How Long Must California Employers Keep Employee Records?

For most California personnel and hiring records, keep them at least four years. Government Code section 12946 requires employers to keep applications and personnel records for at least four years, and personnel files of applicants and terminated employees for four years after the employment action. Labor Code section 1198.5 adds three years after termination for personnel files, and section 226 requires three years for wage statements. Once a complaint is filed, everything relevant must be kept until the case ends.

What does the FEHA require?

Four years for most hiring and personnel records. Government Code section 12946(a) makes it an unlawful practice to fail to keep “any and all applications, personnel, membership, or employment referral records and files for a minimum period of four years after the records and files are initially created or received.” The same subdivision requires employers to keep “personnel files of applicants or terminated employees for a minimum period of four years after the date of the employment action taken.”

That’s broader than many employers assume. It covers applications from people who were never hired, interview notes, test results, and the records behind promotion and termination decisions.

The Civil Rights Council’s regulation now matches the statute. As amended effective October 1, 2025, 2 CCR 11013(c) requires covered records to be preserved “for a period of four years from the date of the making of the record or the date of the personnel action involved, whichever occurs later,” and it lists “selection criteria, automated-decision system data” among the records covered. Older copies of the regulation that still say two years are out of date.

What do the Labor Code sections add?

Specific periods for specific records.

Personnel files. Labor Code section 1198.5(c)(1) requires employers to “maintain a copy of each employee’s personnel records for a period of not less than three years after termination of employment.” Because the FEHA period is four years after the employment action, the longer FEHA period usually controls for terminated employees.

Wage statements. Labor Code section 226(a) requires that “a copy of the statement and the record of the deductions shall be kept on file by the employer for at least three years at the place of employment or at a central location within the State of California.” A computer-generated record that accurately shows all the required information counts as a copy.

Training records. Section 1198.5 was amended effective January 1, 2026, to require that an employer that maintains education or training records include the employee’s name, the training provider, the duration and date, the core competencies covered, and the resulting certification or qualification.

What do federal rules require?

Less, in most cases, but they still apply. The EEOC’s regulation, 29 CFR 1602.14, requires covered employers to keep personnel and employment records “for a period of one year from the date of the making of the record or the personnel action involved, whichever occurs later.” The FLSA has its own payroll retention rules. California’s longer periods usually make the federal minimums irrelevant in practice, but an employer with operations outside California should check each state’s rules.

How should a retention schedule be built?

Around the longest applicable period for each record type, plus a margin. A schedule that lists each category of record, the governing statute, the retention period, the system where the record lives, and who’s responsible for it is easier to follow and easier to defend than a vague instruction to keep things around. It should also say what happens at the end of the period, and who confirms that no hold applies before anything is deleted.

Systems change more often than laws do. Payroll providers, timekeeping platforms, and HRIS systems get replaced, and older data is often left behind in the migration. Before switching vendors, employers should export and preserve the historical data in a usable form, including audit trails for time punches and edits. A plaintiff in a wage case will ask for punch-edit histories, and an employer that lost them in a vendor change has a hard time explaining why.

Email and messaging deserve their own rules. Managers’ texts and chat messages are often the most important evidence in discrimination and retaliation cases. A policy that auto-deletes chat after 30 days may be reasonable in ordinary times, but it has to be switched off for the right custodians as soon as a claim is anticipated.

Why do retention periods matter in litigation?

Because missing records usually hurt the employer. In a wage case, an employer that can’t produce time and pay records for the claim period gives the plaintiff room to estimate hours worked, and California courts generally allow reasonable estimates when the employer’s records are inadequate. In a discrimination case, missing interview notes or comparator files can lead to an argument that the records would have been unfavorable.

Litigation timing is another reason to keep records longer than the minimum. Wage claims and PAGA notices often arrive years after the pay periods they challenge. A record destroyed on schedule may be the only proof the employer complied. Many employers choose to keep payroll and personnel records for longer than the statutory minimum for that reason.

What happens once a claim is filed?

Ordinary retention schedules stop. Section 12946(b) provides that once an employer has notice that a verified complaint has been filed against it under the FEHA, it “shall maintain and preserve any and all records and files” until the later of the expiration of the time to file a civil action or the final disposition of the complaint and all related proceedings.

Beyond the FEHA rule, the general duty to preserve evidence applies when litigation is reasonably anticipated, not only after a lawsuit is filed. A demand letter, a PAGA notice, an agency charge, or even a credible threat of suit can trigger that duty. Automatic deletion of email and chat data has to be suspended for the relevant custodians and systems. Destroying records after the duty arises can lead to sanctions, evidentiary inferences, and in serious cases, terminating sanctions.

When a claim arrives and records are at issue

1. Issue a written litigation hold covering the personnel file, payroll and timekeeping data, schedules, emails and texts, chat messages, and every version of the relevant policies and handbook, and suspend automatic deletion for those custodians.
2. Calendar the response deadline on the demand, notice, charge, or complaint, and check for an arbitration agreement and an EPLI policy with notice requirements.
3. Identify the witnesses, the decision-makers, and the IT or HR staff who control the records, and make sure no one takes action against the employee that could look like retaliation.
4. Pull the records the claim depends on and confirm whether anything required to be kept is missing.
5. Talk to counsel before deleting, migrating, or producing any records, or responding to the claim.

Records disputes come up in nearly every employment case. The firm’s California employment defense lawyers page describes how those cases are handled.

Records retention questions

How long should we keep records of applicants we didn’t hire?

At least four years. Government Code section 12946 requires employers to keep applications and related records for four years after they’re created or received, and to keep applicant personnel files for four years after the employment action, which for an applicant is usually the hiring decision. That includes interview notes, test results, and the records showing how the hiring decision was made.

Can we destroy records as soon as the minimum period ends?

Only if no claim is pending or reasonably anticipated. Once the employer is on notice of a complaint, a demand, or a likely lawsuit, it must preserve relevant records regardless of the retention schedule. Many employers also keep wage and personnel records longer than the minimum, because claims can be filed years later and the records are often the employer’s best evidence.

Do electronic records count?

Yes. The retention rules apply to the information, whatever its form. Section 226 expressly allows a computer-generated record that accurately shows the required wage statement information. Emails, texts, chat messages, and timekeeping system data can all be personnel or employment records, and they’re often the first things lost when a system is changed or an account is deleted.

Does a personnel records request change what we must keep?

A request under Labor Code section 1198.5 doesn’t extend the retention period, but it requires production within 30 days and is often a sign a claim is coming. The firm’s post on personnel file and payroll records requests covers responding to those requests. A request is a good point to review whether a litigation hold is needed.

If records will decide a claim against your company

If your company has received a demand, a PAGA notice, an agency charge, or a lawsuit, what records exist and how they were preserved usually shape the defense from the start. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents employers defending employment lawsuits and claims through its business litigation practice, including claims involving employment records and recordkeeping. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.

Sources

The statutes are Government Code section 12946, Labor Code section 1198.5, and Labor Code section 226. The regulations are California Code of Regulations, title 2, section 11013 (as amended effective October 1, 2025) and 29 CFR 1602.14.

This post is general information about California and federal employment law as of November 7, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Employment statutes, regulations, and court decisions change often, and the outcome of any claim depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.