Strange title,but let me explain.
Just received an infringement sheet,of 4 infringements,going back to July and August 2007,from my previous agency.
Now I know some of you would say tell them to get stuffed,as I don’t do much for them nowadays,but as that’s not the way I operate,and I may need to call upon them someday. (Never burn your bridges etc…)
However,as they are over 12 months old,am I legally obliged to sign them?
I can’t remember what I did 12 days ago,never mind 12 months ago. 
Ken.
personally i would go and see them and see what they have to say but refuse to sign them. it has taken them over 12 months to point this out to you and, please correct me if i’m wrong here, they only need to be kept for 12 months then destroyed. (is that right or not?) if it is right then why the hell are they chasing you for explanations of the infringements? like you aid its over 12 months ago, if the want an explanation but put you were obducted by aliens and they made you do it as they wanted to see how quick the agency/company would pick up on the infringement!
or you could be a bit meaner and ask to see the originals and then throw them in a shredder or something, then ask them to prove you had any infringements.
do you know any shop stewards or anything you might be able to ask?
I am not sure whether you are legally obliged to sign infringements anyway. The only legal document is the tacho card or digi card record.
As the records only need to be kept for 12 months for drivers hours regs and 2 years if they use tacho cards for WTD.
It isnt the agency that needs to keep the records anyway, its the vehicle operator.
Quinny:
Strange title,but let me explain.Just received an infringement sheet,of 4 infringements,going back to July and August 2007,from my previous agency.
Now I know some of you would say tell them to get stuffed,as I don’t do much for them nowadays,but as that’s not the way I operate,and I may need to call upon them someday. (Never burn your bridges etc…)
However,as they are over 12 months old,am I legally obliged to sign them?
I can’t remember what I did 12 days ago,never mind 12 months ago.
Ken.
As far as I know you’re not legally obliged to sign infringements at any time, but I imagine that you could possibly be jeopardising your job if you refused, obviously that’s not really applicable in your situation though.
If I received infringements after 12 months I would be tempted to make a polite phone call to ask why.
If it’s taken them 12 months to realise that at some point you may not have complied with the regulations then their ability to do the job is surely called into question.
Infringements are supposed to bring to your attention any none compliance of the regulations so that you can avoid making the same mistakes again, after 12 months it’s a little late to expect you to remember why or even if you failed to comply with the regulations.
Anyway as already said the tachograph records only need to be kept for 1 year for the tachograph regulations, so what’s the point of issuing infringements when for all intent and purpose they’ve expired anyway 
I wonder if it’s the company you drove for that’s just issued the infringements or the agency that’s failed to do their job right.
The infringements have nothing to do with the WTD,so it looks like I will be politely declining to sign them then,as they are now over 12 months old.
Ken.
Quinny:
The infringements have nothing to do with the WTD,so it looks like I will be politely declining to sign them then,as they are now over 12 months old.Ken.
have you spoken to them yet Ken? what did you/they say about it?
Quinny:
The infringements have nothing to do with the WTD,so it looks like I will be politely declining to sign them then,as they are now over 12 months old.Ken.
I think what Wheel Nut was saying is that because on the possibility of the company / agency that you were driving for at the time using the tachos as proof of sticking to WTD regulations, then they need to be kept for 2 years instead of the required 1.
Therefore because of the compliance with thw WTD rules the discs are on the premises and are liable for production to VOSA etc. and any infringement could be picked up.
Limestone Cowboy:
Therefore because of the compliance with thw WTD rules the discs are on the premises and are liable for production to VOSA etc. and any infringement could be picked up.
Hi Limestone Cowboy, your comment has raised a question in my mind. 
We know that records must be kept for both Drivers’ Hours and WTD reasons.
We know that for dirvers’ hours purposes, the records must be kept for 12 months.
We know that for WTD purposes, a record must be kept for 2 years and that tachograph charts may be used for that purpose.
So my question is:
Is it possible to be prosecuted for a drivers’ hours offence, IF the offence comes to light eg. during a VOSA check on WTD hours 12 months or more after the drivers’ hours offence was commited?
dieseldave:
Is it possible to be prosecuted for a drivers’ hours offence, IF the offence comes to light eg. during a VOSA check on WTD hours 12 months or more after the drivers’ hours offence was commited?
I would say that generally the answer would be no.
tachograph:
I would say that generally the answer would be no.
Thanks for the link tachograph, that’s got that one put firmly to bed.
Geebee45 has a point well worth remembering about the older infringements being admissible to TCs as evidence of a pattern of offending though. 
Your answer might go some way to helping Quinny with his OP too. 
Just a point about keeping tacho charts for RT(WT)R, or, in English - working time purposes. The period the employer has to keep the record is two years from the end of the relevant Reference Period. In an extreme case that could be 2 years 6 months total; the record is for the first day of a 26 week Reference Period plus 2 years.
Under RT(WT)R it is the employer that is required to keep records, in the case of most agency drivers this will be the agency, not the vehicle operator.