How Long Should Factories Keep Compliance and Employee Records for Legal Safety?

Compliance Records Maintenance

How many past years of compliance records, such as wage registers, attendance, ESI records, and PF records, should be maintained?

Retention of Employee Documents

Also, until when should factories keep appointment letters and resignation letters of employees who have left? For example, if an employee left in 2015, should their records still be retained? What would happen if the factory lost these records?

Record Retention in Legal Cases

Furthermore, should factories retain all records if there is a labor case or PF case pending in court from 2010? If so, should the records be kept after 2010 as well, or only those records relating to the case?

Record Preservation Guidelines

From the point of view of the Income Tax Act, a minimum of 5 years of records should be preserved and maintained. However, it is a common practice in many reputable companies to preserve records that are up to 15 years old. You may consider digitizing the records for permanent preservation.

Time Period for Maintaining Records in Labor Law Compliance

Would like to know the time period for maintaining records in the purview of labor law compliance. Can firms remove records older than 5 years?

Questions on Record Retention

Please help in answering the following two questions as well:

1) Until when should factories keep appointment letters and resignation letters of departed employees? An employee left in 2015. Should his records be retained? What happens if the factory loses these records?

2) Should factories retain all records if there is a labor case/PF case pending in court since 2010? If yes, should the records be kept after 2010 as well, or only those records related to the case?