Managing Personnel Records - International Records Management ...

The records manager can help to define the flow of information required between the
three systems; he or she can also facilitate audit checks. Ensuring that the three
systems share a common number is critical to achieving this objective.
PERSONNEL SYSTEMS AND
REORGANISATION
Personnel records are often overlooked when governments
or organisations are reorganised.
When staff are transferred to new organisations such as executive agencies or local
authorities, it is important to plan for the management of those personnel records. In
recent years, for example, many governments have pursued policies for divestment of
functions (the creation of executive agencies, or privatisation) and decentralisation
(transfer of powers to local government). This process usually involves transferring
staff out of the civil service to the new organisation. But little thought is given to the
kind of record system needed to manage personnel records or what should happen to
the existing personnel records of transferred staff.
Basic questions about those records need to be answered:
? What information does central government need to maintain about these staff?
? What is happening to the pension rights of the individuals concerned?
? Who should be responsible for managing the records of staff transferred from
central government to new agencies?
? What information do the new bodies need to have about the previous service
career of transferred former civil servants?
Failure to resolve these questions early in the reorganisation process is likely to lead
to costly problems at a later stage. Employees may also lose their rights to pension
and government services.
As the government is likely to have ongoing responsibilities for pensions and for
other benefits or obligations, for instance in relation to injuries suffered in the course
of service, there are important legal reasons for retaining the closed files in secure
low-cost accommodation for reference purposes. New files can then be opened by the
new employing agency and copies of necessary legal documents obtained as
necessary.
MANAGING PERSONNEL RECORDS
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