Did you ever wonder how long a truck driving company keeps employment records? Excluding employment tax records, files relating to current truck company employees are retained for at least 7 years after the employee has left or been terminated. For any job applicants who were not eventually hired, their files are kept for at least 3 years.
The IRS recommends that companies keep payroll records like tax withholding until the company and the employee can no longer file amendments for that tax year. In the case of employment records, the IRS guidelines say to keep the records for a minimum of four years after you pay the tax or the tax is due, whichever of the two dates is later.
Most states have a two-year statute of limitations on lawsuit filings by former employees, so trucking companies want to make sure they have the necessary records on hand, if needed.
For auditing purposes, a company needs to maintain the records for seven years, filing paperwork chronologically. After the seven years is up, a trucking company can shred or dispose of the documents.
Companies having employment contracts with their employees should maintain these contracts for at least 10 years. The general idea is that employee records should be kept for a longer period of time than you’d assume, “just in case” any legal issues occur, like an employee making a worker’s compensation claim.
Furthermore, just so you know, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 1964 Civil Rights Act requires companies to maintain employee records for at least one year after an employee has left the company if that company has 15 or more employees. Companies with 20 or more employees must maintain employee records for at least one year after an employee has left the company according to the The Age Discrimination in Employment Act. And, finally, The Family Medical Leave Act says that when an employee leaves the company for a medical reason that falls under FMLA, their employer must maintain their records for at least three years after the employee leaves the company.