Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 26 - Record Retention Requirements

(a) Unless otherwise specified herein, appointing powers shall retain the following records for a minimum of five years from the date of creation of the record:

(1) Affirmative action and equal employment opportunity (EEO) records, including, but not limited to, policies and procedures, EEO officer's duty statement, and complaint and response records;

(2) Examination records, including, but not limited to, the examination bulletin, examination planning documents and/or forms, job analysis, list of accepted and rejected candidates, all applications received with accepted and rejected notations, minimum qualification verifications, any notices sent to candidates, examination questions, model answer sheets, candidate answer sheets, rating criteria, rating sheets and rater's notes for each candidate;

(3) Merit, selection, and appointment records, including, but not limited to, the duty statement of the position being filled, all job announcements and bulletins, all applications received for the job opening, minimum qualification verifications, all documentation related to the selection instrument(s) or procedures(s) used, records documenting the reasons why the selected candidate was hired for the position, the Request for Personnel Action, the Notice of Personnel Action, probationary reports, loyalty oaths and oaths of office, and history of mandated training. These records also include employee disciplinary records, except the minimum five-year record retention requirement does not apply to specified disciplinary records if Government Code section 19589, a stipulated settlement agreement between the employee and appointing power, or a collective bargaining agreement between the state and a recognized employee organization provides otherwise; and

(4) Records related to established positions that describe the title, series, grade, duties, and responsibilities of the position, regardless of the funding source, and any requests for classification of new positions or reclassification of existing positions.

(b) For the types of records described in subdivision (a)(3) that are routinely and customarily maintained in the employee's official personnel file, the appointing powers shall retain those records for a minimum of five years from the creation date of the document or from the effective date of the employee's appointment, whichever date is later.

(c) Records subject to the requirements of this section shall be readily accessible and produced for review and inspection by the Board. Records are not required to be maintained in any particular file or location; however, all records shall be retained in an orderly and systematic manner, and may be retained electronically.

(d) As used in this section, "records" include any books, papers, or other data, on whatever medium recorded. A record will normally encompass all matters included within section 250 of the Evidence Code. Duplicate copies of the same record are not required to be retained.

Notes

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 26

1. New section filed 12-2-2015; operative 1-1-2016 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2015, No. 49).
2. Amendment of subsection (a)(3) filed 11-30-2021; operative 1-1-2022. Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 18211 (Register 2021, No. 49).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 18660 and 18701, Government Code. Reference: Sections 18573, 18661 and 19232, Government Code.

1. New section filed 12-2-2015; operative 1/1/2016 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2015, No. 49).
2. Amendment of subsection (a)(3) filed 11-30-2021; operative 1/1/2022. Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 18211 (Register 2021, No. 49).