Workflow Template
Records Retention and Disposal Workflow
Manages the end-to-end review and disposition of records that have reached their retention date. Captures record class, retention rule, and disposal date from the requester; routes to the records owner for legal-hold check and disposal decision (dispose, archive, or retain under legal hold); executes the corresponding action (secure disposal, archival move, or hold notification); updates the disposal register; and confirms the outcome back to the requester.
Organisations subject to regulatory retention schedules and legal-hold obligations need a defensible, consistent process for disposing of records once retention periods lapse. This workflow coordinates records management, legal, and requesting teams through capture of record class and retention rule, records-owner review, legal-hold verification, and execution of the disposal, archival, or hold decision. It maintains a disposal register and confirms outcomes back to the requester, supporting audit readiness across the organisation.
Business Outcomes
- Helps reduce risk of premature or non-compliant record disposal
- Supports faster turnaround on retention review decisions
- Improves traceability of legal-hold checks and disposal outcomes
- Streamlines coordination between records owners and requesters
- Makes it easier to maintain an audit-ready disposal register
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create Retention Review Recordcreate record
Registers the retention/disposal request as a record for tracking.
- 2Set Status to Receivedupdate record
Marks the review as received and awaiting owner review.
- 3Assign Records Ownerassign user
Assigns the record to the records owner for legal hold check and disposal decision.
- 4Mark Under Reviewupdate record
Sets status to Under Review as the owner begins assessment.
- 5Records Owner Reviewcreate task
Records owner checks for legal hold and records a dispose/archive/retain decision.
- 6Persist Review Decisionupdate record
Writes the legal hold check and disposal decision to the record.
- 7Route on Disposal Decision
Routes to secure disposal, archival, or legal hold handling based on the owner's decision.
disposal_decision: "Dispose"→Carry Out Secure Disposaldisposal_decision: "Archive"→Move Record to Archival Storagedisposal_decision: "Retain Under Hold"→Notify Legal Owner of HoldDefault→End - 8Carry Out Secure Disposalcreate task
Records owner performs and confirms secure disposal of the record.
- 9Update Register - Disposedupdate record
Updates the disposal register and marks the record as Disposed.
- 10Move Record to Archival Storagecreate task
Records owner moves the record to archival storage and records the location.
- 11Update Register - Archivedupdate record
Updates the disposal register and marks the record as Archived.
- 12Notify Legal Owner of Holdcreate task
Task assigned to the legal owner role to retain the record and confirm the legal hold reason.
- 13Update Register - Retained Under Holdupdate record
Updates the disposal register and marks the record as Retained Under Hold.
- 14Confirm Outcome to Requestersend email
Emails the requester confirming the final disposition once the register has been updated.
Fields
- Requester Name*
- Requester Email*
- Record Class*
- Retention Rule*
- Disposal Date Reached*
- Record Description / Reference
- +7 more fields
Forms
Records Retention & Disposal Request
6 fields
Data Views
Retention & Disposal Reviews
retention_review_ref, record_class, retention_rule, disposal_date_reached +3 more
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
Similar Categories
FAQs
How is this workflow audited?
Every retention review captures the record class, retention rule, disposal date, reviewer decision, and resulting action in a timestamped record within assess.one. The disposal register updates automatically as each case moves to disposed, archived, or retained-under-hold status, creating a traceable history for compliance reporting. Records teams can review this history at any time without needing to reconstruct events from email threads or spreadsheets.
Who has access to retention and disposal decisions?
Access is role-based and configured directly in assess.one, so only assigned records owners can perform the legal-hold check and make the dispose, archive, or retain decision. Requesters can view status and outcomes for their own submissions without visibility into other cases. Administrators can adjust these permissions at any time as organisational roles change.
How does this integrate with existing legal-hold and records management processes?
The workflow includes a dedicated legal-hold check step where the records owner confirms whether a record is subject to hold before any disposal action proceeds. Notifications to legal owners are configured within assess.one, so hold decisions and confirmations flow directly into the same audit trail as the rest of the process. This keeps legal-hold verification embedded in the disposition process rather than managed as a separate offline step.
Can the workflow steps and approval logic be customised?
Yes, steps, roles, and notification rules can be edited directly within assess.one after the template is published. Organisations can add extra approval stages, adjust who is assigned as records owner, or modify what triggers secure disposal versus archival storage. Changes take effect immediately without requiring a new implementation project.
What happens at the disposal decision point?
Once the records owner completes their review, the workflow routes the case based on the decision recorded: dispose, archive, or retain under legal hold. Each path triggers its corresponding action — secure disposal, a move to archival storage, or a hold notification to the legal owner — and updates the disposal register to reflect the final status. The requester then receives confirmation of the outcome.
How long does it take to implement this workflow?
The template is ready to use, so publishing it takes minutes rather than weeks. Once published, records owners and requesters can begin submitting and reviewing retention cases immediately, with no separate installation or development project required.
Who needs to be involved in this workflow?
Typical participants include the requester who initiates the retention review, the assigned records owner who performs the legal-hold check and disposal decision, and legal or compliance stakeholders who are notified when a hold applies. Records management administrators typically oversee the disposal register and workflow configuration.
What compliance considerations does this workflow support?
The workflow is structured to capture the information regulators and auditors typically expect: record class, applicable retention rule, disposal date, reviewer decision, and final disposition. By requiring a legal-hold check before any dispose or archive action, it helps support adherence to litigation-hold and regulatory retention obligations. Organisations remain responsible for defining their own retention schedules and legal requirements within the platform.
Can notifications be routed to external systems like email or Slack?
Yes, notifications such as legal-hold alerts and outcome confirmations can be configured to send via email or Slack directly within assess.one. This is set up through the platform's built-in integration settings rather than through separate third-party development work.
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