Retention policies

Prerequisite: To configure retention policies, you must be assigned the RETENTIONADM access code. To define the default retention policy, you must be assigned the DATAADM access code.

About retention policies

Retention policies define the life cycle of cases and documents. For example, some cases must be retained for 10 years after closure, while some cases can be deleted at any time – all these rules must be clearly defined and automated. Each retention policy has a retention code associated with it, and this retention code can be assigned to a case or to a document. You can create, edit, and delete retention policies and define the default retention policy for the whole organization in WorkZone Configurator.

Important: Operations on case (like closing or changing retention policy) that lead to bulk updates of all the document retention policies on that case is only logged on the case and not on the individual documents.

Create a retention policy

  1. On the main page, select Retention.
  2. On the Retention policies tab, in the bottom-right corner of the page, click Create.

  3. Fill in the following fields in the Create retention policy dialog box:

    • Code: The code in the database.
    • Text: The default name of the retention code.
    • Description: Specify the detailed description of the retention code functionality. Ensure that the description covers all possible scenarios and data will not be lost due to assigning a wrong retention code.
    • Localize text and description: Optionally, provide description in other languages.
    • Relative retention period: Specify the period when permanent deletion of a case is allowed in relation to the current date.
      • Use the "+[number][time period]" format (case-insensitive) to create an exact relation to the current date. For example, use +3m to specify the period starting in exactly three months from today's date (that is, the relative retention period set to +3m on the May 5, 2023, will receive a start date "August 5, 2023").
      • Use the "@[time period]+[number]" or "@[time period][number]" format (case-sensitive) to create an approximate relation to the current date, starting at the beginning of the specified time period. For example, use @Month+3 to specify the period starting on the first day of a third month from today's date (that is, the relative retention period set to @Month+3 (or @Month3) on the May 5, 2023, will receive a start date "August 1, 2023".

        • Note:

        • For the "@[time period]+[number]" format, the start date would always be the beginning of the specified time period (that is, the first day of the week, month, quarter or year).
        • The default time period number is 1. If you enter a time period without a number (for example, +w or @Month), WorkWorkZone Client will count it as +1week and @Month+1). That is, the relative retention period set to @Month on the May 5, 2023, will receive a start date "June 1, 2023".

      • Modifier

      For exact relation (case-insensitive)

      For approximate relation (case-sensitive)

       

      Year

      Å or Y

      Year

       

      Quarter

      -

      Quarter

       

      Month

      		 M Month

       

      Week

      		 U or W Week

       

      Day

      		 D Day

       
    • Purge period: Specify the period after which all soft deleted items will automatically be purged (permanently deleted) from the system.
    • Automatic purging: Enable to automatically purge (permanently delete) items after the purge period.
    • Delete comment required: Enable to make Description of the reason for deletion mandatory for users. If the toggle button is not enabled, then filling the Description field will be optional for users.
    • Automatic soft deletion: Enable to automatically soft delete items after the retention period.
    • Default update code: Indicate units and users who can change the retention code of cases belonging to the current case group.
    • Start date: The date when the retention policy becomes active.
    • End date: The date when the retention policy is deactivated.
    Important: For the automatic purging and automatic soft deletion to work, you must also set on your server a scheduled job for executing the Scanjour.autopurge.exe file. See Using the ScanJour.AutoPurge.exe program in the Operations Guide for more information.
  4. Click Create.

Edit a retention policy

  1. Point to the retention policy that you want to edit. A menu bar with action buttons appears.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Apply the required changes in the Edit retention policy dialog box.
    Note: You cannot edit the Code and Text values.
  4. Click Save.

Delete a retention policy

You can only delete a retention policy that does not have any records in the database.

  1. Point to the retention policy that you want to delete. A menu bar with action buttons appears.
  2. Click Delete, and then click Delete.

Define default retention policy

You should define a default retention policy for your organization globally to better adhere to the GDPR rule set. The default retention policy will automatically be applied to all cases and documents if a different retention policy is not defined specifically.

  1. On the main page, select Retention.
  2. On the Default retention policy tab, select the desired retention policy from the drop-down list.