New York Mandates Employee Access to Personnel Files
A new law effective November 8 grants New York employees broad rights to inspect, copy, and dispute their personnel records, imposing new notice, retention, and anti-retaliation duties on employers.
On September 9, 2026, New York enacted a law granting employees and former employees new rights to their personnel files, effective November 8, 2026. The law imposes significant compliance burdens on nearly all New York employers, requiring them to notify an employee within 10 days of placing negative information in their file and to provide a complete copy of the record within five business days of a written request. It also establishes a three-year post-termination retention period and contains a robust anti-retaliation provision. The New York attorney general is tasked with enforcement, and noncompliance carries financial penalties.
Sophisticated counsel and clients should care because the law's requirements are immediate and procedurally specific, necessitating swift updates to internal policies. However, Governor Kathy Hochul's signing memorandum acknowledged ambiguities in the current text—such as the precise scope of a "personnel record"—and noted an agreement with the legislature to introduce clarifying amendments in the 2027 session. In the interim, employers should audit their recordkeeping practices, train HR staff, and update employee handbooks to comply with the law as written, while monitoring for the promised legislative changes.