Responsibility of heads of the companies for document storage
One of the goals of the management of the company’s documents is to keep the business documents for the required period to ensure the evidence of the business activities, and the obligations and legitimate interests of the natural and legal persons involved in the business activities.
The head of the company is responsible for storing its business documents for the required period. According to Paragraph 3 of Article 2.4 of Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, “every person engaged in business or practising of his profession shall have to administer his property and everything related to his undertaking or practising of his profession as well as to safeguard documents and other information about his property, undertaking or practising of his profession in the manner, which would enable every person, having a legal interest, at any time, to receive comprehensive information about the property rights and obligations of the person in question“.
Article 18810 of the Law on Administrative Offences provides for sanctions for preventing the officials of the Office of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania and the State Archives to inspect, within the limits of their competence, the state or municipal institutions, establishments or enterprises, state authorized persons, non-state organizations, private legal entities, for failure to provide them with documents or for document concealment, provision of false data or refusal to provide data
How long should the documents be stored?
The time limits for document storage are specified in the Index of Time Limits for Storage of General Documents, confirmed by order No. V-100, dated 9th of March, 2011, of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania. This index defines minimum time limits for storage of general documents, who are prepared in most of various establishments – both in state and private ones. However, there are some indices, which define the time limits for storage of specific documents from public administration or other special fields, e.g., general education school, notaries, bailiffs, courts, police.
Most of the documents, prepared by companies, are from financial or other assets management area. Time limit for their storage is 10 years. It is a short storage period, however, it is long enough for this type of documents to be kept at the workplace of the employees. The documents, which must be stored for longer time (50 years), are related to labor relationships and salary accounting. Although these documents form the smallest part of the business documentation, they are subject to higher management, accounting and storage requirements. The rules, governing management and accounting of documents, say that business files should be ready for storage one year after their completion. For example, the documents of 2014 should be prepared for archival storage in 2016.
Transfer of the documents for archival storage
Companies prepare and receive the documents, stored in the workplaces of employees, each day. At the end of a calendar year, there is a need to transfer the documents of the previous year to the archive, because they are less frequently needed, and new documents can be stored instead. If unsorted and unmarked files are stored in archive without lists, it becomes difficult to find the required document over time. Upon transferring unsorted documents to archive, it is hard to distinguish between those, which should be stored for a short time, and those, which should be stored for a long time, therefore, a significant part of the documents is kept longer than the statutory deadline. Thus, it is extremely important to sort the documents into files according to the terms and types of their storage, to draw up their lists and descriptions, in order to efficiently store the business records. This requires qualified knowledge, which can be offered by our qualified and experienced document managers.
Document storage service
Article 2 of the Law on Documents and Archives defines a document storage service as “storage of other person’s documents in special storage facility, according to the contractual obligations and legal requirements of the license holder in order to ensure the authenticity, reliability and availability of the documents stored during their entire storage period”. It is a licensed service, the providers of which are required to install document storage facilities in accordance with the Document Storage Rules, approved by order No. V-157, dated 28th of December, 2011, of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania. Upon undertaking an obligation to store the documents, we sign the agreement, whereby we assume responsibility for document security, information confidentiality, and proper storage conditions. We also ensure that the client will have the necessary information from the archive ready in the fastest way possible.
How is the storage service provided?
Upon signing the Agreement for Document Storage, our enterprise prepares the Delivery and Acceptance Certificate for the documents, and as the latter is confirmed by the client, it transports the documents to storage facility of “Archyvita”. During acceptance of the documents, it is checked whether the delivered documents correspond to the accounting documents and the certificate, it is also specified, how many running meters will be occupied by the delivered documents. Monthly invoice will be issued according to the number of stored documents and the agreed contractual rate. Every year, after expiration of time limit for storage of some documents, our employees will draw up a Certificate for Destruction of Documents, and as it is approved by your head, the documents will be destroyed in a safe way (for more information see the section “Document destruction service”).
How to get a required document from “Archyvita” storage facilities?
The authorized persons or employees of a client may fill in the request form, found on our website, whereby our employees will find the desired document and submit it in the requested form (either electronically or paper version by post or by courier within the agreed delivery time). The delivery time of a copy or original document may be urgent (within 3-8 business hours) or not urgent (within 1-2 business days). If necessary, our employees can prepare a statement on salaries, confirm copies, scan documents, etc. Inquiries for delivery of copies of the documents/original documents and other related services are charged, according to the contractual rates.
Our storage facilities
UAB “Archyvita” (Ltd.) has licensed document storage facilities and has been storing the documents for already 10 years. Currently, we have licensed document storage facilities in Kaunas, Vilnius and Vilnius district, with a total area of 1977,35 sq.m. Document storage facilities meet all fire, break-in, lighting, moisture and temperature requirements.
Information security
UAB “Archyvita (Ltd.) has a document management system that meets ISO 27001 information security management requirements. This ensures that client data and case records (lists, descriptions, certificates, copies of documents, etc.) are managed and stored in accordance with international information security standards.
