Bill Text: NY A04714 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides public and private employees the right to review their personnel file.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-06 - enacting clause stricken [A04714 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A04714-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4714 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 5, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TITUS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law and the civil service law, in relation to employees' right to review personnel records The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 211-b to 2 read as follows: 3 § 211-b. Employee right to review personnel records. 1. The employer 4 shall, upon written request from an employee or former employee, provide 5 such employee, former employee separated from employment with such 6 employer within the previous three years, representative of a recognized 7 or certified employee organization or attorney of such employee with an 8 opportunity to review and copy the employee's personnel file if the 9 employer has a personnel file for that employee. The review and copying 10 must take place at the location where the personnel files are maintained 11 and during normal business hours unless, at the employer's discretion, a 12 more convenient time and location for the employee are arranged. 13 2. In each calendar year, the employer shall provide, at no cost to 14 the employee, one copy of the entire personnel file when requested by 15 the employee or former employee separated from employment with such 16 employer within the last three years and, when requested by the employee 17 or former employee separated from employment within the last three years 18 with such employer, one copy of all the material added to the personnel 19 file after the copy of the entire file was provided. The cost of copying 20 any other material requested during the calendar year shall be paid by 21 the employee requesting the copy. 22 3. For purposes of this section, a personnel file includes, but is not 23 limited to, any formal or informal employee evaluations and reports 24 relating to the employee's character, credit, work habits, compensation 25 and benefits, and nonprivileged medical records or nurses' station notes EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07708-01-9A. 4714 2 1 relating to the employee. For the purposes of this section, the term 2 "nonprivileged medical records or nurses' station notes" means all those 3 materials that have not been found to be protected from discovery or 4 disclosure in the course of civil litigation or subject to the Health 5 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). 6 4. Records in a personnel file may be maintained in any form including 7 paper, microfiche or electronic form. An employer maintaining records in 8 a form other than paper shall have available to the employee, former 9 employee separated from employment with such employer within the previ- 10 ous three years, representative of a recognized or certified employee 11 organization or attorney of such employee the equipment necessary to 12 review and copy the personnel file. The employer shall take adequate 13 steps to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of such employee 14 records. 15 5. Any employer who, following a request pursuant to this section, 16 fails without good cause to provide an opportunity for review and copy- 17 ing of a personnel file, within ten days of receipt of such request, is 18 subject to a civil fine of twenty-five dollars for each day such failure 19 continues, except that such fine shall not exceed five hundred dollars 20 per request. An employee, former employee or the department may bring an 21 action in a court of competent jurisdiction for such equitable relief, 22 including an injunction, as the court may consider necessary and proper. 23 The employer may also be required to reimburse the employee, former 24 employee separated from employment with such employer within the previ- 25 ous three years or the department for costs reasonably related to the 26 litigation including reasonable attorney's fees, if the employee or the 27 department receives a judgment in the employee's or department's favor, 28 respectively. 29 6. This section shall not be deemed to diminish the rights of any 30 employee pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. 31 § 2. The civil service law is amended by adding a new section 153 to 32 read as follows: 33 § 153. Employee right to review personnel records. 1. The employer 34 shall, upon written request from an employee or former employee sepa- 35 rated from employment with such employer within the previous three 36 years, provide such employee, former employee separated from employment 37 with such employer within the previous three years, representative of a 38 recognized or certified employee organization or attorney of such 39 employee with an opportunity to review and copy the employee's personnel 40 file if the employer has a personnel file for that employee. The review 41 and copying must take place at the location where the personnel files 42 are maintained and during normal business hours unless, at the employ- 43 er's discretion, a more convenient time and location for the employee 44 are arranged. 45 2. In each calendar year, the employer shall provide, at no cost to 46 the employee, one copy of the entire personnel file when requested by 47 the employee or former employee separated from employment with such 48 employer within the previous three years and, when requested by the 49 employee or former employee separated from employment with such employer 50 within the previous three years, one copy of all the material added to 51 the personnel file after the copy of the entire file was provided. The 52 cost of copying any other material requested during the calendar year 53 shall be paid by the employee requesting the copy. 54 3. For purposes of this section, a personnel file includes, but is not 55 limited to, any formal or informal employee evaluations and reports 56 relating to the employee's character, credit, work habits, compensationA. 4714 3 1 and benefits, and nonprivileged medical records or nurses' station notes 2 relating to the employee. For the purposes of this section, the term 3 "nonprivileged medical records or nurses' station notes" means all those 4 materials that have not been found to be protected from discovery or 5 disclosure in the course of civil litigation or subject to the Health 6 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). 7 4. Records in a personnel file may be maintained in any form includ- 8 ing, paper, microfiche or electronic form. An employer maintaining 9 records in a form other than paper shall have available to the employee, 10 former employee or duly authorized representative the equipment neces- 11 sary to review and copy the personnel file. The employer shall take 12 adequate steps to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of such 13 employee records. 14 5. Any employer who, following a request pursuant to this section, 15 fails without good cause to provide an opportunity for review and copy- 16 ing of a personnel file, within ten days of receipt of such request, is 17 subject to a civil fine of twenty-five dollars for each day such failure 18 continues, except that such fine shall not exceed five hundred dollars 19 per request. An employee, former employee or the department of labor may 20 bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for each such equi- 21 table relief, including an injunction, as the court may consider neces- 22 sary and proper. The employer may also be required to reimburse the 23 employee, former employee separated from employment with such employer 24 within the previous three years or the department of labor for costs 25 reasonably related to the litigation including reasonable attorney's 26 fees, if the employee or the department of labor receives a judgement in 27 the employee's or such department's favor, respectively. 28 6. This section shall not be deemed to diminish the rights of any 29 employee pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. 30 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
