State Records Guideline No. 16

Managing Inter-agency Transfer of Personnel Records

Issued: 11 June 2009 (download the formal issued MS Word version [Word 140KB])

Authority

This guideline is issued under the provisions of Section 10A of the Archives Act 1983. Guidelines issued by the State Archivist under this Section set standards, policy, and procedures relating to the making and keeping of State records. This section also requires all relevant authorities to take all reasonable steps to comply with these guidelines, and put them into effect.

Ian Pearce

State Archivist

1. Purpose
2. Definitions
3. Establishment of procedure
4. Authorisation
Appendix A Transfer of Custody authorisation - DA No 2330

1. Purpose

This guideline is to provide information about, and stipulate the process for, the transfer of personnel records in the custody of State or local government organisations which need to be transferred from one agency to another when employees move between agencies in their employment.

It is intended to provide a legal framework for the transferral process of personnel records and to ensure that, within this process, full records of the service, rights, and entitlements of all employees are retained for the lengths of time specified in relevant records retention and disposal schedules.

2. Definitions

agency - is used in this guideline to refer to all agencies, authorities, statutory offices, departments, councils and other organisations that are subject to, and defined in, the Archives Act 1983.

record - is a document or an object that is, or has been, made or kept by reason of any information or matter that it contains or can be obtained from it or by reason of its connection with any event, person, circumstance, or thing. A document includes any printed or written material and an object includes a sound recording, coded storage device, magnetic tape or disc, microfilm, photograph, film, map, plan, or model or painting or other pictorial or graphic work.

State records - are records of State government agencies/departments, State authorities, or local authorities. These public bodies are defined in Section 3 of the Archives Act 1983.

transfer of custody - involves transferring the duty of care and responsibility for the ongoing management and preservation of records from one custodian to another.

3. Establishment of procedure

The Records Manager (or equivalent), in consultation with the Human Resource section (or equivalent) of the agency should create an authorised procedure for the appropriate management of the inter-agency transfer of personnel records.

This process may operate and be mutually beneficial where an employee leaves one agency and is employed directly in another agency, or where there is a break in service between the two employments but it is convenient for the second agency to have some of the previous employment records.

The procedure needs to contain the following elements:

Provision for the Human Resource section (or equivalent) to contact the Records Manager (or equivalent) at the time the employee lodges their resignation and when it is known that the employee is to be employed in another agency. Otherwise, this can occur upon request from the new employing agency at a later date.
Provision for the Records Manager (or equivalent) of both agencies to coordinate the Human Resource section (or equivalent) of their respective agencies to arrange for the timely, proper and secure transfer of the employee's personnel records that are required by the succeeding agency.
Provision for the ongoing maintenance by the original agency of the employee's personnel records that are not required by the succeeding agency, according to the appropriate classes for personnel records in the Records Retention and Disposal Schedule for Common Administrative Functions (DA No 2157).
A requirement that detailed references are kept in the agency's records control systems of all records sent to and received from other agencies.
Provision for agencies to have access to records of any transactions relating to employees that were created while they were employed in any agency.

4. Authorisation

A formal authorisation for the transfer of custody of personnel records in accordance with these procedures has been issued by the State Archivist under section 20 of the Archives Act 1983. This authorisation (DA No 2330) is included as Appendix A of this Guideline.

Appendix A

Archives Office of Tasmania

TRANSFER OF CUSTODY DA No. 2330

Under the provisions of Section 20(2)(b) of the Archives Act 1983 approval is given to

· Government Departments, State authorities, and local authorities

to transfer custody of the records specified below subject to any conditions specified below.

Description of Records:

Personnel records which need to be transferred from one agency to another when employees move between agencies in their employment.

Conditions:

Agencies should create and adhere to a procedure for the appropriate management of the inter-agency transfer of personnel records that is established in accordance with the principles described in State Records Guideline No. 16.