Instead of looking at "What's in your wallet?" as one popular commercial asks, you should start thinking about "What's in your file cabinet?" As you are throwing out the old calendar, you should consider getting rid of some old paperwork too.
Some businesses are like the show "Hoarders" in that they hold on to everything because they never know when they might need it.
When it comes to people issues, sometimes holding on to things can cost you a lot of money.
For example, let's say you have applications or resumes from three or four years ago.
If someone files a discrimination lawsuit, all of those materials are discoverable by an agency or the plaintiff's attorney.
As the agency or the lawyers look through the materials, they find that two years ago you used to write notes about applicants on their resumes or on the applications.
Descriptive words like "fat," "bad teeth," or "not another one" can really boost a plaintiff's case.
Most companies have a document retention policy.
A document retention policy is how long a company will keep certain documents before destroying them.
While the policy covers all aspects of the business, this article focuses only on the documents that deal with people.
How long should you keep resumes and applications? Some companies keep them for six months, while most keep them for a year.
Others keep an entire year of applications through the next year, disposing of them the following year.
In this case, you would be getting rid of all the 2008 applications and resumes now.
The most important thing is to have an actual policy for managing these documents and be certain that this policy will protect you as long as you actually do what it says.
(C) 2010 Jerry Ballard, Perfect People Solutions