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:

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.

Texas Law:

  1. Texas law does not require an employer to allow an employee to access his or her personnel file (exception: public employees may request copies of their personnel file documents under the Public Information Act) – however, most companies allow supervised access and copying of contents at the employee’s cost – a company should never place anything in a personnel file that it would be ashamed to show other people (such as 12 average jurors) – remember, anything in any file relating to an employee is discoverable in a claim or lawsuit filed by or on behalf of that employee!

Website Link

“In some states, an employee’s request to see his or her file must be in writing: California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and Rhode Island. In other states, the employer may create a policy requiring written requests: Delaware, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

State laws also vary as to whether employees are allowed to make copies of their records and who must bear the cost of making copies. In Colorado, for example, employees may request copies of their records and employers may require workers to pay reasonable expenses. Pennsylvania employers, however, don’t have to allow copying, but employees are permitted to take notes when viewing their files.

Some state laws set a minimum number of times individuals must be allowed to inspect their files. For instance, in Colorado, current employees are allowed to view their files at least once a year and former employees may take a look at their files once after termination. Minnesota employees can inspect their files once every six months, but former employees can only do so one time within the first year after separation.” (SHRM)

Draft Organizational Policy:

Employee personnel records are maintained in our human resources department. As required by law, some records pertaining to employees are maintained in separate files relating to medical issues and internal investigations. Employees, or their representative, may request access to their basic personnel file. Depending upon the circumstances, employees may be provided access to records pertaining to internal investigations, with appropriate redactions to protect the rights of others.

All requests for access to your personnel file must be provided in writing to human resources. Upon receipt of your written request, human resources will schedule an appointment for you to view your file during normal office hours. For purposes of this policy, your personnel file includes records related to performance and training as well as other records used for hiring, promotion and disciplinary decisions. It will not include any reference checks, medical records or investigation files. Employees are not permitted to remove any documents from the personnel file but may provide a written response to any document in the personnel file. Written responses will be attached to the original document in the personnel file.

Employees may request copies of documents in their personnel file. Requests for copies must also be made in writing to human resources.

Original Post Date: March 2024

[i] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/copypersonnelfiles.aspx

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Published by Mathew W. Burr, MJ-LEL, MBA, MHRIR, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CPHR-INT, Chartered CIPD

Mathew W. Burr, MJ-LEL, MBA, MHRIR, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CPHR-INT, Chartered MCIPD Lean Six Sigma Black Belt ABOUT: Matthew Burr has over 18-years of experience working in the human resources field, starting his career as an Industrial Relations Intern at Kennedy Valve Manufacturing to most recently founding and managing a human resource consulting company; Burr Consulting, LLC, Talentscape, LLC and Co-Owner of Labor Love, a Labor, and Employment Law poster printing company. Prior to founding the consulting firm, the majority of his career was heavy industry manufacturing and healthcare. He specializes in compliance auditing, training labor and employment law, conflict resolution, performance management, labor, and employment relations. Matthew has a generalist background in HR and operations, while providing strategic HR and operational solutions to his clients, focusing on small and medium sized organizations. He works as an Adjunct at Alfred State University, Tompkins Cortland Community College, and Montgomery Community College. He successfully designed an HR Concentration in the business management major that aligned with both SHRM and HRCI certifications, providing opportunities for students to sit for both the SHRM-CP and aPHR certifications upon completion of the degree, concentration, and internship hours as an Assistant Professor of Management at Elmira College (Retired January 2022). Matthew is also the SHRM Certification Exam Instructor, with a current pass rate of 92% on the SHRM-SCP and 83% pass rate on the SHRM-CP and a combined 88% on both exams over a 7-year period of instructing the course (Elmira College, Collin College & The College of St. Rose). Matthew works as a trainer at Tompkins Cortland Community College, Corning Community College, Broome Community College, and HR Instructor for Certification Preparation for the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). He also acts as an On-Call Mediator and Factfinder through the Public Employment Relations Board in New York State, working with public sector employers and labor unions. PUBLICATIONS: Matthew has over 70+ publications including, American Bar Association (ABA) Experience Magazine, Cornell HR Review, Business Insider, New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), PayScale, Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), and Expert 360 (in Australia). In early 2017, he published his first book, “$74,000 in 24 Months: How I killed my student loans (and you can too!),” proceeded by his second book, which was published in January 2021, “Slay the Student Loan Dragon: Tips and Tricks on How to Conquer the Student Loan Game” and his most recent book, “Unbox Your HR Career” in July 2023. VOLUNTEER WORK: Matthew is currently the New York State Society of Human Resource Management (NYSSHRM) District-Director. EDUCATION & TRAINING: Additional Training & Development:  SHRM Workplace Coaching and Mentoring Recertification Program, 2020  SHRM Foundation Employing Abilities @Work Certificate, 2020  SHRM Foundation Veterans at Work Certificate Program, 2018  Delta County Chamber of Commerce: Delta Force Leadership Program, 2013 FEATURED IN & ON: Matthew was featured on CNN Money, Fast Company, Fits Small Business, Fox News, Magnify Money, Monster.com, My Twin Tiers, Namely, Student Loan Hero, Smart Sheet and CEO Blog Nation, Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). Burr Consulting, LLC Capabilities Statement General Information: Burr Consulting, LLC Owner: Matthew W. Burr Mission Statement: “Strategically Aligning HR as a Partner for the Success of Your Business” Contact Information: Burr Consulting, LLC What's New in HR Blog Talentscape, LLC Labor Love, LLC (Labor Posters) The HR Support Center The Upstate HR Podcast (607)227-4386 Matthew@Burrconsultingllc.com Facebook: Burr Consulting, LLC LinkedIn: Burr Consulting, LLC Twitter: @Burrconsulting Online Certification Verification: Credibly Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Number: 080776443 NAICS Codes: 541612, 923130, 54161, 541611, 541613, 611430, 541618, 561312, 561311 SIC: 8742, 8748, 9441, 8748001, 8748026 Our Services HR MANAGEMENT New Hire Orientation; Temporary HR Support; Recruiting and Application Tracking; HR Compliance (ADA, FMLA); Employee Handbook; Policy and Procedure; HRIS; HR Audits; Job Profile Design and Revision; HR Key Performance Indicators; EEO Reporting and Classification; State Unemployment Insurance Services TRAINING & TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Organizational Development; Employee Relations; Workplace Violence; Harassment & Sexual Harassment; Union Awareness; Managerial EMPLOYEE & LABOR RELATIONS Employee Relations Training; Conflict Resolution; Mentoring; Workplace Investigations; Labor Contract Costing; Mediation & Arbitration Prep; Fact-Finding; Workplace Investigations; Coaching & Counseling; Performance Reviews; Contingency Plan Development; Contingency Plan Training; State of New York Public Employment Relations Board (PERB)PERB Mediation and Fact-Finding Panels (Albany, NY covering the Elmira, NY Area) HIRING & RECRUITMENT Applicant Tracking Systems; Metric Development; Interview Training; Workforce Planning; Recruitment; Interviews; Job Offers; New Hire Process POLICY & COMPENSATION Group Plans – Healthcare, Dental, Vision, Group Life, Short- and Long-Term Disability; Retirement – 401(k), Profit Sharing, Roth; Workers Compensation; Total Compensation Design and Strategy; Deferred Compensation Plans; Salary Surveys; Reward Systems; Online Payroll; Customized Payroll Processing; Employee Self Service; Customized Reporting HR COMPLIANCE MATERIALS Burr Consulting, LLC is excited to announce a new partnership with Labor Love LLC, expanding our services to include HR printed materials compliant with industry standards.

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