Spring clean your drawers

Step into Salon Smart Legal Expert Julian Sampson's office for some free legal advice.

We all keep far too much for too long and sometimes there is little wonder – the tax man needs records, data protection laws require us to keep records, even the law can look back six years if you have a claim brought against you. With filing cabinets stuffed and shredders lying dormant you wouldn’t be the first to wonder if a good old bonfire might help clear things away.

Unfortunately, one of the good reasons we keep records is so we can protect ourselves. This is a litigious society and people look for others to blame; some seem to spend their entire existence wondering if they can claim or complain! Sometimes the only way to fend off these nasty litigants is to bring out that key document which puts the whole matter to bed. So what are these magic papers? Where are they hiding and what should you do with them?

Well in this exercise it is worth assuming that you are a limited company, and therefore suffer from the most compliance problems! Without a doubt you should keep a central folder of:

• * your Lease
  * your Certificate of Incorporation, your Memorandum and Articles of Association
  * your last Annual Return and company Accounts
  * your Shareholders Agreement and/or Franchise Agreement if this is relevant
  * your company’s Staff Handbook- which should include as a bare minimum your Grievance and Disciplinary procedures
  * your Data Protection certificate
  * any bank or rent Guarantees

Each of these will contain dates to remember – often annual ones – and all will need you to be pro-active in filing returns, re-drafting or re-negotiating.

If you have an hour to kill then get filing!

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