Q. "How long should we keep background checks?"
Answer:
You should keep your background check information for at least five years (or seven if you want to align with your accounting records). The employee or volunteer has between two to five years from the date of the alleged violation to file per the statute of limitation for federal FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) claims.
Even though there are statutes of limitations when it comes to criminal issues (and some civil), if any issue came up about something that happened ten years ago, it could be beneficial to still have some of
the background documentation to show you did your due diligence even if there are no legal repercussions. Therefore we recommend scanning old background checks, storing securely in the cloud, and shredding originals to save storage space.