HR record-keeping requirements in the United Kingdom
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
HR records in the UK must be kept for specific minimum periods set by employment law, tax rules and data protection legislation. Getting retention periods wrong exposes you to HMRC penalties, tribunal claims and ICO enforcement — so precision matters.
What the law actually requires you to keep
UK employers are subject to obligations from several overlapping sources: HMRC payroll rules, the Employment Rights Act, the UK GDPR, and sector-specific regulations. There is no single statute that lists every HR record in one place, which is why employers often get this wrong.
The core categories are:
- Payroll and tax records — payslips, RTI submissions, P60s, P11Ds, tax codes, NI records
- Employment contracts and variations — written statements of particulars, any amendments
- Working time records — hours worked, holiday taken, opt-out agreements
- Sickness and absence records — SSP calculations, fit notes, return-to-work documentation
- Disciplinary and grievance records — notes, outcome letters, appeals
- Recruitment records — applications, interview notes, right-to-work evidence
- Pension records — auto-enrolment assessments, contribution records, opt-out notices
Payroll records: the HMRC rules
HMRC requires employers to keep payroll records for at least three years from the end of the tax year they relate to. In practice, most employment lawyers recommend six years to cover potential civil claims.
Your payroll obligations generate a paper trail that includes RTI Full Payment Submissions (FPS), which must be filed on or before each payday. You must issue a P60 to every employee still employed at 5 April by 31 May following the tax year end, and P11Ds for any expenses and benefits must be submitted to HMRC by 6 July after the relevant tax year. Keep copies of all of these.
Payroll records must be sufficient to show you have deducted the correct income tax (basic rate 20%, higher rate 40%, additional rate 45%, with the personal allowance currently at £12,570) and National Insurance (employee contributions at 8% up to the upper earnings limit, then 2% above it; employer contributions at 13.8%). If HMRC opens a compliance check, these records are your evidence.
Statutory leave and working time records
The Working Time Regulations 1998 require you to maintain records adequate to show you are complying with the 48-hour average weekly working time limit for employees who have not opted out. You do not need to record every hour worked for opted-out workers, but you must retain their signed opt-out agreements.
Annual leave records matter too. Employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks' statutory leave (28 days including bank holidays for a full-time five-day week). Keep records of leave accrued, taken and carried over. These are essential if a dispute arises — particularly on termination, when any untaken statutory leave must be paid out.
Statutory Sick Pay records, including the dates of sickness, SSP paid and any fit notes received, should be retained for a minimum of three years.
Right to work and recruitment documentation
You must check and record evidence of every employee's right to work in the UK before they start. Retaining a copy of the relevant document — and noting when you checked it — is what gives you a statutory excuse if a civil penalty is later issued. These records should be kept for the duration of employment plus two years after it ends.
Recruitment records (interview notes, application forms, shortlisting decisions) are worth keeping for at least six months after the recruitment process concludes. That covers the window in which an unsuccessful candidate could bring an employment tribunal claim for discrimination.
UK GDPR and data minimisation
Under the UK GDPR, you can only hold personal data for as long as there is a lawful purpose. "We might need it one day" is not sufficient. You need a documented retention schedule that sets out what you hold, why, and when it will be deleted or anonymised.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 has strengthened day-one rights for workers — including on unfair dismissal — which increases the practical importance of keeping accurate, contemporaneous records from the moment someone joins. If you cannot evidence what happened during a disciplinary process or why a dismissal decision was made, you are in a weak position at tribunal.
Sensitive categories of data (health records, trade union membership, criminal convictions) attract stricter rules. These require an explicit lawful basis under Article 9 UK GDPR and should not be retained any longer than strictly necessary.
Building a retention schedule
A practical retention schedule maps each record type to the legal driver, the minimum period, and the maximum period before deletion. A workable starting point for most employers:
| Record type | Minimum retention |
|---|---|
| Payroll and tax records | 3 years (HMRC); 6 years recommended |
| Employment contracts | Duration of employment + 6 years |
| Right-to-work checks | Duration of employment + 2 years |
| Disciplinary records | Typically 6 months to 2 years depending on severity |
| Recruitment records | 6 months post-process |
| Pension auto-enrolment | 6 years (opt-outs: 4 years) |
Review the schedule annually. Rules change — and so does your workforce.
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