On September 9, 2026, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed S.3460 into law, adding a new Section 210-b to the New York Labor Law.
Modeled on Massachusetts’ Personnel Record Law, the new law gives current and former employees a first-time statutory right to access, and in some circumstances dispute, the contents of their personnel files. Section 210-b takes effect on November 8, 2026.
Pursuant to an agreement cited by Governor Hochul in her approval memorandum, the New York State Legislature is expected to make changes to the new law during its next session to clean up certain ambiguities.
What You Need to Know
- New Employee Access Right: Current and former employees may request a free copy of their personnel record up to twice per calendar year, and employers must produce it within five business days.
- Notice for Negative Information: Employers must notify employees within 10 days of placing information in a personnel file that is, has been, or may be used to negatively affect the employee’s job standing.
- Enforcement and Penalties: Section 210-b’s anti-retaliation provision protects individuals asserting rights under the new law, and violations are punishable by a fine of $500 to $2,500.
The New Personnel Record Access Law
New York had not previously granted a general statutory right for private-sector employees to inspect their own personnel files; historically, personnel records were treated as exclusively the employer’s property. Section 210-b brings New York in line with many other states, including Massachusetts’ similar personnel file law, allowing employees regular access to these files.
Section 210-b applies broadly. “Employer” is defined to include any individual, corporation, partnership, labor organization, unincorporated association, or other legal business, including governmental and public employers as well as agents of an employer—with no exemption based on employer size. “Employee” includes both current and former employees.
What Is a “Personnel Record”?
The statute defines a “personnel record” as a record kept by an employer that identifies an employee, to the extent the record is used, has been used, or may affect or be used relative to that employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary action. The definition expressly reaches records held by a third party under contract with the employer to keep or supply a personnel record, meaning that outsourced payroll or human resources (HR) vendor records, not just files an employer keeps in-house, are within the law’s scope.
The statute also enumerates specific categories that must be included in an employee’s personnel record to the extent prepared by the employer: name, address, date of birth, job title, and description; rate of pay and other compensation; starting date of employment; the employee's job application; resumes or other employment inquiries submitted in response to the employer's advertisement; performance evaluations; written warnings of substandard performance; lists of probationary periods; signed waivers; dated termination notices; and other documents relating to disciplinary action.
The statute also contains a privacy carve-out: a personnel record does not include information of a personal nature about someone other than the employee if disclosing it would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of that other person's privacy. For example, where an investigation file or witness statement references a co-worker, that information is not within the definition of a “personnel record.”
Employee Access Rights and Response Deadlines
Upon a written request, an employer must provide a copy of the employee’s personnel record, at no cost, within five business days. An employer is not required to allow an employee to review the record on more than two occasions per calendar year. Notably, a review triggered by the employer’s own notice of negative information does not count toward that twice-annual cap, so employees can separately access their file following a negative-information notice without using up their statutory allotment.
Notice of Negative Information and Right to Respond
An employer must notify an employee within 10 days of placing information in the employee’s personnel record that (i) is, has been, or may be used to negatively affect the employee’s qualification for employment, promotion, transfer, or additional compensation, or (ii) may subject the employee to disciplinary action.
If the employee disagrees with information in the record, removal or correction may be resolved by mutual agreement. Absent such agreement, the employee may submit a written statement explaining their position, which becomes part of the personnel record and must be included whenever that information is transmitted to a third party, so long as the original information is also retained. Separately, if the employer placed information in the record that it knew or should have known was false, the employee has a remedy to have that information expunged—through a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), other personnel procedures, or a judicial proceeding.
Recordkeeping, Retention, and Written Policies
Employers must retain a complete personnel record, without deletions or expungement, from an employee’s date of hire through three years after termination of employment. If an employer maintains a written personnel policy governing the terms and conditions of employment, that policy (as amended from time to time) must be continuously kept on file at the office where personnel matters are administered.
Interaction with Collective Bargaining Agreements
Section 210-b does not supersede the terms of a CBA, provided that the CBA affords employees substantially similar access to their personnel records as the statute itself provides. Employers with unionized workforces should compare existing CBA access provisions against the statutory floor to confirm compliance.
Enforcement and Anti-Retaliation Protection
Any violation of Section 210-b is punishable by a fine of at least $500 and up to $2,500, enforced by the New York Attorney General. The statute separately prohibits an employer or any other person from discharging, threatening, penalizing, or otherwise discriminating or retaliating against an employee for exercising rights under the section.
Practical Considerations for Personnel Files in Litigation
Because a written rebuttal becomes part of the personnel record and must travel with it whenever the record is transmitted to a third party, employers should anticipate rebuttal statements to surface later in litigation, arbitration, and unemployment or workers’ compensation proceedings—including, potentially, in matters unrelated to the issue the employee originally disputed. Employers may want to consider documenting their own factual response to a rebuttal at the time it is submitted, rather than relying on the passage of time or institutional memory, so the record does not read as one-sided if it resurfaces in a later dispute.
What New York Employers Should Do Now
Employers should consider taking the following steps before the new law’s November 8, 2026, effective date:
- Designate a process—including a specific person or team—to receive, log, and respond to written personnel-record requests within the five-business-day deadline.
- Inventory where personnel records are stored, including systems maintained by third-party payroll or HR vendors under contract, and confirm those records can be retrieved and produced within the statutory time frame.
- Confirm personnel records include, at a minimum, the specific categories the statute enumerates, and that they are maintained in typewritten, printed, or indelible-ink form.
- Build a 10-day notice procedure into disciplinary and performance-management workflows or documentation, and a process for accepting and attaching employee rebuttal statements to the record.
- Review document retention schedules to confirm personnel records are retained without deletion for at least three years after separation and keep any written personnel policy on file at the appropriate office.
- If the workforce is unionized, compare existing CBA access provisions against the statute to confirm compliance.
- Train managers, supervisors, and HR on the statute's requirements, including the prohibition on retaliation against employees exercising rights under the law.
- Update employee handbooks and personnel file policies to reflect the new access, notice, and rebuttal rights.
* * * *
For additional information about the issues discussed in this Insight, please contact the attorney(s) listed on this page or the Epstein Becker Green Employment, Labor & Workforce Management attorney who regularly handles your legal matters.
Staff Attorney Elizabeth A. Ledkovsky contributed to the preparation of this Insight.
