Updated November 2026 · Southern New Hampshire
Record retention schedule template by department
A record retention schedule template for a New Hampshire business, organized the way your office is: HR, payroll, finance and legal, with the official source behind every period. Copy the printable table at the bottom, fill in your owners and destroy dates, and you have a schedule you can defend.
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Quick answer
A record retention schedule template lists each record series by department with its minimum period, the rule behind it and the event that starts the clock: personnel files 1 year (EEOC), payroll records 3 years (U.S. Department of Labor and NH RSA 279:27), time cards 2 years, Form I-9 3 years after hire or 1 year after employment ends, whichever is later (USCIS), employment tax records and W-4s at least 4 years (IRS), and most income tax records 3 years, 6 or 7 in the cases the IRS names. When a destroy date arrives, New Hampshire Document Shredding shreds the expired boxes at its Tewksbury office for 99 cents a pound plus $34.90 per job, with a Certificate of Destruction to file with the schedule.
What a record retention schedule template has to do
A retention schedule is a list. Each line names a kind of record, says how long you keep it, and says what happens when the time is up. That sounds dull, and it is. It is also the single document that answers an auditor, protects you in a lawsuit and keeps your storage closet from swallowing the break room.
Most small businesses have the rules in their heads and the paper in boxes with no dates. The office manager knows payroll stays “a few years.” The owner thinks tax records are “seven years, I think.” Nobody knows who decides when a box can go. A written schedule fixes all three problems, because it puts the rule, the source and the owner on one line.
What this page covers
This page is built for employers and the people who run their back offices: HR, payroll, bookkeeping and whoever handles contracts. It organizes the federal rules and the New Hampshire payroll statute by department, then gives you a template to copy. Every period on the page comes from an official source we checked in November 2026.
What it does not cover
Household records, the full tax picture for individuals and the state’s tax assessment window live in our document retention guide. Medical charts follow licensing board rules, so practices should start with their board. Banks, insurers and other regulated firms have sector rules on top of everything here.
Nothing here is legal or tax advice for your company. Treat every period as a minimum. Your attorney, your accountant, your insurer and your contracts can all require longer, and the IRS itself warns that insurers and creditors may want records kept longer than it does. Have a professional review the finished schedule once.
The six columns in every row
A schedule is only as good as its columns. Too few and you cannot apply it. Too many and nobody fills it in. These six are the minimum that lets a new office manager pick up a box, read the label and know what to do without asking anyone.
- A department column gives each row an owner. When the owner leaves, the row moves to their replacement, not into limbo.
- A record series groups files that are used the same way. “Personnel files” is a series. “Everything in the HR cabinet” is not.
- The rule and source column names the agency and the section. If a lawyer or auditor asks why, you can point to the page.
- The trigger event says when the clock starts. Most errors in retention come from counting from the wrong date.
- The destroy date is the trigger plus the longest period that applies. Write it as a year on the box label the day you pack the box.
- The method and proof column says how the record is destroyed and where the Certificate of Destruction is filed.
When two rules cover the same record, the longer one wins. Payroll is the classic case: the Department of Labor asks for 3 years and the IRS asks for at least 4 for the employment tax side of the same file. Write the longer period in the row and note both sources. That is simpler than splitting one folder between two agencies.
HR and personnel records
HR files are where the rules overlap most, and where the clocks start on different days. Some run from the date the record was made, some from the date an employee leaves, and one from whichever of two dates comes later. Sort these files by series before you date them.
The EEOC rule is the floor for most of the HR cabinet. Its regulations require employers to keep all personnel or employment records for one year. When an employee is involuntarily terminated, that person’s records are kept for one year from the date of termination. If a charge of discrimination is filed, every relevant record stays until the charge and any lawsuit based on it are finally resolved.
Keep Form I-9 out of personnel folders. It has its own two-clock rule, and an inspector should not have to page through performance reviews to find it. The same goes for FMLA medical certifications, which the Department of Labor rule says must be kept as confidential medical records in separate files from the usual personnel files.
| Record series | Minimum period | Trigger | Rule and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| All personnel and employment records, such as applications, hiring, promotion and discipline files | 1 year | Date the record was made or the action taken | EEOC recordkeeping requirements |
| Personnel file of an involuntarily terminated employee | 1 year | Date of termination | EEOC recordkeeping requirements |
| Records relevant to a discrimination charge or lawsuit | Until final disposition | Filing of the charge | EEOC recordkeeping requirements |
| Benefit plans and written seniority or merit systems | Full period the plan is in effect, plus at least 1 year after it ends | Plan termination | EEOC recordkeeping requirements |
| Form I-9 | 3 years after hire or 1 year after employment ends, whichever is later | Hire date and termination date | USCIS, M-274 Handbook for Employers |
| FMLA leave records, certifications and medical histories | 3 years | Date of the record | 29 CFR 825.500(b), separate confidential files under 825.500(g) |
The I-9 calculation trips up more offices than any other line. Work out both dates for every departing employee and write the later one on the form’s folder. Someone who stays ten years needs one year after their last day. Someone who quits after four months needs three years from the day they were hired.
Payroll records
Payroll has three agencies looking at the same paper. The Department of Labor checks minimum wage and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The IRS checks withholding and employment taxes. New Hampshire has its own wage statute. Each sets a period, and they do not match.
| Record series | Minimum period | Trigger | Rule and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll records, collective bargaining agreements, sales and purchase records | At least 3 years | Date of the record | U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 21 (FLSA) |
| Time cards, piece work tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules, records of additions to or deductions from wages | 2 years | Date of the record | U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 21 (FLSA) |
| Records of hours and wages | 3 years | Date of the record | New Hampshire RSA 279:27 |
| Payroll records under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act | 3 years | Date of the record | EEOC recordkeeping requirements |
| Employment tax records: wages paid, tips, W-4 withholding certificates, deposits, filed returns, fringe benefit records | At least 4 years | After filing the fourth-quarter return for the year | IRS, Employment tax recordkeeping |
| Records of qualified sick and family leave wages (leave after March 31, 2021) and employee retention credit wages (paid after June 30, 2021) | At least 6 years | Same as above | IRS, Employment tax recordkeeping |
Notice what New Hampshire does here. The federal rule gives time cards only 2 years, but RSA 279:27 says employers “shall retain such records of hours and wages for 3 years.” If your time cards are your record of hours, the state rule makes them a 3-year record in this state. Our advice is to stop splitting the payroll file at all. Keep the whole year, time cards included, for 4 years after the fourth-quarter filing and shred it as one block.
The 6-year line catches employers who claimed pandemic-era credits. If you took the employee retention credit or paid qualified sick and family leave wages in the periods the IRS names, flag those years on the box. They stay two years longer than the rest of the payroll shelf. Payroll firms that keep records for clients should agree in writing on who holds what, and for how long.
Finance, tax and accounting records
Bookkeeping records live on the IRS clock. The agency’s page on how long to keep records ties every period to the time it has to assess tax or the time you have to claim a refund. The default is short. The exceptions are what make the shelf long.
| Record series | Minimum period | Trigger | Rule and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income tax returns and the records that support them: ledgers, invoices, receipts, bank and card statements used on the return | 3 years | Filing the return | IRS, How long should I keep records |
| Records behind a refund or credit claim filed after the return | 3 years from filing or 2 years from paying the tax, whichever is later | Filing or payment | IRS, How long should I keep records |
| Records for a year with unreported income over 25 percent of the gross income shown | 6 years | Filing the return | IRS, How long should I keep records |
| Records supporting a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction | 7 years | Filing the return | IRS, How long should I keep records |
| Records for a year with no return filed, or a fraudulent return | Indefinitely | None | IRS, How long should I keep records |
| Asset and property records: purchase, improvements, depreciation | Until the period of limitations expires for the year you dispose of the asset | Sale or other disposition | IRS, How long should I keep records |
| Sales and purchase records | At least 3 years | Date of the record | U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 21 (FLSA), for employers it covers |
The asset row is the one to watch. A delivery van bought in 2019 and sold in 2027 needs its purchase papers until the limitation period for the 2027 return runs out. File asset records by asset, not by year, so the annual purge does not sweep them up with ordinary receipts.
New Hampshire business taxes add a state window that follows a similar 3 and 6 year pattern, and our document retention guide covers it with the statute. Ask your accountant whether any of your returns, state or federal, fall into the longer categories before you mark those years for destruction. If you are not sure, the cheap answer is to keep the year for 7 and shred it then. The tax record retention post has more detail on individual returns and the interest and dividends tax.
Legal, safety and compliance records
Legal records are less about fixed periods and more about events. A contract lives as long as the deal plus the time someone could sue over it. A lawsuit freezes everything it touches. A workplace injury log has a fixed federal period if your business has to keep one. This is also where the schedule earns its keep, because the costs of getting it wrong are highest.
Injury and illness logs
If OSHA requires your business to keep injury records, 29 CFR 1904.33 says to save the OSHA 300 Log, the privacy case list, the annual summary and the 301 Incident Report forms for five years following the end of the calendar year they cover.
Contracts and leases
Keep each one for its full term, then for as long as a claim could be brought under it. That limitation period depends on the kind of claim, so have your attorney give you the number for your common contract types and write it into the row.
Legal holds
A lawsuit, a government audit, an EEOC charge or an insurance claim overrides every period on the schedule for the records it touches. Your policy should name who places a hold, who releases it, and how the boxes are marked.
Two more rows belong in the legal section even though no agency sets them. Keep your incident records if you ever have a data breach, because New Hampshire’s RSA 359-C:21 puts the burden on the business to show it complied with the notice law. And keep your Certificates of Destruction for at least as long as the longest period on your schedule. Our post on New Hampshire data breach law explains the first, and our page on writing a records destruction policy covers holds and approvals in detail.
Printable record retention schedule template
Here is the record retention schedule template itself. It has one row for every series discussed above, with the department, minimum period, trigger and source filled in, and blank columns for your owner and the destroy year of the oldest box on the shelf. Copy it into a spreadsheet, or print this page and fill it in by hand. Delete rows that do not apply to you and add rows for anything your industry keeps.
| Dept. | Record series | Keep at least | Clock starts | Source | Owner | Next destroy year | Method and proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR | Applications and hiring records | 1 year | Record date | EEOC | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| HR | Personnel files, terminated employees | 1 year | Termination date | EEOC | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| HR | Charge and lawsuit records | Until resolved | Charge filed | EEOC | On release only | Shred after written release | |
| HR | Benefit plans, seniority and merit systems | Plan term plus 1 year | Plan ends | EEOC | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| HR | Form I-9 | 3 yrs from hire or 1 yr after leaving, later date | Hire and termination | USCIS | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| HR | FMLA records and certifications | 3 years | Record date | 29 CFR 825.500 | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Payroll | Payroll registers and records | 3 years (4 with tax file) | Record date | DOL FLSA, EEOC | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Payroll | Time cards and schedules | 3 years in NH | Record date | DOL FLSA, RSA 279:27 | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Payroll | Employment tax records and W-4s | 4 years | Fourth-quarter filing | IRS | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Payroll | Sick, family leave and ERC wage records | 6 years | Fourth-quarter filing | IRS | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Finance | Tax returns and supporting records | 3 years (6 or 7 in IRS cases) | Return filed | IRS | Keep returns, shred support | ||
| Finance | Asset and property records | Until limits run for year of sale | Asset sold | IRS | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Finance | Sales and purchase records | 3 years | Record date | DOL FLSA | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Legal | Contracts and leases | Term plus your attorney’s limit | Contract end | Your attorney | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Legal | Records under a legal hold | Until released | Hold placed | Your policy | On release only | Shred after written release | |
| Safety | OSHA 300, 300A, 301 and privacy list | 5 years | End of covered year | 29 CFR 1904.33 | Cross-cut shred, certificate | ||
| Admin | Certificates of Destruction | Longest period on schedule | Destruction date | Your policy | Keep with this schedule |
Three notes on using it. First, the “next destroy year” column is for the oldest box in each series, so you update it once a year after the purge. Second, keep electronic copies of these same records on the same schedule, or you have only done half the job. Third, date the schedule and have the owner of each department initial their rows. A schedule nobody signed is a suggestion.
Label every box on the end that faces out: department, series, date range and destroy year in large marker. A schedule on a clipboard does nothing if the boxes on the shelf cannot be matched to it.
How to roll out the schedule in a small office
A retention schedule fails in the rollout, not the writing. The usual story is a well-meant spreadsheet, a closet that stays full and a purge that never happens. This order of work avoids that and fits around a normal month in a small office.
- Inventory what you haveWalk every cabinet, closet, basement shelf and off-site storage unit. List the series you find and the years they cover. Do not sort yet. One afternoon with a notepad is enough for most offices under twenty people.
- Fill in the templateMatch each series to a row, add rows for anything missing and assign an owner by name. Where you are unsure of a period, mark the row for your accountant or attorney rather than guessing.
- Get it reviewed and signedSend the draft to your accountant and attorney once. Ask them to change periods, not to rewrite the format. Have each department owner initial their rows and date the page.
- Label and sort the backlogWrite the destroy year on every box. Anything already past its year goes to one side, after a check for legal holds and permanent papers such as deeds, corporate records and the returns themselves.
- Destroy the backlog in one jobThe first purge is the big one. Doing it as one job keeps the per-job fees to a single $34.90 and gives you one certificate for the whole backlog.
- Put the annual purge on the calendarPick one month, ideally after the fourth-quarter payroll filing, and repeat it every year. Update the “next destroy year” column and file the new certificate.
Next to the schedule, keep a short written policy that covers who approves destruction, who places and lifts holds, and where certificates are kept. If you are doing a large first purge as part of a move or a closing, our post on office cleanout shredding covers the logistics, and the annual document purge post covers the yearly routine.
Destroying records when the destroy date arrives
The schedule tells you when. It does not tell you how, and the how matters. Expired payroll and HR files still carry Social Security numbers, bank routing numbers, dates of birth and medical notes. The FTC Disposal Rule at 16 CFR Part 682 names burning, pulverizing or shredding for consumer report information, and that is the right standard for every record on this template.
Drop-off in Tewksbury
Drive the boxes to 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. No appointment. 99 cents a pound, or $20 per banker’s box at 10 boxes or more, and the paper is shredded the same business day.
Pickup from your office
Same shredding rates plus a zone fee: $129.95, $159.95 or $199.95, with the zone confirmed when you book. Our driver collects the boxes by appointment and they are shredded at the Tewksbury office.
Witnessed session
For the files you want to see destroyed, such as old HR investigations or legal hold releases. $1.99 a pound with a $100 minimum, at the Tewksbury office, with the certificate signed in front of you.
Here is the math for a typical first purge. Ten banker’s boxes of expired payroll and HR files cost $200 at the flat box rate plus $34.90 in per-job fees, for $234.90 at drop-off. Twenty boxes come to $434.90. A Zone 1 pickup, which covers the New Hampshire border towns such as Salem, Pelham, Windham and Plaistow, adds $129.95. Every price is on our shredding rates page.
You do not need to pull staples, paper clips, binder clips, rubber bands or file folders. Do remove three-ring binder hardware and hanging-folder frames, and bag any CDs, USB sticks or old drives separately, because media is quoted per item. File the certificate of destruction with the schedule, and if you would rather not move the boxes yourself, our off-site shredding page explains how a pickup works.
Frequently asked questions
What should a record retention schedule template include?
At minimum: the department that owns each record, the record series, the minimum retention period, the event that starts the clock, the rule and its official source, and how the record is destroyed and documented. Add an owner’s name and the next destroy year so the schedule can be applied without asking anyone. Date it and have each department owner initial their rows.
How long should a New Hampshire employer keep payroll records?
The Department of Labor requires at least 3 years for payroll records and 2 years for time cards, and New Hampshire RSA 279:27 requires 3 years for records of hours and wages. The IRS wants employment tax records, including W-4s, for at least 4 years after the fourth-quarter filing. Keeping the whole payroll year for 4 years satisfies all of them.
How long do we keep personnel files after someone leaves?
EEOC rules require employers to keep personnel and employment records for 1 year, and for an involuntarily terminated employee, 1 year from the termination date. If a discrimination charge is filed, keep every relevant record until the charge and any lawsuit are finally resolved. Form I-9 and FMLA records have their own periods and belong in separate files.
How do I calculate the I-9 destroy date?
USCIS says to keep Form I-9 for 3 years after the date of hire or 1 year after the date employment ends, whichever is later. Work out both dates when an employee leaves and write the later one on the folder. A long-time employee usually lands on 1 year after the last day, and a short-term hire on 3 years from the start date.
Do we keep tax records for seven years?
Not as a blanket rule. The IRS says 3 years from filing in most cases, 6 years if income over 25 percent of the gross shown was left out, 7 years for a bad debt or worthless securities deduction, and indefinitely if no return or a fraudulent return was filed. Many offices choose 7 for simplicity. That is a policy choice, not a federal requirement.
How long do we keep OSHA injury logs?
If OSHA requires your business to keep injury and illness records, 29 CFR 1904.33 says to save the OSHA 300 Log, the privacy case list, the annual summary and the 301 Incident Report forms for five years following the end of the calendar year the records cover. Put them in their own row on the schedule under safety.
Does the schedule apply to electronic records too?
It should. The agencies care about the record, not the format, so a scanned payroll register or a PDF personnel file follows the same period as the paper copy. Delete or destroy electronic copies on the same schedule, and physically destroy old drives and devices that held them. We destroy hard drives and media at our Tewksbury office, quoted per item.
What happens if we are sued or audited?
Stop destruction of every related record at once. A lawsuit, a government audit, an EEOC charge or an insurance claim places a hold that overrides the schedule. Mark the affected boxes, tell the department owners in writing and wait for your attorney to release the hold, also in writing, before anything is shredded.
What does it cost to shred records when they expire?
At our Tewksbury drop-off, paper is 99 cents a pound, and a banker’s box weighs about 30 pounds. At 10 or more boxes the flat rate is $20 per large box. Every job adds $34.90 in per-job fees, which cover the Certificate of Destruction paperwork and recycling, so ten boxes come to $234.90. Pickup adds a zone fee from $129.95.
Sources
- IRS, How long should I keep records (checked November 2026)
- IRS, Employment tax recordkeeping (checked November 2026)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 21: Recordkeeping requirements under the FLSA (checked November 2026)
- EEOC, Recordkeeping requirements (checked November 2026)
- USCIS, M-274 Handbook for Employers, Retaining Form I-9 (checked November 2026)
- New Hampshire RSA 279:27, Records (NH General Court) (checked November 2026)
Clear the backlog your schedule just found
Bring the expired boxes to Tewksbury on any weekday, or book a pickup from your New Hampshire office. Every job is cross-cut shredded at our office, and the Certificate of Destruction goes straight into the binder with your schedule.
Visit or call
1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876. Route 38 near the I-495 interchange, about 15 minutes south of the NH line. Free parking out front, and staff help you unload.
Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Witnessed sessions and pickups outside these hours by appointment.
Three ways to shred: walk-in drop-off at 99¢ per pound, pickup by zone, or a witnessed session at $1.99 per pound.
New Hampshire Document Shredding · 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876 · (978) 636-0301 · Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.