following records for five years (820 ILCS 112/2056 Ill. Adm. Code 320.140):

• name, address, occupation and wages paid to each employee,
• payroll records and records of other forms of compensation,
• dates of hire, dates of promotion and dates of pay increases, and
• any records made in the regular course of the business operation that relate to
  • personnel records,
  • employee qualifications for hire, promotion, transfer, discharge or other disciplinary action,
  • wage rates,
  • skills testing certifications,
  • job evaluations,
  • job descriptions,
  • merit systems,
  • seniority systems,
  • written job offers,
  • individual employment contracts,
  • collective bargaining agreements, and
  • a description of practices or other matters that describe or explain the basis for payment of any wage differential to employees of the opposite sex by the same employer and that may be pertinent to a determination whether the differential is based on a factor other than sex.

Immigration Reform and Control Act: Employers must retain completed Form I-9s for three years after the date of hire or one year after the date employment ends, whichever is later. See Form 1-9, p. 2.

Employment Discrimination Laws: Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA): Generally, the following documents and any other “personnel or employment record made or kept by an employer” must be kept for one year from the date of making the record or one year from making an employment decision. If an employee is fired, you must keep the following for one year from the date of the involuntary termination. 29 CFR 1602.14. If there is any discrimination-related charge filed, you must keep the documents until the completion of the case. Id.

• requests for reasonable accommodation,
• application forms submitted by applicants
• other records having to do with hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, lay-off or termination, rates of pay or other terms of compensation, and
• selection for training or apprenticeship

In addition, if there is any discrimination-related charge filed, you must keep all “personnel records relevant to the charge,” until the completion of the case. Id. “Personnel records relevant to the charge” include:

• personnel or employment records relating to the aggrieved person and to all other employees holding positions similar to that held or sought by the aggrieved person and
• application forms or test papers completed by an unsuccessful applicant and by all other candidates for the same position as that for which the aggrieved person applied and was rejected

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA):

Employers must keep the payroll or other records for three years, if the records contains all of the following information about the employee: (1) Name; (2) Address; (3) Date of birth; (4) Occupation; (5) Rate of pay, and (6) Compensation earned each week. 29 CFR 1627.3(a).

Employers must keep the following records for one year “from the date of the personnel action to which any records relate.” 29 CFR 1627.3(b)(1).

• Job applications, resumes, or any other form of employment inquiry whenever submitted to the employer in response to his advertisement or other notice of existing or anticipated job openings, including records pertaining to the failure or refusal to hire any individual,
• Promotion, demotion, transfer, selection for training, layoff, recall, or discharge of any employee,
• Job orders submitted by the employer to an employment agency or labor organization for recruitment of personnel for job openings,
• Test papers completed by applicants or candidates for any position which disclose the results of any employer-administered aptitude or other employment test considered by the employer in connection with any personnel action,
• The results of any physical examination where such examination is considered by the employer in connection with any personnel action,
• Any advertisements or notices to the public or to employees relating to job openings, promotions, training programs, or opportunities for overtime work.

Employers must keep any “employee benefit plans such as pension and insurance plans, as well as copies of any seniority systems and merit systems which are in writing, for the full period the plan or system is in effect, and for at least 1 year after its termination. If the plan or system is not in writing, a memorandum fully outlining the terms of such plan or system and the manner in which it has been communicated to the affected employees, together with notations relating to any changes or revisions thereto, shall be kept on file for a like period.” 29 CFR 1627.3(b)(2).