How long is long enough? ERISA record retention rules every employer should know
A common question employers ask: How long do we need to keep records related to employee benefits, and what are the rules?
This summary covers the requirements for benefit plans governed by ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act). It focuses on the key rules from ERISA Sections 107 and 209 and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations. At the end, you’ll find practical tips for keeping your records in order.
ERISA
ERISA Section 107 says you must keep records that support any required reports (like annual reports filed with the government) for at least six years. The six-year clock starts from the date the report was due or actually filed. You need to keep any paperwork that shows your filings were accurate and complete.
ERISA Section 209 requires you to keep records that show how benefits were calculated for each employee and beneficiary. In practice, this means you should keep records until all benefits have been fully paid out and any audit periods have ended.
Here’s the key point: If there’s ever a dispute about benefits, the employer must prove what was paid. That’s why it’s smart to keep detailed records about things like eligibility, years of service, pay, vesting, benefit elections, and payment history—even after benefits have been paid—until any audit window closes.
IRS regulation
IRS rules (Treasury Regulation § 1.6001-1(e)) require you to keep books and records available for IRS inspection for as long as those records might be relevant to your taxes. Unlike ERISA, this rule doesn’t set a specific number of years—it depends on whether the records could be important for tax purposes.
The IRS regulation is intentionally broad. It means you need to keep records for as long as they could matter for figuring out your tax liability, whether your plan meets IRS requirements, or for other tax issues. For employee benefits, this can be a long time—claims, corrections, and audits often come up years after the original transactions. The bottom line: You may need to keep records longer than the minimum periods required by other rules.
Best practices for keeping records
Keep records for at least six years
This satisfies ERISA Section 107 and gives you extra time beyond the IRS’s general three-year rule.
For important plan and employee records, keep them even longer
Hold onto these until all benefits have been fully paid and any audit periods have ended. This protects you if there’s ever a dispute and aligns with the broad IRS rule.
What records to keep
Plan documents and amendments; Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) and Summary of Material Modifications (SMMs); Form 5500 filings and supporting work; trust, custody, and service provider agreements; actuarial and valuation reports; nondiscrimination and coverage testing results; and employee-level records (such as eligibility, service history, pay, benefit elections, beneficiary designations, qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs), loans, distributions, tax withholdings, and tax reports). Also, keep records of any corrections made to the plan.
Store records properly
Keep records in a format that lasts and is easy to search. Make sure they’re secure, authentic, and can be retrieved if the Department of Labor, IRS, or auditors ask for them.
Pause destruction if there’s a legal issue
If a lawsuit, investigation, claim, or government inquiry is happening or might happen, stop destroying records right away. Keep all potentially relevant records until you’re told the matter is closed.
Have a written policy
Create a document retention policy that covers all these requirements. Assign clear responsibilities to the people managing your plan and your service providers. Spell out how long to keep different types of records, when and how to destroy them, how often to review the policy, and who must approve destruction.
