A Right to Review: New York’s New Personnel Records Law

by Ethan Krasnoo and Lucia Mead

On September 9, 2026, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S3460 into law, giving current and former employees access to their personnel files, a right workers in Massachusetts, California, and Illinois have previously had.[1] The new law, codified as Section 210-b of the New York Labor Law, takes effect November 8, 2026, and marks a significant change for New York employers, who until now have had no general obligation to share these records.[2]

Modeled after Massachusetts’ Personnel Record Law, the law applies to private and public employers alike, and its definition of “personnel record” is expansive. Specifically, it includes job applications, pay records, performance evaluations, written warnings, signed waivers, termination notices, and other disciplinary documents. It also includes records maintained by payroll providers and HR vendors on the employer’s behalf, so employers cannot avoid the law’s requirements by contracting out recordkeeping. In defining personnel records that employers must maintain, the law clarifies that the record may not include any “information of a personal nature” or any information that would constitute “a clearly unwarranted invasion of [the employee’s] privacy.”[3]

Consistent with its Massachusetts counterpart, the legislation requires that, upon written request, employers must provide a free copy of the personnel record within five business days, though they may limit employees to two requests per calendar year. Employers must also notify an employee within ten days of adding information to the personnel record that could negatively affect the employee’s employment, promotion, compensation, or discipline – although because the statute does not define “negative,” employers would be prudent to interpret this requirement broadly.[4] In addition, employers must retain complete personnel records for a minimum of three years after employment ends.

The law gives employees a meaningful opportunity to respond as well. An employee who disputes information in the file may submit a written rebuttal, which becomes part of the record and must accompany the disputed information whenever it is shared with a third party. Where the employer knew or should have known that information was false, the employee may seek to have it expunged through a “collective bargaining agreement, other personnel procedures or judicial process.”[5] The statute furthermore prohibits retaliation for invoking the rights under the law, expressly including “threatening to report an employee’s suspected citizenship or immigration status,” with fines of “not less than five hundred nor more than twenty-five hundred dollars” per violation of the law.[6]

With the law set to take effect on November 8, 2026, employers should review their existing policies and procedures to determine whether changes are necessary to comply with the new requirements. In particular, employers should make certain they can respond to personnel record requests within five business days, provide timely notice of potentially “adverse” information, and maintain records for the required period of three years post-employment. Employers should also review their procedures on responding to employee “rebuttals” or incorporate new ones and ensure that records maintained by outside payroll providers and HR vendors can also be obtained consistent with the law and its time frames.

[1] S.B. 3460, 2025–2026 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2026), https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S3460.

[2] See N.Y. Lab. Law § 210-b (McKinney 2026), https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LAB/210-B.

[3] Id. § 210-b(1)(c).

[4] See Id. § 210-b(4).

[5] Id. § 210-b(3).

[6] Id. § 210-b(7)-(8).

For more information, please contact RPJ Partner Ethan Krasnoo who counsels clients in areas of complex commercial litigation, arbitration, mediation and dispute resolution, and employment, intellectual property, and entertainment and media. Mr. Krasnoo is admitted to practice law in New York, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and United States Tax Court.