The Full Monty: New York Employees Gain the Right to Examine Their Personnel Files, With Serious Implications for Employers

On September 9, 2026, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S3460 (Assembly Bill A2107) into law, adding a new Section 210-b to the New York Labor Law. For the first time, this new law requires New York employers to: (1) provide current and former employees copies of their personnel records on request; (2) tell employees when negative information goes into their files; and (3) let employees put their side of the story on the record. The law takes effect on November 8, 2026, leaving employers only a few weeks to get ready.

New York joins a large and growing group of states with personnel-file access laws, and the Legislature drew expressly on the Massachusetts statute as its model. But New York’s version goes further in several respects, most notably with an express anti-retaliation provision.

Bottom Line

• Effective date: November 8, 2026, for both private- and public-sector employers
• Five business days: Employers must provide a free copy of an employee’s complete personnel record within five (5) business days of a written request.
• Ten-day notice: Employers must notify an employee within ten (10) days of placing negative information in the employee’s personnel record.
• Rebuttal rights: Employees may submit a written response that becomes part of the file and travels with it when the record is shared outside the company.
• Retention: Complete records must be kept, without deletions, through three (3) years after employment ends.
• Enforcement: The Attorney General may seek fines of $500 to $2,500 per violation, and the law prohibits retaliation against employees who invoke their rights under the statute.

What is an “Employer”?

The law defines “employer” broadly to include individuals, corporations, partnerships, labor organizations, unincorporated associations, other businesses, and governmental and public employers. There is no minimum headcount of employees affecting the applicability of the law. “Employee” includes both current and former employees, so a separated worker can make a request just as an active employee can.

The statute does not provide whether it reaches employees of New York employers who work outside the state. Because the Labor Law has generally been applied to individuals working in New York, that is the more likely reading, but multistate employers should confirm their approach with counsel.

Notably, where a collective bargaining agreement already permits employees at least substantially similar access to their records, the agreement controls for those employees.

What Constitutes a “Personnel Record”?

A personnel record is any record the employer keeps that identifies the employee, to the extent it has been, is, or may be used in decisions about the employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or discipline. The statute lists categories that must be included, such as:

• Name, address, and date of birth
• Job title, job description, pay rate, and other compensation
• Start date, job application, and resume
• All performance evaluations and written warnings of substandard performance
• Probationary period lists, waivers signed by the employee, and dated termination notices
• Any other documents relating to disciplinary action

The list is expressly non-exhaustive and the implications of this expansive treatment impose a potentially severe burden on employer documentation and communication protocols. Specifically, the obligation is not limited to the employee’s personnel file that HR keeps. Even manager emails documenting performance problems, investigation materials, informal discipline memos, and records held by third-party vendors (such as HRIS or payroll providers) may all fall within the definition if they have been or could be used in an employment decision. The one statutory carve-out is for personal information about someone other than the employee, where disclosure would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of that person’s privacy, which will be relevant when files contain witness statements or co-worker information.

Fundamental Employer Obligations

1. Responding to access requests. After receiving a written request, the employer must produce a complete copy of the personnel record, at no charge, within five (5) business days. Employers may limit employees to two (2) reviews per calendar year; however, a review induced by a negative-information notice does not count toward that limit.
2. Notifying employees of negative information. Employers must notify an employee within ten (10) days of placing information in the file that is, has been, or may be used to negatively (notably the statute does not define “negative”) affect the employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, or additional compensation, or that could lead to discipline. Thus, this includes written warnings and performance improvement plans and may even include a lukewarm performance review or a manager’s email memorializing a coaching conversation. Until further guidance develops, employers should view the universe of documents through a wide lens.
3. Allowing employees to respond. If an employee disagrees with information in the file, the parties may agree to correct or remove it. If they do not agree, the employee may submit a written statement explaining the employee’s position. That statement becomes part of the record and must accompany the disputed information whenever it is transmitted to a third party, for example in response to a reference or records request.
4. Expungement of false information. If an employer places information in the record that it knew or should have known was false, the employee may seek to have it removed through a collective bargaining agreement, the employer’s own personnel procedures, or the courts. This creates a potential avenue for litigation even though the statute otherwise relies on the Attorney General for enforcement.
5. Retaining records. Employers must keep each employee’s complete personnel record, without deletions or expungements, from the date of hire until three years after employment ends. Employers should reconcile this with existing retention schedules and auto-delete settings.
6. Maintaining written personnel policies. If an employer has a written personnel policy governing terms and conditions of employment, it must keep that policy continuously available at the office where personnel matters are handled.

Enforcement and Retaliation Risk

The New York Attorney General enforces the law and may seek fines between $500 and $2,500 for violations. To be sure, the statute does not expressly give employees a private right to sue over a missed deadline or a failure to give notice.

The more significant exposure may come from the anti-retaliation provision. Employers may not discharge, threaten, penalize, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against an employee for exercising rights under the law. The statute specifically identifies threatening to contact, or contacting, immigration authorities about an employee or the employee’s family or household members as prohibited retaliation. The law does not say how this provision is enforced or whether employees may bring their own claims, and we expect that question to be tested in litigation. In practice, employers should assume that adverse action taken shortly after an employee requests a file or submits a rebuttal will draw scrutiny. Although not specified in the statute, this could include, for example, discharge, demotion, reduction of compensation, assignment of onerous duties, ostracization, or other forms retaliation.

Changes May Be Coming

Governor Hochul signed the bill on the condition that the Legislature address certain ambiguities before the 2027 session. In her approval message, she identified two clarifications in particular: that employers do not have to create personnel files or generate new documents beyond what they already maintain, and that personnel files include only documents used to determine qualifications for hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or discipline.

Employers should not wait for these amendments. The law takes effect on November 8, 2026 as written, and any chapter amendment is not expected until 2027. Employers should plan to comply with the statute in its current form and adjust if and when the Legislature narrows it.

What Employers Should Do Now

1. Map your records. Identify everywhere personnel information lives: HR files, HRIS and payroll systems, manager files and emails investigation files, and third-party vendors. Decide what your organization will treat as the “personnel record.”
2. Build a request process. Designate who receives written requests, who compiles records, and who reviews them for third-party privacy redactions, so you can reliably meet the five-business-day deadline. Track requests by employee and calendar year.
3. Create a negative-information protocol. Adopt a standard notice form, decide which documents trigger it, and set up a system to ensure notice goes out within ten (10) days. Establish how rebuttal statements are received, filed, and attached to future third-party disclosures.
4. Update retention schedules. Confirm that complete personnel records are kept for three years after separation and that no automatic deletion or “clean file” practices conflict with the no-deletion requirement.
5. Train managers and HR. Managers should assume that what they write about employees may be seen by those employees. Documentation should be factual, accurate, professional, and tied to legitimate business reasons.
6. Review policies and handbooks. Update handbook language on personnel files, records retention, and anti-retaliation, and make sure any written personnel policy is maintained at the office that administers personnel matters.
7. Check union and vendor agreements. Determine whether existing collective bargaining agreements provide substantially similar access, and confirm that vendors holding personnel records can support timely production. Also determine whether collective bargaining agreements go beyond the requirements of the statute.
8. Guard against retaliation. Before taking adverse action against an employee who recently requested records or submitted a rebuttal, have HR or counsel review the decision and the supporting documentation.

How Clark Hill Can Help

Clark Hill’s Labor & Employment attorneys are helping New York employers audit their recordkeeping practices, draft request and notice procedures, update handbooks, and train managers ahead of the effective date. We will continue to monitor developments, including any amendments from the Legislature and guidance from the Attorney General.

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