---
title: New York’s New Personnel File Law Begins November 8
description: New York's Personnel File Law starts November 8, 2026, granting employees access to their records. Learn key requirements for compliance and best practices.
---

[Megapay news and updates](https://www.megapayusa.com/blog)

# [New York’s New Personnel File Law Begins November 8](https://www.megapayusa.com/blog/new-yorks-new-personnel-file-law-begins-november-8)

 Written by [Megapay](https://www.megapayusa.com/blog/author/megapay) | Nov 6, 2026, 1:34:06 PM

A former employee asks for a copy of their personnel file. You have their pay information in payroll, but their last performance review is in a manager’s email. Does that review count? How long do you have to get it to them?

Starting November 8, 2026, [New York Labor Law Section 210-b](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S3460) gives current and former employees the right to request a copy of their personnel record. You have five business days from the written request to provide a free copy.

There’s another deadline that’s easy to miss. If you add certain negative information to someone’s record, **you have 10 days to tell them**, even if they never ask to see it.

### **Does This Apply to Small Businesses?**

Yes. There’s no minimum employee count, and the law covers both public and private employers in New York.

If your employees are covered by a union contract, check what it says about access to personnel records. The law doesn’t override the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that gives employees at least substantially similar access.

### **What Counts as a Personnel Record?**

Start with the records you use to make decisions about someone’s job. Did you use a review to decide on a raise? Did a manager save a written warning after an employee missed a shift? Those records can count, even if they’re saved somewhere other than the employee’s main folder.

The law covers records that identify the employee and are used or could be used in decisions about employment, promotions, transfers, additional pay, or discipline. It lists examples like:

- Employee details, job titles and descriptions, start dates, and pay information
- Job applications, résumés, and other materials submitted in response to a job ad
- Performance reviews, written warnings, and other disciplinary records
- Probation records, signed waivers, and dated termination notices

Check what your payroll or HR provider keeps for you. If you’ve contracted with a provider to keep or supply covered records, those records count too.

Before you hand over a copy, look for personal information about someone else. The law excludes that information if sharing it would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of that person’s privacy.

### **What Do You Do When Someone Asks for Their File?**

Write down when the employee submitted the request. If you need something from their manager or your payroll provider, ask for it that day. Letting the employee come in and look at the file doesn’t replace giving them a copy.

The law says you don’t have to allow more than two reviews in a calendar year. If the employee reviews their record because you notified them about a negative entry, that review doesn’t count toward the two. The statute doesn’t expressly say whether the same limit applies to written requests for copies, so don’t assume you can deny a third request on that basis alone.

### **How Long Do You Have to Notify Your Employee?**

Say a manager adds a written warning to an employee’s file on Tuesday. The 10 days run from when the warning goes into the record.

The rule covers information that has been or could be used against the employee in decisions about their employment, a promotion, a transfer, additional pay, or discipline. The law doesn’t say how the notice has to be given. It may help to give it in writing so you’re able to keep a dated copy and know exactly when it went out.

### **What If Your Employee Says Something Is Wrong In Their File?**

They might tell you there’s a wrong date on a warning or their file leaves out a conversation they had with their manager. Look at the entry together. If you agree it should be corrected or removed, the law allows you to do that.

If you can’t agree, the employee can write down their side. Keep their statement in the personnel record. If you eventually need to share the disputed information with a third party, send their statement with it (you should also include the original).

### **How Long Do You Have to Keep the Records?**

You should keep the complete record from the date of hire up until three years after their employment ends. Check whether your system automatically deletes old files or whether you lose access when you close out a former employee’s account. Keep entries intact during that period, subject to the law’s rules for correcting or removing information.

Other records may need to stay longer. For example,[New York’s payroll recordkeeping law](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LAB/195) requires covered payroll records to be kept for at least six years.

If you keep everything online, there’s one detail to check. The law describes records kept in typed or printed form, or handwritten in permanent ink. It doesn’t expressly say whether storing them only electronically meets that requirement.

If you have a written personnel policy covering terms and conditions of employment, keep the current version at the office where you handle personnel matters.

### **What Happens If You Don't Follow the Law?**

The New York Attorney General enforces the law, and fines range from $500 to $2,500 per violation.

You also can’t fire, threaten, penalize, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against someone for asking for their record or exercising another right under the law. That includes contacting or threatening to contact U.S. immigration authorities, or reporting or threatening to report the suspected citizenship or immigration status of the employee or a member of their family or household.

### **Start With a Test! Pull One File Before Getting a Request.**

Pick an employee and see what you can find. Is their last review in the same place as their hiring paperwork? Can you still get to the file of someone who left last year? Who would handle the request if you were out?

Decide who pulls the records and who sends the notice when a manager adds a write-up. Make sure your managers know who to go to before a request comes in.

The law takes effect on November 8, 2026. There may be possible changes to clarify which records count and whether employers have to create documents they don’t already keep. 

**Need help keeping payroll and employee records organized? [Contact MegaPay](https://www.megapayusa.com/contact) to see how we can help!**

[View full post](https://www.megapayusa.com/blog/new-yorks-new-personnel-file-law-begins-november-8)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Megapay"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-11-06T13:41:47.550Z",
  "datePublished" : "2026-11-06T13:34:06Z",
  "headline" : "New York’s New Personnel File Law Begins November 8",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 1260,
    "url" : "https://8502175.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/8502175/Canva%20images/Canva%20Design%20DAHaJZjO83w.png",
    "width" : 2240
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.megapayusa.com/blog/new-yorks-new-personnel-file-law-begins-november-8",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "Megapay news and updates"
  }
}
```