Records Retention and Disposal Workflow

What does this workflow record at each stage of the retention review?

The record captures a reference number, status, and timeline that progresses through Submitted, Owner Review, Retained, Disposed, Archived, or On Legal Hold as the request moves forward. The records owner's decision and notes, disposal method, disposal date and destruction certificate, and archive location and date are all saved directly to the record when the workflow waits for those tasks. This gives a workspace a running history of who did what and when for each retention request.

Who is involved in reviewing and approving a disposal request?

The requester submits the initial request through the public form, and a records owner then reviews the records and records a decision on legal hold, disposal, or archiving. A records manager subsequently approves or rejects any proposed disposal, and depending on the outcome, either the records team executes disposal or archival storage, or a legal owner confirms a legal hold. Each of these individuals is a workspace member assigned the relevant task.

How do we change what happens after the records owner's decision?

The routing after the owner's decision can be adjusted by describing the change in plain English or editing the routing step directly in the workflow editor. This lets a workspace add or reorder outcomes for Dispose, Archive, Retain under legal hold, or other decisions without needing a development project. Earlier versions of the workflow are kept, so changes can be reviewed against prior configurations.

What happens if the records manager rejects the proposed disposal?

If the records manager rejects the disposal, the record status is set to Retained and the requester receives an email explaining that the disposal was not approved and the records remain in place. This outcome is distinct from a legal hold and simply keeps the records active rather than routing them to destruction. The rejection and any related notes are visible in the record's timeline.

How is a legal hold confirmed and tracked?

When the owner's decision routes a record to legal hold, the status is set to On Legal Hold and the legal owner is given a task to confirm the hold along with a matter reference. Because this task is fire-and-forget, the workflow does not wait for it to complete, so the matter reference stays with that task in the record's task list rather than being saved to the record itself. The requester is still notified by email that the records are retained under a legal hold.

What information does the records team capture when disposing of or archiving records?

When disposal is approved, the records team completes a task capturing the disposal method, disposal date, and destruction certificate, all of which the workflow waits for and saves to the record. When records are archived instead, the records team completes a separate task recording the archive location and archive date. In both cases, the requester is emailed once the action is complete.

Can the request form fields be adjusted for a specific workspace?

Yes, the request form and its fields, such as Record Class, Retention Rule, and Retention End Date, can be adjusted by describing the desired change in plain English or editing the form in the workflow editor. This allows a workspace to tailor the intake information to its own retention schedule or record classification scheme. Any changes take effect the next time the workspace publishes the workflow.

How can a workspace monitor the volume and status of retention requests?

Table views and dashboards display retention requests by their current status, such as Owner Review, Retained, Disposed, Archived, or On Legal Hold, giving oversight across all active and completed requests. Combined with the record timeline and logged workspace activity, this supports management review of how retention decisions are being handled over time. Each business should confirm its own record-keeping obligations against the statuses and details this workflow tracks.