It is a sticky question, but I don¹t necessarily see it as being linked to
retention of the entire employee file for benefit purposes.

Seems to me there are two purposes to retain some kind of information
about a retired employee: 1) the employee, or (if applicable) the
employee¹s beneficiaries, are receiving (or eligible to receive) benefits,
or 2) there are business reasons to maintain communication with retired
employees.

For neither of these purposes would the entire personnel file be required.
 

For purpose 1 - Some organizations keep separate files for an employee¹s
personnel actions and for their benefits.  If that¹s the case, only the
employee¹s benefit file would need to be retained for the duration that
benefits are payable (plus x years).  For organizations that do not
separate out the benefit records from personnel records while the employee
is active, I suppose - if resources are limited - the organization might
find it simpler to just hold onto the entire personnel file, rather than
investing effort to separate out the retiree benefit documents when the
employee departs.  But, I¹d at least question that decision.

For purpose 2 - This sounds like a distribution list to me.  Distribution
lists are usually retained for a relatively short timeframe, depending on
whether there are regulatory requirements or not.  Why couldn¹t the
organization give the retiree the option to opt in (or opt out) to receive
future communications?  Retention of those would be the same for any other
opt in/opt out records, and not linked to individual benefit or personnel
records at all.

Just one woman¹s opinion.

Pilar C. McAdam, CRM, ERMm
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Los Angeles, CA

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