PAYE21080 - Employer records: maintain employer record: employer notes

Notes regarding an employer or contractor that have a long term value, and are likely to be useful to any office who might need to review them, can be retained on the employer record.

A field is available to enter free format notes that can also be deleted, but cannot be amended. The space available in this field is limited to 99 notes. Each note can be up to a maximum of 512 characters (8 lines).

Notes made prior to April 2009 are displayed as PRE APR 09 and do not show the Pay Identity Number (PID) of the operator who recorded the note. Notes older than seven years from the date of creation will be automatically deleted.

You should review the notes that have been entered to ensure that they are still relevant.

When entering notes, remember they should

• Be clear to everyone who might refer to them (do not include local jargon)
• Give information that is not held elsewhere on the record

Opinions or subjective comments about the employer or contractor must not be entered in these fields. Do not make an entry which would cause offence or that you would not want the employer or contractor to see.

Both have the right to see the computer record, including these notes, under the Data Protection Act.