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HomeMy WebLinkAbout16 088 Records Management Policy (2016) By-law THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF KINCARDINE .'4;470,91 ry OF 1t1110 8 BY -LAW NO. 2016 - 088 A BY -LAW TO ADOPT A POLICY WITH RESPECT TO RECORDS MANAGEMENT WHEREAS Section 8 (1) and 9 of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, as amended, provide that the powers of a municipality under this or any other Act shall be interpreted broadly so as to confer broad authority on the municipality to • enable the municipality to govern its affairs as it considers appropriate and to enhance the municipality's ability to respond to municipal issues and has the capacity, rights, powers and privileges of a natural person for the purpose of exercising its authority under this or any other Act; AND WHEREAS pursuant to Section 4.1 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), every head of an institution shall ensure that reasonable measures respecting the records in the custody or under the control of the institution are developed, documented and put into place to preserve the records in accordance with any recordkeeping or records retention requirements, rules or policies, whether established under the Act or otherwise, that apply to the institution; AND WHEREAS Council deems it advisable to adopt a records management policy; NOW THEREFORE the Council of The Corporation of the Municipality of Kincardine ENACTS as follows: • 1. That the Records Management Policy attached hereto as Schedule "A ", and forming part of the by -law, be adopted. 2. This by -law shall come into full force and effect upon its final passage. 3. This By -law may be cited as the "Records Management Policy (2016) By- law". READ a FIRST and SECOND TIME this 13th day of July, 2016. READ a THIRD TIME and FINALLY PASSED this 13th day of July, 2016. L.„74 • Mayor Deputy Clerk • Page 1 of 5 This is Schedule " " to By -Law POLICY N0 c 51-(2) passed the ( day of �u 2016 POLICY NO.: GG.3.12 SECTION: GENERAL GOVERNMENT — COUNCIL TITLE /SUBJECT: RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY ADOPTED DATE: July 13, 2016 (By -law No. 2016 -088) REVISION DATE: Definitions: Disposition — the final action taken upon the expiration of a record's retention period. Life cycle — the span of time from the creation or receipt of a record through its useful life to its final disposition or preservation as an archival record. Phases in a record's life cycle include creation /collection, maintenance and use, storage and retrieval, and retention and disposition. Record — as defined by the Municipal Act, 2001 is "information however recorded or stored whether in printed form, on film, by electronic means or otherwise, and includes documents, financial statements, minutes, accounts, correspondence, memoranda, plans, maps, drawings, photographs and films ". Official Business Records (OBR's) — These records provide evidence of the Municipality's decisions and decision - making policies, procedures, services, operations (including transactions, activities etc.).They include work related decisions and actions including emails, charts, graphs, briefing notes etc. Record Retention Schedule —the Records Retention By -law, as amended from time to time which is a timetable identifying the period of time after which disposition of a group /series of records is authorized. Temporary Record— These records are of limited usefulness, created or received by staff, the Mayor and other Members of Council in carrying out their activities. They do not provide evidence of decision making or work related to operations (including transactions, activities, etc.). Purpose: The Municipality of Kincardine is committed to promoting and facilitating good management of its records throughout their life cycle in order to support accountable and effective government administration. All records will be managed in accordance with the Municipal Act and any other applicable legislation. Page 2 of 5 The purpose of this policy is to define the basics of record keeping at the Municipality of Kincardine by outlining consistent standards and practices for the life cycle management of records in the care and custody of the Municipality. Policy: This policy applies to all records in the care and custody of the Municipality of Kincardine including those created or received in all departments, by volunteers or by the Mayor or other Members of Council. This policy supports the proper management and maintenance of records which aids in organizational efficiency and decision making, assists in business continuity and litigation support, satisfies legislative and regulatory requirements and serves as the Municipality's corporate memory by preserving organizational and operational history. Records relating to the conduct of the Municipality's business are municipal records and are subject to this policy even if they are created, sent, or received through instant messaging tools or non - municipal email accounts. There are two types of records at the Municipality of Kincardine: Official Business Records (OBR) and Temporary Records. Official Business Records Official Business Records are work related decisions and actions including emails, charts, presentations, briefing notes, etc. They demonstrate: what happened, when, who was involved and what was decided or recommended by whom. They provide evidence of the Municipality's decisions and decision - making policies, procedures, services, operations (including transactions, activities, etc.) OBR's are subject to management throughout their life cycle according to the requirements of the Records Retention Schedule. Temporary Records Temporary records are of limited usefulness, created or received by staff and Council in carrying out their activities. They have no value beyond an immediate and minor action and are not required to meet legal or fiscal obligations. Temporary records are often created in preparation of a subsequent Official Business Record, for example, a draft of a completed report. They do not provide evidence of decision making or work related to operations (including transactions, activities, etc.). Temporary records will be destroyed as soon as they have served the purpose for which they were collected, received or created. They may be destroyed at any time unless otherwise specified in the Records Retention Schedule. Temporary records include unsolicited advertising and promotional material; product catalogues unrelated to corporate procurement; duplicate records and multiple copies; Page 3 of 5 insignificant drafts; working materials and correspondence that are not critical to decision - making; general reference material and reference collections of external publications where there is no vital Zink to a municipal provided service or function. May also include repositories of "General Files," departmental libraries and routine log books. Also includes training materials not required for a legislated purpose. Record Keeping Systems The official electronic document management system at the Municipality of Kincardine is Laserfiche. The Shared Drives (H: drive, etc.), voicemail and email (i.e. Outlook, etc.) are work environments and not record keeping systems and should not be used to keep OBR's. OBR's in these locations should be moved to Laserfiche. Instant Messaging applications are not record keeping systems and should NOT be relied upon to be the sole documentation of key decisions. Instant messaging applications include, but are not limited to: • Text messaging, • Blackberry Messenger • Blackberry PIN to PIN messages • LinkedlN, Twitter, Facebook, iMessage Staff and Council are encouraged NOT to use instant messaging applications for OBR's unless necessary. If key decisions are made via instant messaging they must be saved as OBR's. If you can not capture the decision from your instant message (i.e. screen grab or other technical solution) then the decision should be documented elsewhere in a more formal setting (i.e. email, memo, or meeting minutes) that can then be saved as an OBR. Council Member Records The Mayor and other Council Members records are considered "personal" records where they are not 1. acting as an officer or employee of the Municipality or performing a duty assigned by Council, such that they might be considered part of the institution, or 2. the records are not in the custody or control of the Municipality. This includes records commonly referred to as constituency records. Such records are not within the scope of this policy and are not subject to the custody or control of the Municipality's Records Management Program. Further guidance regarding records of the Mayor and other Council Members is provided in publications available through the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. Appendices Appendix A: Definitions and examples of Official Business Records and Temporary Record Page 4 of 5 Appendix A: Definitions and examples of Official Business Records and Temporary Record Official Business Record Official Business Records are work - related decisions and actions including emails, charts, graphs, briefing notes, etc. OBRs show: • what happened, • when, • who was involved, • what was decided or recommended and by whom. OBRs provide evidence of Municipal decisions and decision - making, policies, procedures, services, operations (including transactions, activities, etc.). When staff have an OBR, it must be captured and classified. Examples of OBRs include, but are not limited to: • Provide the background information used and document a decision made by Municipal Council, A Committee of Council, A management committee of the Municipality. • Document actions and /or decisions taken by authorized senior management as a result of delegation of authority from Municipal Council. • Document actions taken to maintain compliance with legal statues, regulations or by -laws. • Provide the Municipality with whatever legislative authority it requires to manage itself and the municipality. • Provide the background information used to make important decisions and documents subsequent actions taken in support of corporate and departmental programs. • Include meeting agenda, minutes or official meeting notes when you are the chair of the meeting. • Are signed original contractual agreements and /or arrangements entered into on behalf of the Municipality. • Document approved policies, procedures, standards and processes. • Provide the authority or directive to: Spend funds, Initiate cutbacks to the allocation of existing resources, Change existing processes, Implement organizational changes including staff layoffs and recalls. • Document advice and /or input from professionals and technical specialists (i.e., architects, lawyers, engineers, accountants, auditors, consultants, specialists in human resources, finance, informatics, records) on substantive issues. Page 5 of 5 • Document individual approval processes at the operational level (e.g., licenses, permits, staffing). • Include personal information or personal health information. Include documentation provided by a client or service provider at the request of the Municipality. A Temporary Record: • Is of limited usefulness, created or received by staff in carrying out their activities; • Has no value beyond an immediate and minor action and are not required to meet legal or fiscal obligations; • Is often created in preparation of a subsequent Official Business Record. (e.g. a draft of a completed report); • Does not provide evidence of decision - making or work - related operations (including transactions, activities, etc.); and • Can be disposed of at any time. Examples of temporary records include: • Draft documents and working materials: correspondence, reports and other documents usually go through several drafts or versions before they are finalized and distributed. Also, research or working materials such as calculations and notes are often collected and used in the preparation of documents. Once the final version of a document is complete and declared as an OBR, most drafts and working materials can be disposed of as temporary records. • Note: Not all drafts are automatically to be deemed temporary records. In some cases, offices responsible for drafting legislation, legal documents, policy, budgets, standards, guidelines or procedures might need to track the evolution of the final product. These offices may need to keep various drafts, research and working materials in order to have a record of changes that were made and why and by whom. • Extra copies of information kept by offices or individuals who do not have primary responsibility for them. • Announcements to staff (where you are not the author). • Personal messages, such as an invitation to lunch. • An invitation to a seminar. • Newsletters received from internal or external groups. • Rough notes assembled at a brainstorming session. • An agenda for a meeting you attended but did not organize. • Lists of names and work phone numbers. IMPORTANT: Staff cannot dispose of any record (OBR or Temporary) that is subject to a known, pending or anticipated Freedom of Information request, or litigation matter.