The file
What the exit leaves behind, how long it is kept, and who asks to see it eighteen months later.
What Goes in the Leaver File
The eleven things that belong in a leaver file, why it must make sense to a stranger, and the items that live elsewhere and never arrive.
How Long to Keep It, and on What Basis
Building a retention schedule for leaver records: why one period for everything is wrong, and how to record the basis, not just the number.
When the Former Employee Asks for Their File
Handling a former employee's request for the information held about them: where to look, what the deadline costs, and what is in scope.
Minutes, Notes and the Difference Between Them
What a meeting note has to achieve, why agreed notes are worth more than accurate ones, how to handle disagreement about a record, and where recordings fit.
Who Owns the File After Everyone Has Left
Assigning a closed leaver file to a role rather than a person, surviving system migrations and reorganisations, and who holds it after a sale.
Destroying Records on Schedule
Why deletion is the half of a retention policy nobody operates, how to make it happen, and when destruction has to stop.
The Documents You Will Wish You Had Copied
The records that exist only in systems that change — rotas, access logs, policy versions, messages — and why to copy them on the last day.