Document Retention and Destruction Policy

The OASIS Document Retention and Destruction Policy addresses the retention and destruction of records pertaining to corporate governance, corporate finance and operations, correspondence and records relating to member contributions to the creation of specifications and standards. Where there may be discrepancies (ex: correspondence relevant to a standard) the longer of the two retention periods shall apply.

The definitive official copy of documents stored as paper are stored in the headquarters office. Documents stored in electronic or digital form will be maintained on servers or devices under the control of OASIS.

Documents under the control of OASIS in whatever form shall be retained according to the Record Retention Schedule. Destruction shall mean any of deletion, recycling, or discard. Secure destruction shall mean any of incineration, shredding, or secure erasure as appropriate to the storage media type. OASIS may or may not destroy or securely destroy non-definitive or duplicate copies at any time.

OASIS management will, under guidance of OASIS counsel, circulate staff communications directing the suspension of any destruction of paper or electronic documents when appropriate, relevant to any ongoing or anticipated government investigations, proceedings, or litigation or when OASIS has received a mandatory order to produce information. Thereafter, routine document destruction can only resume with approval of OASIS counsel.

This policy will be executed by OASIS staff under the responsibility of the Executive Director as s/he instructs.

A one time review of all document types will be conducted before March 2011 in order to identify those (sets of) records that should already be destroyed.

OASIS Open Record Retention Schedule

“Indefinite” means that records are never destroyed and that measures are in place to avoid accidental or attempted deliberate destruction.

“x Years” means that records MAY be destroyed x years after the most recent modification or amendment to the record and SHOULD be destroyed as soon thereafter as is administratively feasible.

All references refer to records maintained by OASIS in contrast to copies of those records that may be retained by a third party.

DOCUMENT CATEGORIES

DOCUMENTS PERIOD OF RETENTIONSECURE DESTRUCTION
Corporate Governance
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATIONINDEFINITE
IRS FORM 1023 AND LETTER OF DETERMINATIONINDEFINITE
BYLAWS, CHARTER, MINUTE BOOKSINDEFINITE
BOARD POLICIESINDEFINITE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES AND RESOLUTIONSINDEFINITE
LEGAL AND TAX CORRESPONDENCEINDEFINITE
COPYRIGHTS, PATENTS, TRADEMARK REGISTRATIONSINDEFINITE
DEEDS, MORTGAGES, AND EASEMENTS IN FORCEINDEFINITE
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDINGINDEFINITE
AUDIT / TAX
IRS FORM 990INDEFINITE
ANNUAL TAX FILINGS (STATE AND OTHER REQUIRED FILINGS)INDEFINITE
TAX RETURNS AND WORKING PAPERSINDEFINITE
AUDIT REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTSINDEFINITE
MONTHLY OPERATIONS REPORTSINDEFINITE
IRS FORM 1099 (FEES PAID TO PROFESSIONALS)7 YEARSREQUIRED
W-2 STATEMENTS, PAYROLL TAX RETURNS7 YEARSREQUIRED
FINANCIAL RECORDS
CHART OF ACCOUNTSINDEFINITE
ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES INDEFINITE
GENERAL LEDGERS AND JOURNAL ENTRIES INDEFINITE
ANNUAL TRIAL BALANCES INDEFINITE
CAPITAL STOCK AND BOND RECORDS INDEFINITE
CHECKS FOR TAXES, CAPITAL PURCHASESINDEFINITE
IMPORTANT CONTRACTSINDEFINITE
DEPRECIATION SCHEDULES INDEFINITE
CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS IN FORCE INDEFINITE
ADMINISTAFF CONTRACTS & RENEWALS INDEFINITE
SPONSORSHIP AND FOCUS AREA AGREEMENTS 7 YEARS
EXPIRED CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS 7 YEARS
INSURANCE POLICIES INDEFINITE
INSURANCE RECORDS: ACCIDENTS, CLAIMS, ETC. INDEFINITE
DONATIONS AND DONOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INDEFINITE
ACCOUNTING RECORDS
PAYROLL REGISTERS INDEFINITE
ACCOUNTS PAYABLES LEDGERS 7 YEARS
VOUCHERS FOR PAYMENTS TO VENDORS, EMPLOYEES, ETC.7 YEARS
VENDOR CONTRACTS 7 YEARS
PURCHASING CORRESPONDENCE, PURCHASE ORDERS 7 YEARS
EXPENSE REPORTS 7 YEARS
CREDIT CARD RECEIPTS 3 YEARS
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES LEDGERS 7 YEARS
INVOICES AND OTHER SALES RECORDS 7 YEARS
CASH RECEIPT RECORDS 7 YEARS
DEPOSIT SLIPS / CANCELLED CHECKS 7 YEARS
CHECKS OTHER THAN THOSE DESCRIBED ABOVE 7 YEARS
BANK RECONCILIATIONS 3 YEARS
BANK STATEMENTS 10 YEARS
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK INDEFINITE
EMPLOYEE OFFER LETTERS INDEFINITE
EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL FILES 7 YEARS REQUIRED
JOB APPLICATIONS & Pre-employment Background Checks 3 YEARS REQUIRED
PERSONNEL FILES, TERMINATED 7 YRS AFTER TERMINATION REQUIRED
PAYROLL RECORDS, TIMESHEETS 7 YEARS REQUIRED
EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS, DOCUMENTATION 7 YEARS REQUIRED
JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND SALARY RANGES 7 YEARS REQUIRED
EMPLOYEE WITHHOLDING TAX STATEMENTS 7 YEARS REQUIRED
EMPLOYEE DISABILITY BENEFITS RECORDS 7 YEARS REQUIRED
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT ENROLLMENTS 7 YEARS REQUIRED
WORKMANS COMPENSATION RECORDS 7 YEARS REQUIRED
MANAGEMENT PLANS AND PROCEDURES
STRATEGIC PLANS 7 YEARS
DISASTER RECOVER PLANS 7 YEARS
GENERAL
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE inc EMAIL 2 YEARS
REQUISITIONS 2 YEARS
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE RECORDS
MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENTS INDEFINITE
MEMBER PARTICIPATION RECORDS INDEFINITE
EMAIL INDEFINITE
DOCUMENTS INDEFINITE
MEETING MINUTES INDEFINITE
APPROVED STANDARDS INDEFINITE
VOTING RECORDS INDEFINITE
PUBLIC COMMENTS INDEFINITE
IPR DECLARATIONS & STATEMENTS INDEFINITE