Personnel Records

Organizations that employ individuals routinely create and need to maintain records concerning their employees. Some records are kept because the law requires that they be kept. Other records are maintained because of employment policy mandates.

Accurate personnel records provide the employer with information that it needs to make good decisions. Personnel records help management determine whether staff resources may be available to meet work requirements and how staff are doing in regard to organizational goals; they also provide a readily available record to assess levels of performance and productivity. Accurate personnel records also help to ensure that employees receive their correct pay and pension contributions as well as other benefits. They help to monitor and promote consistency in regard to employee development, including promotion, discipline, and discharge.

Some records are maintained because state and/or federal law require that they be so maintained. Employers must maintain records to document compliance with state and federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, for example. Compliance with state and federal tax laws requires employers to maintain records for each employee documenting wages, hours, withholding, and deductions. Similar recordkeeping is important in documenting compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and similar employment regulations. Maintaining these records allows the employer to monitor compliance with regulatory requirements.

Other records are maintained as a matter of employment policy. Personnel records help employers implement and monitor personnel actions from time of hire to separation. Records concerning attendance, job evaluation, discipline, and professional development fall into these categories.

Many states have laws that regulate personnel files and/or personnel records. The laws generally guarantee access to personnel files by the employee and provide that the records are confidential; that is, they are not subject to review by unauthorized persons. Laws generally give an employee an opportunity to access his or her own personnel file on a periodic basis. An [Page 631]employee also generally has the right to authorize another person, like an attorney or union representative, to access the records. Many states provide an employee the opportunity to ask that personnel records be modified or removed if the employee believes that the record is not accurate. If the employer agrees with the employee, the record is modified or removed. If not, some states may allow an employee the opportunity to attach a written statement to the record in dispute.

Not all records maintained by an employer concerning its employees are open to inspection. Laws commonly exempt some records from disclosure. Common exemptions are letters of reference from when the employee was hired, information concerning criminal investigations, and other documents that the employer may be using for staff management purposes.

Most employers provide employees with a copy of the documents contained within their personnel files. For example, discipline or evaluation documents are commonly given to employees at the same time as they are put in a personnel file. Providing an employee with these types of documents avoids claims of surprise in the future and will provide an employee with a reasonable opportunity to improve performance.

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