Retention schedules should include all copies of the records to be retained or destroyed, including those kept at personal work stations or computers. Under the Uniform Photographic Copies of Business and Public Records as Evidence Act, effective in Idaho, a copy of an original is generally admissible in evidence. Electronic documents and memory are usually considered as authentic as paper, so electronic data and memory also should be covered in a record retention program. Written approval of the retention program should be obtained from the company president or CEO, legal counsel and tax adviser. Department-specific document retention and destruction schedules should also be approved in writing by the department head, legal counsel and tax adviser.
Consistency is essential once a record retention policy is implemented.
Documents should only be destroyed according to an approved schedule. But that schedule should be followed. You cannot allow a distribution schedule to lapse. Destruction procedures should provide a program control of at least one person assigned oversight responsibility. Listings of records to be destroyed should undergo a final review by department managers, legal counsel and tax adviser prior to destruction.