My Employment colleague, Robin Shea, writes about when an employer must start saving electronic evidence in her latest blog entry. Her blog post prompted me to comment on the ERISA requirements regarding paper and electronic retention -- along the lines of "Just how long do we need to keep all of this??"

ERISA has two record retention provisions. They apply to all ERISA employee benefit plans (retirement, health and welfare plans).

ERISA 107 requires anyone who files or certifies certain information (such as a Form 5500) to maintain sufficient records (spreadsheets, email correspondence, plan documents, amendments, work records) to explain, corroborate, substantiate, and clarify what is in the filing or certification. Under ERISA 107, an employer must maintain these records for six years after the filing date (or from the date of any extended date for filing).