09-24-2026
Employer Insight: On September 9, 2026, NY Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill expanding employee access to personnel files. The new law, part of New York’s Labor Code, applies to all private- and public-sector employers and gives both current and former employees access to their personnel files, effective November 8, 2026. NY’s law is similar in many respects to Massachusetts’ Personnel Record Law.
What It Requires
- Employers must provide employees with free copies of their personnel records within five business days of receiving a written request.
- Employers must inform employees within 10 days after placing “negative” information related to employment, promotion, transfer, compensation, or disciplinary decisions in a personnel file. The employer and employee have the opportunity to decide whether to remove or edit the information. If the two parties do not reach an agreement, the employer must allow the employee to add a written rebuttal.
- Employees are entitled to review their personnel records at least twice per calendar year (not including responses to negative feedback).
- Employers must keep personnel records throughout an employee’s employment and for at least three years thereafter.
What Employers Should Know: The law defines a “personnel record” as a “record kept by an employer that identifies an employee, to the extent that the record is used or has been used or may affect or be used relative to that employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary action.” For employers contracting with outside persons or entities to maintain records, the law also applies to those records. The new law does not supersede an employer’s obligations under a collective bargaining agreement with respect to personnel records.
Employers should be aware that the law excludes information of a personal nature about another person held in an employee’s personnel file that would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy if disclosed. Employers should continue to comply with other laws that may require them to keep certain information apart from personnel files.
Penalties: The statute authorizes employer penalties between $500 to $2,500 for any compliance violations. Enforcement lies with the NY Attorney General’s office. The Act does not create an employee’s private right of action.
Anti-Retaliation Provisions: Employers are prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against an employee who exercises their rights under the statute. That prohibition includes threats to contact or contacting U.S. immigration authorities, threats to report the suspected citizenship or immigration status of an employee, or the employee’s family or household member.
Remaining Questions: Governor Hochul directed the legislature to amend the law as needed by the end of the next legislative session (which begins in early January). The legislature must clarify ambiguities, such as whether employers are required to create a personnel file or create new documents beyond the records they already maintain. It is also unclear whether personnel files must only include records used to assess an employee’s qualifications for recruitment, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary action.
As currently written, employers will have to define what constitutes negative information that triggers notice requirements, and what kinds of performance feedback might qualify as part of the personnel record and requirement notice.
Next Steps: NY employers should review their protocols for maintaining personnel files and ascertain whether the information contained in those files aligns with the statute’s definition. It is recommended that employers establish consistent, documented practices for handling employee review requests promptly, develop procedures for identifying negative information, and for notifying employees.