New York Enacts Broad Personnel Access Law for Current and Former Employees

On September 9, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S3460, adding Section 210-b to the New York Labor Law. The law takes effect November 8, 2026, and gives current and former employees a broad right to a copy of and access to their personnel records.  This is a radical change to New York law, because the new obligations entail a short deadline requiring compliance with the law and stiff penalties for employers.  This law applies to both public and private employers and more importantly, current and former employees.

What the Law Requires

Upon a written request, an employer must furnish a copy of the employee's personnel record within five business days, at no charge. This right belongs to current employees as well as former employees, and each employee may make up to two such requests per calendar year.

The statute describes “personnel record” expansively, covering any record an employer keeps that identifies the employee and relates to their qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, compensation, or discipline, including records maintained by an outside vendor under contract with the employer. The statute expressly states that the following must be disclosed upon request:

• Name, address, date of birth, job title/description;
• Rate of pay and other compensation;
• Start date, job application, resumes submitted;
• All performance evaluations;
• Written warnings of substandard performance;
• Probationary period records;
• Waivers signed by the employee;
• Copies of dated termination notices;
• Any other documents relating to disciplinary action regarding the employee.

A narrow exception exists as it pertains to third-parties: Employers need not disclose personal information about someone other than the requesting employee if doing so would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of that other person’s privacy.

The law also imposes an ongoing notice duty. Whenever an employer places “negative information” in an employee's file, meaning anything that could affect the employee's standing for a job, promotion, raise, or discipline, the employer must notify the employee within ten days. If an employee disputes something in the file, the parties may agree to correct or remove it. If no agreement is reached, the employee may attach a written statement that must travel with the record whenever it is shared with a third party.

Employers must retain a complete personnel record for three years following an employee’s termination. The New York Attorney General may enforce the law, with penalties ranging from $500 to $2,500 per violation, and the statute prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under it.

Withholding Documents

There is no exception for withholding documents that fall within the defined “personnel record”. The only stated exception is the third-party privacy exception above. There is no language allowing withholding based on pending litigation, internal investigations, or any other business justifications. The statute is generally silent on this issue. As such, no justification would suffice other than if the information being requested did not fall within the language of “personnel records” in the statute.

Impact on Employers and Recommended Next Steps

This new law will change how employers handle routine requests from both current and former employees, and it rewards employers who get ahead of it. We recommend the following steps before the November 8^th, effective date:

1. Check what is currently kept in each employee’s file and compare it with the statutory requirements so that nothing responsive is missed when a request comes in;
2. Build an internal process for complying with employee requests with the statutory five day period;
3. Train managers and HR staff to flag and route any document that could count as “negative information”, and put a ten-day notice procedure in place;
4. Confirm that former employees’ files are retained for at least three years post-termination, and update document retention policies accordingly;
5. Revisit offboarding and termination procedures now, since former employees are fully covered and often submit requests soon after departure.

This advisory provides a brief overview of the most significant changes in the law and does not constitute legal advice. Nothing herein creates an attorney-client relationship between the sender and recipient.

Should you have any questions about this legal alert, please feel free to contact Loren Forrest, Jr. at (212) 701-4001 or by email at lforrest@cullenllp.com.

Thank you to Anthony Simon, a Law Clerk, who assisted in the preparation of this alert.