A new statute, N.Y. Labor Law § 210-b (effective November 8, 2026), ensures that employees have access to certain information in their “personnel record.”
Among the law’s provisions are the following:
2. An employer shall notify an employee within ten days of the employer placing in the employee’s personnel record any information to the extent that the information is, has been used or may be used, to negatively affect the employee’s qualification for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation or the possibility that the employee will be subject to disciplinary action. An employer receiving a written request from an employee to access such employee’s personnel record shall provide the employee with a copy of such personnel record, at no cost to the employee, within five business days of submission of a written request for such copy to the employer. An employer shall not be required to allow an employee to review the employee’s personnel record on more than two separate occasions in a calendar year; provided, however, that the notification and review caused by the placing of negative information in the personnel record shall not be deemed to be one of the two annually permitted reviews.
3. If there is a disagreement with any information contained in a personnel record, removal or correction of such information may be mutually agreed upon by the employer and the employee. If an agreement is not reached, the employee may submit a written statement explaining the employee’s position which shall be contained and become a part of such employee’s personnel record. The statement shall be included when said information is transmitted to a third party as long as the original information is retained as part of the file. If an employer places any information in a personnel record which such employer knew or should have known to be false, the employee shall have remedy through the collective bargaining agreement, other personnel procedures or judicial process to have such information expunged. The provisions of this section shall not prohibit the removal of information contained in a personnel record upon mutual agreement of the employer and employee for any reason.
4. An employer shall retain the complete personnel record of any employee as required to be kept under this section without deletions or expungement of information from the date of employment of such employee to a date three years after the termination of employment of the employee with such employer.
The law also provides, inter alia, that “[n]o employer or any other person shall discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner discriminate or retaliate against any employee who exercises such employee’s rights under this section.”