For years, New York stood out for not having a law relating to employees’ access to their personnel files. Bills on the issue dating back to 2021 repeatedly stalled in the Legislature. The current session’s version, Senate Bill S3460 (modeled after Massachusetts’s Personnel Records Law and introduced by Senator Andrew Gounardes) passed the Senate in June 2025, only to stall again in the Assembly. It finally cleared both houses in May 2026, and Governor Hochul signed it on September 9 as Chapter 293 of the Laws of 2026, adding a new Section 210-b to the Labor Law.
The changes are significant. For the first time, current and former employees can request a copy of their personnel record at no cost, and employers must produce it within five business days of a written request. Employees and former employees can request this twice per calendar year.
Employers must also notify employees within ten days of placing any information in the file that is, has been, or may be used to negatively affect their qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, or compensation, or the possibility of discipline. Employees can submit written rebuttals that become a permanent part of the record.
The law defines “personnel record” broadly, requires retention of complete files without deletions or expungement for three years after separation, and prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under the statute. Violations carry civil penalties of five hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars per violation. The new law authorizes enforcement by the Attorney General.
The law takes effect on November 8, 2026, just sixty days after signing, leaving employers a narrow window to prepare.
Employers should act now by doing the following:
- audit existing personnel files for completeness and consistency,
- establish a written procedure for handling access requests within the five-business-day deadline,
- train managers on the ten-day negative-information notice requirement, and
- review retention policies to ensure files are preserved for three years post-separation.
Lastly, employers should monitor for the chapter amendments, expected in early 2027, to clarify the law’s ambiguities.
If you have any questions regarding New York’s new personnel file law, reach out to the author or your regular Saul Ewing attorney.
