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THE NETHERLANDS |
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DOCUMENTS |
RETENTION PERIOD (minimum and/or maximum) |
BEGINNING OF RETENTION PERIOD |
LEGAL REFERENCE |
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EMPLOYMENT RECORDS |
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Contracts (new hire agreements, severance, etc.) |
Minimum 7 years (No maximum) |
End of contract or end of employment |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Time records (work hours, rest periods, vacation/sick/holiday, etc.) |
Minimum - 52 weeks (No maximum other than mentioned in Article 5(1)(e) GDPR) |
Creation of record |
Article 3.2:1 Working hours decree ('Arbeidstijdenbesluit') |
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Performance records (performance reviews, promotions/demotions, licenses/certifications, investigations, disciplinary actions, etc.) |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: maximum - 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum) |
End of contract or end of employment |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Data and personnel files |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: maximum - 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum) |
End of contract or end of employment |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Government verification records (work papers, immigration, eligibility to work, etc.) |
Copy of government ID: minimum 5 calendar years after end of employment (No maximum other than mentioned in Article 5(1)(e) GDPR) |
End of contract or end of employment |
Article 15 (4) Foreign National Employment Act ('Wet arbeid vreemdelingen') & Article 28 Wage Withholding Tax Act ('Wet op de Loonbeslasting") Confirmed; Handbook on Payroll Taxes 2.2 |
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Collective bargaining/union |
No recommended retention period |
N/A |
N/A |
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Background checks and drug tests |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practices: Applicants: 4 weeks or 1 year in case of consent
Hired employees: As long as necessary for the purpose. Best practice maximum 2 years (No statutory minimum) |
Background checks on applicants: End of selection procedure
Background checks on employees: End of contract or end of employment |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Acknowledgements, policy agreements and required notices |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: maximum - 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum) |
End of contract or end of employment |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Recruitment (interview notes, resumes/CVs, reference checks, etc.) |
Applicant who is not hired: Maximum 4 weeks after end of application procedure, unless receive permission from individual to keep data longer, in which case can keep 1 year after termination of application procedure (No statutory minimum)
Hired employee: no longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed (No statutory minimum) |
End of selection procedure |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Tracking/recordings (biometric, geo-location, online tracking, camera recordings, etc.) |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best Practices: Camera recordings: maximum of 4 weeks (can be longer if there is a specific incident). Note: Use of camera recordings is very limited
Log files, computer systems, e-mail and internet monitoring: maximum 6 months to 2 years after ending employment (No statutory minimum) |
Upon recording |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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BENEFIT/PENSION/EQUITY RECORDS |
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Benefits (plan documents, enrollment records) |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: maximum - 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum) |
End of contract or end of employment |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Pension and retirement records |
At least 7 years after the financial year to which records relate (No statutory maximum) |
End of the financial year to which records relate |
Article 169 Pension Act |
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Equity records (of the company) |
Accounting, administration and finance documents (e.g. annual accounts, profit and loss accounts, debtors and creditors administration, inventory records, salary administration): minimum 7 years (No statutory maximum) |
End of the financial year to which records relate |
Article 2:394 (6) & Article 2:10 & 3:15i BW Dutch Civil Code |
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PAYROLL/WAGE/TAX RECORDS |
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Payroll and wage data (payslips, payroll taks statement, etc.) |
Payroll related personal data (such as birthdate and citizen service number): minimum 5 calendar years
Otherwise: minimum 7 years (No statutory maximum for both) |
Payroll related data: End of calendar year to which records relate
Other documents: End of financial year to which records relate |
Article 28 Wage Witholding Tax Act ('Wet op de Loonbeslasting");
Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen, Article 52-4 ('State Taxes Act') Article 7.5 Uitvoeringsregeling LB 2011 |
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Tax records |
Minimum 7 years (No statutory maximum) |
End of the financial year to which records relate |
Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen, Article 52-4 (State Taxes Act) |
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Decisions or certificates received from employees |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: maximum - 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum) |
End of employment or contract |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Wage garnishments |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: Wage garnishment records have to be erased directly after the garnishment is lifted |
From receipt of garnishment |
Best practice; Article 475 Code of Civil Procedure |
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MEDICAL/SAFETY/LEAVE RECORDS |
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Leave (family, medical, etc.) |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: maximum - 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum) |
End of employment or contract |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice |
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Injury and illness incident reports |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practice: maximum 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum). However, in case of claims/insurances etc. this period might be longer |
Date of injury/incident |
Article 5(1)(e) GDPR & best practice & Article 7:454 Wet op de Geneeskundige Behandelingsovereenkomst ('Medical Treatment Contracts Act') |
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Medical records |
No longer than necessary for achieving the purposes for which the personal data was collected or subsequently processed
Best practices: Employer related records: maximum 2 years after termination (No statutory minimum)
Reintegration file (long-term illness): No statutory (minimum and/or maximum) period. Recommended maximum 2 years after completion of reintegration. If reintegration file contains permanent agreements, these agreements are kept longer and can be kept in the employee's personnel file |
End of employment or contract |
Best Practice & Beleidsregels voor de verwerking van persoonsgegevens over de gezondheid van zieke werknemers (Policy rules for the processing of personal data on the health of sick employees) |
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Hazardous material and other exposure records |
Medical exam records relating to exposure to hazardous substances; list of employees who have been or may be exposed to carcinogenic or mutagenic substances; and registers relating to asbestos exposure: minimum 40 years after last exposure (No statutory maximum)
Registers relating to biological agent exposure (category 3 & 4): minimum 10 years but not more than 40 years after date of last exposure |
From date of exposure |
Arbeidsomstandighedenbesluit (Working Conditions Decree, 4.10c; 4.15; 4.53 paragraph 1, 4.9) |
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Absence records in case of self-insurance status ('eigenrisicodragerschap') |
Employer records: minimum 5 years (No statutory maximum) |
January 1 of the year following the year in which the last action was taken on the file |
Article 3(2) Regeling werkzaamheden administratieve voorschriften en kosten eigenrisicodragen ZW |
Led by PeopleDoc’s Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, the HR Compliance Assist team relies on a network of internal and external compliance experts and lawyers, including the global law firm Morgan Lewis, to provide clients with best practices and recommendations on topics such as HR document retention, employee data privacy, and HR electronic records. HR Compliance Assist also provides local compliance monitoring and alert services in select countries where PeopleDoc’s customers have employees. HR Compliance Assist is a service exclusively available to PeopleDoc customers.
