Sample Document Retention Policy
should have its own copy to test the accuracy of any document a member of the
public can theoretically produce against that Company.
(e) Legal Files.
Legal counsel should be consulted to determine the retention period of
particular documents, but legal documents should generally be maintained for a period of
ten years.
(f) Marketing and Sales Documents
. The Company should keep final copies of marketing
and sales documents for the same period of time it keeps other corporate files, generally
three years.
An exception to the three-year policy may be sales invoices, contracts, leases, licenses
and other legal documentation. These documents should be kept for a least three years
beyond the life of the agreement.
(g) Development/Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets
. Development documents are often
subject to intellectual property protection in their final form (e.g., patents and copyrights).
The documents detailing the development process are often also of value to the Company
and are protected as a trade secret where the Company:
(i) derives independent economic value from the secrecy of the information; and
(ii) the Company has taken affirmative steps to keep the information confidential.
The Company should keep all documents designated as containing trade secret
information for at least the life of the trade secret.
(h) Contracts.
Final, execution copies of all contracts entered into by the Company should be
retained. The Company should retain copies of the final contracts for at least three years
beyond the life of the agreement, and longer in the case of publicly filed contracts.
(i) Electronic Mail.
E-mail that needs to be saved should be either:
(ii) printed in hard copy and kept in the appropriate file; or
(ii) downloaded to a computer file and kept electronically or on disk as a separate
file.
The retention period depends upon the subject matter of the e-mail, as covered elsewhere
in this policy.
Failure to comply with this Document Retention Policy may result in punitive action against the
employee, including suspension or termination. Questions about this police should be referred to John
Doe (555-555-5555; [email protected]), who is in charge of administering, enforcing and updating this
policy.
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