Sun, Sand, and Secure Data: Best Practices for RIM During Vacation Season

Hi!👋 Welcome to Advanced Access. This week, we explore how to avoid issues in your records program during the summer vacation season. Read on for five proactive best practices you can take to maintain control and plan coverage of your RIM program during beach season.🏖️

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Summer vacation may be on the calendar, but for records and information managers, there’s no room for a lapse in compliance. As employees sign off for PTO and remote access increases, the risk of a records management breakdown also rises.

Hybrid work, decentralized storage, and seasonal slowdowns all converge to create an environment where small oversights can escalate quickly (kind of like when you forget to reapply sunscreen during a day at the beach). Yet, with some upfront planning and the right technology in place, your organization can avoid common pitfalls and maintain compliance.

In this season of out-of-office replies, your RIM strategy needs to be more resilient than ever. Organizations that fail to account for summer disruptions can face unexpected compliance gaps. However, with a few proactive adjustments, you can maintain secure, consistent, and compliant information governance throughout the summer.

Here are five best practices to keep in mind when planning for coverage of your records management and compliance programs.

1. Automate to Maintain Continuity

Manual processes break down when the right people aren’t available, and few things create more risk than compliance tasks waiting in someone’s inbox while they’re on vacation. Automating your retention and destruction policies helps ensure that critical actions stay on schedule, regardless of who’s out of the office.

Whether you use content management systems, records management software, or third-party solutions, building automation into your retention strategy reduces the likelihood of human error and supports a more defensible and consistent approach.

If your organization is still relying heavily on manual tracking, now is a smart time to assess where retention solutions can reduce exposure and free up your team to focus on higher-value work.

2. Delegate Critical Responsibilities

Even the most well-designed policies falter if responsibilities aren’t clearly assigned. Summer disruptions often result in delays, not because of negligence, but because tasks get left in limbo. Ensure that someone is available to oversee legal holds, review destruction authorizations, and respond to urgent file requests in the event of key team members' absence.

Don’t wait for the last day before someone’s PTO to make backup plans. Build delegation into your summer planning process. Cross-train staff on core records processes, ensure alternates have the proper access levels, and communicate clearly to other departments who the point of contact will be during coverage periods. These simple steps can eliminate bottlenecks and help avoid costly delays during audits or litigation events.

3. Secure Access from Anywhere

With the rise in remote and hybrid work, many employees are logging in from vacation homes, airports, or other unsecured networks. While convenient, these environments can become weak points in your information security chain, and unintentional mishandling of records can lead to costly consequences.

It’s critical for records teams to collaborate with IT and compliance functions to ensure that access controls are properly enforced and clearly communicated. RIM professionals play a vital role in reinforcing policies around secure file handling, data classification, and access protocols, even if they’re not directly managing the technical safeguards.

Use this time of increased travel and remote work to align with IT on reminders around VPN usage, multi-factor authentication, and restricted device access. Reinforce the message that record policies apply regardless of location and clarify expectations for avoiding common pitfalls, such as downloading files to personal devices or using unapproved sharing platforms. These collaborative efforts can help close security gaps and ensure everyone understands their role in protecting sensitive data.

4. Make Time for a Mid-Year Audit

Summer offers a natural pause to reflect on how well your information governance strategy is functioning. Use this window to conduct a mid-year compliance check: Are your retention schedules up to date? Have new business units, platforms, or data types emerged that require integration? Are your legal hold processes still aligned with regulatory expectations?

This kind of review doesn’t happen in a vacuum. RIM leaders should work closely with IT to ensure that recordkeeping systems are functioning as intended, data storage locations are clearly documented, and access controls are properly configured. IT typically owns the infrastructure, but records managers ensure the policies governing that infrastructure are being followed.

If your organization works with seasonal or contract staff, this checkpoint is even more important. Review onboarding protocols to ensure that all temporary personnel receive adequate training on data handling, privacy, and compliance expectations. These short-term hires may lack familiarity with your internal systems, but they’re still accountable for the same security standards.

Consider using this audit period to review your records and file management systems to identify ROT—redundant, outdated, or trivial records—and reevaluate what can be safely disposed of. Getting a handle on this now can reduce legal risk and operating costs later in the year.

5. Clean Up Before You Clock Out

Encourage departments to conduct mid-year digital declutters or participate in summer “Shred Day” campaigns. These initiatives not only reduce the burden of ROT, but they also serve as visible reminders of the organization’s commitment to responsible data management.

Whether it’s deleting outdated shared drive folders or securely disposing of expired physical documents, these cleanup efforts help prepare the organization for a smoother second half of the year. They also reduce unnecessary storage costs and help reinforce defensible disposition practices across your teams.

Your data deserves protection—whether your team is online or offline, in the office or on the beach. By combining automation, clear delegation, secure access policies, and smart mid-year reviews, organizations can avoid common summer slip-ups and maintain control over their information governance programs.

The heat of summer doesn’t have to lead to a compliance meltdown. With the right tools and procedures in place, your records will stay cool, compliant, and protected—no matter who’s out of office.

The summer vacation season is just one example of how business continuity can be affected by improper planning. Comprehensive business continuity plans ensure your records remain accessible, secure, and compliant under any condition.

For additional resources related to business continuity, explore the Access business continuity hub for resources to help your organization👇