All Points Mobile Shredding Blog

Top Ways to Keep Personnel Records Secure

Protect Confidential Staff Information

As an employer, you collect and keep a myriad of personal information about your staff. From social security numbers and birth dates to addresses, bank account numbers for direct deposit, medical information and more, it’s your responsibility that your team’s private information is managed and maintained securely. Here are the top steps to protecting personnel records:

1. Create a formal company policy

One of the first steps is to create a formal company policy on collection, storage and maintenance of personnel records if you don’t already have one in place. This includes that your HR team understands what information they are legally allowed to collect and how and where it is stored. Make sure you have clear rules about any unauthorized copying, transmitting or viewing of confidential staff records.

2. Store records securely

Personnel records must be securely stored and access to them must be limited to one person or just a few persons. If you are storing paper records, it’s important that they are kept in a location that is locked and if you have created digital personnel files you must have them password protected on a secure server. It’s a good idea to change passwords on a regular basis and to evaluate your server’s efficiency regularly as well.

3. Comply with recordkeeping laws

Make sure that you are staying compliant with your state and local laws and federal regulations when it comes to retention of employee records. Many states only require you keep personnel records for one year after the employee has left your organization. Holding on to records for too long can pose a security risk to the employee. 

4. Dispose of records safely

Because employee records contain so much personal information, it’s important that you never recycle or throw them in the regular trash once you are no longer required to keep them. Shredding outdated personnel files is the top way to ensure that they have been permanently destroyed and cannot be read or reconstructed.

In the same way you protect your company data and client information, it’s your duty as an employer to safeguard your staff’s confidential information. Follow these steps on storage and destruction to ensure that you are doing your due diligence to eliminate the risk of ID theft for your personnel.

All Point Mobile Shredding is a family owned and operated company that provides shredding and destruction to businesses across the Treasure Coast and to companies in Okeechobee County, Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Give us a call today or fill out this form to learn how we can help you protect your personnel records and confidential company data.

Dawn Connelly

Dawn is the vice president of All Points Mobile Shredding. All Points Mobile Shredding is a family-owned and operated on-site document destruction company that has been serving the Treasure Coast, Palm Beaches, and surrounding areas since 1994.

Get Your Quick Quote

Ask about Our
Guaranteed Pickup Times!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.