How long should personal information be kept?

The following types of employee information should be retained for the time periods indicated. The applicable federal laws are indicated in parenthesis.

Employee name and any identifying number used in place of the name used on any work records (Fair Labor Standards Act, Equal Pay Act and Age Discrimination in Employment Act, three years; Social Security Act, four years from tax due date or payment of tax, whichever is later).

Social Security number (Social Security Act, four years from tax due date or payment of tax, whichever is later; not required by FLSA per se).

Employee home address, including zip code (FLSA, Equal Pay Act and ADEA, three years; Social Security Act, four years from tax due date or payment of tax, whichever is later).

Date of birth if the employee is under the age of 19 (FLSA, three years; Equal Pay Act, no specific retention time); date of birth of all employees (ADEA, three years).

Sex of employee (FLSA, three years; Equal Pay Act, nospecific retention time).

Occupation of employee (FLSA, Equal Pay Act and ADEA, three years).

Age records (ERISA, no specific retention time).

Service records to determine whether an employee has worked 1000 hours or has incurred a break in service (ERISA, nospecific retention time).

Marital status records (ERISA, no specific retention time).