Occasionally, an employee will request access to their personnel file during the employment relationship or after departing from the organization. What are our legal obligations in providing this information to current or former employees? There is currently, “no federal law that requires private employers to provide employees access to their personnel files, but there are many state laws that do grant access.”[i] The answer varies, based on state specific laws and regulations. What does that mean for employers in New York State? Currently there is no law in New York State which permits an employee to examine his or her personnel file. There is currently an amendment in the New York State Senate to provide public and private employees the right to review personnel files, the bill is in Committee and was proposed initially 2013-2014 and is now being proposed again in 2017-2018. However, Pennsylvania allows an employee to inspect certain information from their own personnel files maintained by an employer. Below are websites for New York State, Pennsylvania and the Society of Human Resources Management:
NY State Worker’s Rights Frequently Asked Questions
Senate Bill S2191: NYS Right to Review Personnel File
PA Inspection of Employment Records Law
SHRM Article: Personnel Records Access Legal Obligation Federal Laws & Policies
Again, laws vary state by state. If you are a multi-state employer, research the specific laws and regulations and be consistent with employees. Remember to look for (.Gov) or credible website sources, when searching for current state laws and regulations. If you are required to provide access to employees on all or certain personnel file information, ensure you have a policy in place that is fair and consistent to all employees.
Below is a correction to the draft communication letter, when communicating NYSPFL information throughout the organization. Correction underlined as regulation has changed, from $1.65 weekly maximum contribution to $85.56 annually:
The cost of Paid Family Leave benefits is paid for by the employee via payroll deductions. The Company will be deducting a percentage of your average weekly wages (determined by New York State) to fund Paid Family Leave benefits. The deduction rate, which is set by New York State and is the same for everyone, is 0.126% of each employee’s weekly wage with a weekly wage cap of $1,305.92. The maximum contribution is currently $85.56 annually. For example, if the employee’s weekly wage amounts to $1,000.00, the maximum payroll deduction for Paid Family Leave would be $1.26 for that week. For employees who make more than the state’s average weekly wage of $1,305.92, the Paid Family Leave deduction will be capped at $1.65 per week (0.126% of $1,305.92). We will be designing and communicating a more detailed Paid Family Leave policy in the future to be effective in 2018. If you have any questions please contact ____.”
– Matthew Burr, HR Consultant
[i] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/copypersonnelfiles.aspx
BURR CONSULTING, LLC 
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