Summary
Key Takeaways
- Compliance obligations don't end at exit. Audits, ISO certification, investigations, insurance claims and employment disputes can all require evidence years after someone has left.
- Deleting or "just filing" records creates risk. Once a former employee or contractor's history is broken up across folders, it becomes slow — sometimes impossible — to reconstruct.
- Document storage is not a compliance system. SharePoint and network drives store files; they don't preserve the relationships between a person, their role, their competencies and their evidence.
- The Employee Training Manager (ETM) by Onecard Audit Archive keeps former employees' and contractors' compliance history intact and read-only, without keeping them in the active workforce.
- Archiving is included at no additional cost and does not count toward your active subscription tier — it's a value add, not a billable extra.
Definition
What Is an Audit Archive?
An Audit Archive is a secure, read-only repository for former employee and contractor records that preserves the complete history of workforce compliance after someone leaves. It's a core feature of a broader Training Management System (TMS), rather than a standalone tool.
Rather than deleting records or exporting files to document storage, an Audit Archive keeps training history, licences, qualifications, competency assessments, evidence, approvals and audit history connected to the person, their role and the requirements that applied at the time.
This allows organisations to quickly retrieve historical records during client audits, ISO certification, regulatory investigations, insurance claims, employment disputes or internal reviews — without rebuilding the evidence from multiple locations.
Former employee or contractor records are rarely needed when someone leaves. They're needed months or years later — during an audit, investigation, insurance claim or employment dispute.
What an Audit Archive Preserves
- Internal and external training history
- Licences and qualifications
- Competency assessments and VOCs
- Induction records
- Medical and fitness records (where legally permitted)
- SOP and policy acknowledgements
- Uploaded certificates and supporting evidence
- Audit history
- Manager approvals
- Historical role requirements
- Skills and training matrix history
Employee Training Manager (ETM) includes an Audit Archive that preserves former employee and contractor compliance records in a secure, read-only environment. Former employees and contractors no longer count towards your active workforce subscription, while their complete compliance history remains available whenever it is needed. See the full employee training tracker functionality in ETM.
Context
Why Former Employee and Contractor Compliance Records Matter
When an employee or contractor leaves your organisation, your compliance responsibilities don't necessarily end with them.
Former employees and contractors may no longer require ongoing training or licence renewals, but their historical records often remain critical. Organisations may need to produce evidence years after a worker has left the business for client audits, ISO certification, regulatory investigations, insurance claims, employment matters or internal governance.
Client Audits
Clients and principal contractors can request proof of historical competency for workers no longer on your books.
Regulatory & Legal
Investigations, insurance claims and employment matters often reach back to records from when a former employee or contractor was engaged.
ISO Certification
Certification bodies expect a documented, retrievable history — not a promise that the files exist somewhere.
Internal Governance
Boards and internal audit functions may need historical workforce evidence long after a role has changed hands.
Deleting records — or quietly moving them into folders — can make that evidence difficult, or even impossible, to locate when it's needed most. A regulator or client auditor rarely gives weeks of notice.
Common Pitfall
Why Document Storage Alone Isn't Enough
Many organisations move former employee and contractor files into SharePoint, network drives or other document storage systems once someone exits.
These platforms are excellent for storing documents. But workforce compliance is about far more than storing files — it's about preserving the relationship between a person, their role and the evidence behind it.
Without these relationships intact, organisations can spend hours reconstructing evidence for an auditor, client or regulator — hunting through folders that were never designed to answer "was this person compliant, and can you prove it?" Learn more about training records management in ETM.
A Compliance System Keeps
- Role and position history
- Required competencies
- Training completed
- Licences and qualifications
- Supporting evidence
- Assessment results
- Approval history
- Expiry dates
- Historical reports
- Audit trail
At a Glance
Active vs Archived: What Changes in ETM
Moving an employee or contractor to the Audit Archive removes them from your active workforce while preserving their complete compliance history. Their records remain searchable and can be included in audit reports whenever required.
| Attribute | ACTIVE Employee / Contractor | ARCHIVED Audit Archive |
|---|---|---|
| Appears in day-to-day workforce views | Yes | No – moved out of active workforce views |
| Training, licence and competency history | Active and current | Preserved in full (read-only) |
| Uploaded evidence and certificates | Active and current | Preserved in full (read-only) |
| Record editable | Yes | No – read-only |
| Searchable for audits | Yes | Yes – available in audit searches and reports |
| Included in standard reports | Yes | Optional – include Audit Archive records when required |
| Counts towards active subscription | Yes | No – does not count towards your active subscription |
| Requires ongoing training or renewals | Yes, where applicable | No – historical record only |
Case Study
When Historical Records Become Critical
Imagine your organisation completed maintenance work at a mining processing facility. Four years later, a failure occurs and the client's insurer begins investigating.
One of the first requests isn't for the maintenance report — it's for evidence that every person who carried out the work held the required training, licences, qualifications and competency assessments at the time the work was performed.
If former employee records have been deleted, exported into disconnected folders or scattered across SharePoint, network drives and paper files, proving historical compliance can become difficult or even impossible.
An Audit Archive preserves the complete compliance history exactly as it existed on the day the work was carried out, allowing organisations to demonstrate who performed the work, what competencies they held and the evidence supporting those records — even years after the employee has left. See how ETM handles safety training matrix and records management for high-risk operational environments.
Included, Not Billed
A Value Add, Not a Cost
Every employee or contractor archived in ETM is retained at no additional cost and does not count toward your active subscription tier. Archiving a former employee or contractor frees up room in your active workforce count while keeping their full compliance history intact and accessible.
In practice, this means organisations don't face a trade-off between tidy licensing and complete audit history. You can archive every leaver, keep every record, and never pay to store history you're legally or contractually required to hold onto.
Kareena Waters
Frequently Asked Questions
Common Questions About the ETM Audit Archive
What happens to employee records when someone leaves a company?
When an employee or contractor leaves, their records should be retained rather than deleted. Employee Training Manager (ETM) allows organisations to move former employees into the Audit Archive, where their training history, licences, competency assessments, evidence and approvals are preserved in a secure, read-only state.
Should you keep former employee training and compliance records?
Yes. Former employee records may be required years later for audits, ISO certification, regulatory investigations, insurance claims, employment matters or client requests. ETM's Audit Archive preserves the complete historical compliance record, making it available whenever evidence is required.
Can archived employee records still be searched?
Yes. Former employee records remain fully searchable within Employee Training Manager (ETM). Historical training records, licences, qualifications, competency assessments, evidence and audit history can all be retrieved whenever required.
Can archived employee records be changed?
No. Records stored in the ETM Audit Archive are read-only, preserving the integrity of the historical record. This creates a reliable, tamper-evident source of evidence for audits, investigations and legal matters.
Why isn't SharePoint or a network drive enough for former employee records?
Document storage systems such as SharePoint and network drives are designed to store files, not manage workforce compliance. Employee Training Manager (ETM) preserves the relationship between employees, roles, competencies, licences, qualifications and supporting evidence, allowing organisations to quickly demonstrate historical compliance.
How long should employee records be kept after someone leaves?
Retention requirements vary depending on the country, industry and type of record. Many organisations retain former employee records for years to meet audit, regulatory, legal and contractual obligations. ETM's Audit Archive provides a secure way to preserve these records for as long as your organisation requires.
Do archived employees count towards my subscription?
No. Employees and contractors moved into the ETM Audit Archive no longer count towards your active workforce subscription. Their records remain securely preserved and searchable at no additional cost. See ETM pricing for details on how active workforce counts are calculated.
Can former employee records still be included in audit reports?
Yes. Although archived employees are removed from day-to-day workforce views, Employee Training Manager (ETM) allows organisations to include Audit Archive records in audit searches and reports whenever historical evidence is required.
Do archived employees still appear in training and skills matrices?
No. Archived employees and contractors are removed from active training matrices, skills matrices and workforce reports because they no longer require ongoing training or renewals. Their historical compliance records remain available separately through the ETM Audit Archive whenever required. Explore employee training matrix software and skills tracker software in ETM.
Can an archived employee be reactivated?
Yes. Employees and contractors can be reactivated at any time. Employee Training Manager (ETM) preserves a complete, date-stamped audit trail showing when records were archived, reactivated and updated, ensuring the full compliance history remains intact and verifiable. Once reactivated, the employee or contractor becomes active again and is included in your active workforce subscription count.