New York Enacts New Personnel Records Disclosure Law

On September 9, 2026, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Access to Personnel Records Act, Senate Bill S3460 / Assembly Bill A2107, which will add Section 210-b to the New York Labor Law to guarantee employees access to their personnel files.

A major legislative victory, this law makes New York the 20th state with a personnel records access law on the books.[i]

State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas introduced S3460/A2107, which was modeled on Massachusetts’s personnel records law, for consideration during the 2025-2026 legislative session. Previous attempts at passing a personnel records bill, dating back to 2021, had died in the State Legislature.  This session, the bill passed both houses—though Governor Hochul determined that the bill, as drafted, contained ambiguities that needed to be resolved, prompting negotiations with the Legislature over changes to its language in the weeks before she signed the bill.

This blog post explains the rights and protections afforded under the law, based on the changes agreed on by the Governor and the Legislature (known in New York as “chapter amendments”). While the Legislature has not yet published the full text of the changes, advocates for the bill were involved in the negotiations and aware of the changes that were made. The chapter amendments to which Governor Hochul and the Legislature agreed will be passed in early 2027. The law as signed will go into effect on November 8, 2026.

Access to Personnel Files

The law (as amended by the chapter amendments) will require employers to provide an employee with a copy of their personnel file following the employee’s written request, at no cost to the employee.

Employers will have 10 business days to produce the file to the employee. Employers will not be required to allow an employee to review the employee’s personnel file on more than two separate occasions in a calendar year; however, the notification and review of negative information process described below shall not count as one of the two annually permitted reviews.

Who’s Covered

“Employee” is defined to include both current and former employees.

“Employer” is defined to include private sector as well as public sector employers, and includes agents of the employer.

Note: the law will not apply to employees covered by a union’s collective bargaining agreement, if that agreement already provides employees with access to their personnel file. If, however, the collective bargaining agreement is silent on that issue, those employees will also be covered.

What Employees Are Entitled to Receive as Part of Their File

“Personnel file” refers to the personnel records kept by an employer or third-party contractor of an employer “regarding an employee, in the manner maintained by the employer, that have been or will be used to determine the employee’s qualifications for hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation or disciplinary action.”

A personnel file shall not, however, include personal information about individuals other than the employee if the disclosure of such information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy. Further, the bill does not require employers to create a personnel file or include in a personnel file any record or document that (1) is not intended to be and is not used to determine the employee’s qualifications for hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary action, or (2) is part of an active criminal investigation, active disciplinary investigation by the employer, or active investigation by a regulatory agency. For purposes of this section, “active disciplinary investigation” means an investigation that is “continuing with a reasonable, good faith anticipation that a finding will be made in the foreseeable future.”

To the extent that an employer maintains personnel files, the employer must retain the complete file of any employee for three years following the termination of the employee’s employment, unless longer retention is otherwise required by law, rule, regulation, or court order.

Right to Notification of Negative Information, and to Dispute Negative Information, That Has Been Used or Will Be Used to Negatively Affect the Employee

In addition to mandating employee access to personnel files, the bill requires employers to notify an employee within 15 days of the employer placing any information that has been used or will be used to “negatively affect the employee’s qualification for retention, promotion, additional compensation or the possibility that the employee will be subject to disciplinary action” in the employee’s personnel file.

Moreover, the bill provides that if an employee and employer disagree about the inclusion of any information contained in the employee’s personnel file, and are unable to reach an agreement concerning removal or correction, the employee may submit a written statement explaining their position. That written statement will become a part of the employee’s personnel file and will be included whenever the disputed information is transmitted to a third party, so long as the disputed information remains in the personnel file.

While employers shall not be required to allow employees to review their personnel files more than twice per calendar year, the review prompted by an employer placing negative information in a personnel file will not count towards one of the two annual reviews.

Punishment for Violations

Additionally, the bill provides that any violations by an employer shall be punished by a fine of no less than $500 and no more than $2,500. In assessing the amount of the penalty, the following factors are to be considered: the size of the employer’s business, the basis of the employer’s good faith belief that its conduct was in compliance with the law, the gravity of the violation, and the history of previous violations. The law is to be enforced by the New York Attorney General or New York State Department of Labor.

Prohibition on Retaliation

Finally, in addition to enshrining the right of employees to access their personnel files and dispute information contained therein, the bill expressly prohibits retaliation. No employer or 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,” consistent with the anti-retaliation provisions of Section 215 of the Labor Law.

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When employers prevent employees from accessing their personnel files, employees are deprived of information that is necessary to foster a fair and accountable working environment.  Katz Banks Kumin applauds the Governor’s decision to sign this law in New York, made possible by the efforts of the bill’s sponsors and workers’ rights advocates. Our attorneys at Katz Banks Kumin regularly represent New York employees whose employers have violated their rights under applicable labor laws. If you believe your employer has committed labor violations, you may contact us here. Your communications with us are confidential and without further obligation.

[i] (Not all these laws provide equivalent protections, and New York’s goes farther than those of many of the states. Employees in a state with a personnel records law are advised to consult their state’s individual law.)