05 Sep How long do employers need to keep employee records in Ontario?
All employers are responsible for keeping records of their employees throughout their employment contract, and generally for three years after an employee’s contract ends. Whether it be the employer personally, or someone they have hired for record keeping, the records of all employees must be filed and easily accessible for examination.
Why is it important?
It is crucial for an employer to keep track of employee’s records because in many cases it can work to protect the employer from future false claims. If an employee files a claim that cannot be proven false from lack of records, the employee’s claim will be considered valid in court.
What information must be noted?
There are many things about an employee that must be recorded. Simply, the employee’s name, address, date of employment must be noted and preserved.
The hours an employee has worked is extremely important to track. Each week, the date and time the employee works must be tracked. For a fixed salary employee, employers must still track the total overtime hours for each day and week.
If there have been any contracts confirming the employee’s potential or accomplished overtime work or hours, they should be filed and kept on record.
The vacations allotted and used by the employee should also be recorded by the employer. When an employee takes a vacation, how much vacation they were entitled to, how many vacation days they used, and how many additional vacation days they earned in a year and since their date of hire, must be logged.
Further, vacation pay allocated to the employee and the amount of pay that they were provided during their vacation period must be documented. Both vacation time and pay are normally preserved for five years after their employment agreement ends.
Any documents associated with a period of leave an employee takes, whether that be family caregiver leave, paternity leave, sick leave, bereavement leave etc., must be maintained.
If you are an employer who needs help with your record keeping or require representation against a claim that has been filed by an employee, please contact KCY at LAW by filling in an online consultation request or contact us by phone at 905-639-0999 to book your consultation today.