A disposition schedule is attached to a record category, and once a file has been completed as a record it's subject to the rules of the disposition schedule that's attached to the category it's in.
A disposition schedule contains one or more steps that define a particular action to be carried out. These actions can be carried out after a period of time, after certain events, or a combination of the two.
The steps that can make up a disposition schedule are:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Cut off | This is the first step in a disposition schedule. Once a record is cut off this triggers the records retention period. You can't add records to a folder that's been cut off. |
| Retain | This is an alternative first step that is a 'placeholder' step which delays the next disposition step until after a selected time period or event. |
| Transfer | Records are transferred from one location to another. This can be applicable to both electronic and non-electronic records, and will be used, for example, when transferring records from an organization to an archive. |
| Accession | An advanced form of transfer usually involving the specific legal and physical transfer of records between organizations. |
| Destroy | Electronic records are removed from the Records Management system and destroyed, and non-electronic records must be destroyed. |
- Folder level - you manage the folder through the disposition schedule and all the records it contains are processed as a single entity.
- Record level - records in a folder are managed individually through the disposition schedule and can be at different stages of the disposition process to other records in the folder.
Disposition steps can be manually completed once they are considered eligible (the time period has passed and/or the events have been completed), though the retain and cut off steps can be completed automatically by a system process that is run daily. All other disposition steps must be completed manually, or by setting up a rule to complete them automatically. If a disposition step is complete, then additional options are available for folders or records, dependant on whether the disposition schedule is set to folder or record level, see Actioning disposition steps.