What records management responsibilities does a federal employee personally have for their own emails and documents?

Every federal employee is, in a real sense, a records manager for the work they create. Federal law generally defines records by their content and function, not their format. That means an email, a chat message, a draft memo, or a working spreadsheet can be a record if it documents the organization, functions, decisions, or activities of the agency. Recognizing when your own material rises to that level is the first and most important responsibility you carry.

Identify what is a record

Not everything you create is a record. Personal notes, casual messages, and convenience copies often are not. But correspondence that conveys a decision, sets policy, transacts agency business, or provides evidence of an action usually is. When in doubt, treat the material as potentially recordable and check your agency’s file plan or ask your records officer rather than guessing.

Capture and preserve it properly

Once you recognize a record, you are responsible for keeping it in the agency’s official recordkeeping system rather than leaving it only in a personal inbox or local drive. Key duties include:

• Filing email and documents according to your agency’s records schedule and file plan.
• Avoiding the use of personal accounts for official business; if it happens, forwarding or copying the material into an official system promptly.
• Not deleting, altering, or removing records outside of an approved disposition schedule.

Protect sensitive information

Records often contain information governed by other rules. Handle anything marked or qualifying as Controlled Unclassified Information, privacy-protected data, or classified material according to the applicable safeguards. Mishandling these can carry consequences beyond records compliance.

Support transparency and disposition

Your records may be requested under access laws or needed for litigation, so keep them findable and intact. Apply retention periods faithfully: keep records as long as required, and let them be transferred or destroyed only through authorized disposition. Never destroy material that is subject to a legal hold or pending request.

In short, federal employees personally own the front line of recordkeeping: recognizing records, capturing them in official systems, protecting sensitive content, and respecting retention rules. For more foundational guidance, explore the federal records topic hub.