To control retention and disposition of records, you define and associate a disposition schedule with record containers and record types. In a disposition schedule, you specify the retention rules for records and instructions for disposing of them at the end of the retention period. Disposition instructions include:
You define different phases through which a record should pass in a disposition schedule. Each phase has a defined retention period. At the end of each phase, the specified action is performed on records, then the records pass to the next phase. The disposition schedule is interrupted for entities on which a hold has been placed. It will be resumed after all holds are removed.
To calculate when records are ready for disposition, you run Disposition Sweep. See Sweep processes. Disposition schedules are imported and exported when using the File Plan Import and Export Tool.
A disposition schedule includes any of the following:
You can associate a disposition schedule with a record category, a record folder, or a record type. A record folder can have its own disposition schedule or it can inherit the disposition schedule associated with a parent record category.
By default, a record inherits the disposition schedule of the folder where it is declared. However, if you want to associate a different disposition schedule with the record, then you can create a record type, associate the required disposition schedule with this record type, and assign this record type to the record. When different disposition schedules are associated with the record category, record folder, and record type of a record, then the record inherits the disposition schedule from the record type. If a record is created directly under a record category, the record inherits the disposition schedule of the record category.
As a general rule, the lowest level disposition schedule in a record's hierarchy is applicable. The following diagram depicts the inheritance of disposition schedules by different entities under different conditions:
If you move a record category or folder, you can assign a disposition schedule to the container and specify which entities in the container are affected by your assignment. For more information about moving entities, refer to Relocate a record category or record folder.
If you do not assign a disposition schedule when relocating a container, then the following is true:
After you associate a disposition schedule with a record category or folder, all records
created in that container inherit the disposition schedule by default. When the
cutoff action is performed on records, they become due for disposition and move to the disposition
phase. Entities identified as ready for disposition are marked with the ready
for disposition icon: .
Authorized users can initiate disposition. After getting approval from the records manager, the system performs the associated disposition actions on approved entities. You can assign one of the following disposition actions to a phase in the disposition schedule:
CAUTION If a destroy workflow fails for any reason, the entity remains in the Disposition in progress status. You need to initiate disposition on the entity again. See Initiate a disposition schedule.
Some properties are dynamically updated by Disposition Sweep. If these properties are used as the retention base for alternate retentions, an update Disposition Sweep could in a longer retention period. Do not use any of these properties as the retention base for an alternate retention:
Current Phase Execution Date
Current Phase Action
Last Sweep Date
Current Phase Decision Date
Current Phase Review Decision
Current Phase ID
Recalculate Phase Retention
Current Phase Execution Status
DisposalPhases
CycleYears
CycleMonths
CycleDays
CurrentActionType
VitalWorkflowStatus
VitalSweepDate
VitalRecordReviewDate
Vital Record Next Review Date
CurrentPhaseId
AlternateRetentions
RetentionBase
RetentionPeriodYears
RetentionPeriodMonths
RetentionPeriodDays
CurrentPhaseExportFormat
ExportFormat
CurrentPhaseDecisionDate