Request for file

HR IN AL

We have had an employee who has requested a copy of his entire personnel file. I believe that we have an obligation to give to him but have a manager who is arguing the point with me. I am not sure why he wants the file.

What does everyone think?

NeedCoffee

Unless you have company policies or state laws saying differently, you are under no obligation to provide an employee with his/her file. Think about it - the file will do the EE absolutely no good unless they are planning a lawsuit. I've always stuck with this explanation: The Company's policy is that it does not provide copies of employment files in order to safeguard the integrity and privacy of personnel records.

If you and the manager are stuck on this issue, maybe compromise and agree to copy everything that has the EE's signature on it ONLY...there's another thread on this forum sometime in the last 12 months that addresses this issue as well.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Al Vreeland

Unlike some states, in Alabama, an employee does not have a legal right to a copy of his personnel file. However, if the manager has done his job (sometimes a big assumption), there should be no surprises in the file and allowing the employee to review (not necessarily copy) the file can either (1) demonstrate that performance issues are properly documented or (2) allay fears that the manager has loaded the file with memos of which the employee is unaware. If you refuse, you may stoke the employee's paranoia about what's in the file and provoke a dispute (lawsuit) that could have been avoided. Again, it turns on what's in the file.


Al Vreeland
Editor, Alabama Employment Law Letter
Lehr Middlebrooks Price & Vreeland, P.C.

joannie

We do not provide copies of anything in an ee's file. However, we would tell the ee he is free to come in to corporate and review his file. Of course, I would be present during the review.

Susan in La

I work for a state agency, and our open records law requires that we provide a copy of the public portion of an employee's personnel file to anyone who requests it. We are allowed to charge a reasonable fee, and some don't want to pay the 25 cents a page we charge. Some of our files are pretty thick and it can cost $30 or $40 to get an entire file. The portions we aren't required to provide include performance evaluations, banking and tax information. We do provide that to the person whose file it is, but not to others who might request the file (unless we have a subpoena, of course).

TheCol

Points already well made. The confusion is often with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or the Privacy Act, both applying to Government and not a private company. unless you have some dumb policy otherwise, the records are "company property" and not available for routine disclosure.
The Colonel