Superseded policies are permanent and vital here.
There are too many instances when litigation forces the institution to
ask "what was the ___ Policy in ___ and where was it available?"
A big issue: does your institution define "policies" from "procedures,"
"guidelines," "how-to's," "steps," "processes," "principles," etc. If
not, it should. (the process v. procedure discussion can cripple any
meeting any time - you just have to choose one!)
Rarely does an institution have a policy officer to coordinate the
terminology let alone the proliferation of expired policies and the
procreation of rogue "department policy." Because of this companies can
get into a bit of a bind.
Thus, a casual review of an intranet may find: (1.) "Corporate Conflict
of Interest Policy" (undated and long superseded sitting on an abandoned
web site), (2.) the current "Corporate Conflict of Interest Statement"
(Undated, but "in effect" on the Corporate Secretary site), as well as
(3.) a "Lunch Room Microwave Cleaning Policy" on the Facilities web.
Obviously these are very different information assets requiring
different levels of management.
The "Corporate Conflict of Interest Policy" (undated and long
superseded) should be either removed from the intranet, or clearly
marked as superseded with date superseded and a link to the "in effect"
version. In any event it may be best to keep it for life of the
corporation to (1.) show your company's commitment to rooting out
conflict of interest (2.) ensure that when CEO Big E. Cheese retires
with a unusually large nest egg, the investigators/auditors can
scrutinize, and (3.) Your policies should be consistent and
evolutionary. If you toss old policies you may be in danger of
reinventing a wheel that broke "way back in the day"
The "Lunch Room Microwave Cleaning Policy" may have a wider impact to
your working population, but it is not a "Policy" issued by a policy
office or a corporate secretary, and really shouldn't be a "policy."
(An aside: Now if the microwave caused some kind of horrific plague and
someone sued the socks off the company for not "making staff aware of
the inherent dangers of an unkempt community cooking device" it may need
to be at the Policy level. However, even then it should be a guideline
underneath an EHS Policy. Indeed in this case the company may wish to
keep the progressive iterations of the "Lunch Room Microwave Cleaning
Policy" to prove that they actively compiled with the mandates set forth
by the result of the lawsuit! Ah, Litigation!)
Here's one taxonomy:
1.Principles
2. Policies
2A.Guidelines
2Ai.Procedures
2Aia. Best Practices
2Aib. How To's
2Aic. Steps
Chuck Piotrowski
CVPS
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Dean DeBolt
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 3:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: RETENTION PERIOD - COMPANY-WIDE PROCEDURES
In the normal course of business, you would of course, replace
"superseded" policies. We learned in our faculty union that the
policies in affect at the time you retire, regardless of future
contracts,
apply to the retiree at the time. So if the 1997 contract guaranteed
an office and telephone for a retiree, that applies now, even if the
2004
contract deleted the telephone. Insurance and benefits are another
issue what with the recent court cases on former Monsanto employees
who retired locally and the new company Solutia has attempted to
alter their benefits, retirement plans, insurance, etc.
I would grant this is more of a historical issue than a records
management
Issue unless you should take care in retention that at least one copy of
the older policy, publication, agreement is retained.
Dean
Dean DeBolt
University Librarian
Special Collections/West Florida Archives
John C. Pace Library
University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL 32514-5750
850-474-2213
850-474-3338 (fax)
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
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