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That depends on which state you call home. Currently no federal law mandates access to a personnel file, but 13 states have passed legislation offering varying degrees of access. This professional resource for HR workers offers an interactive U.S. map -- click on your state to learn more about its labor code. If your state doesn't have legislation on the matter, then your employer isn't obligated to show your file. If they do, there are a number of issues involved: offering advance notice, whether you can copy information, whether an employer agent is present, and perhaps most importantly, exactly what information is available. You should probably go over these details with your HR department. For example, in
California, employees have the right to inspect any files related to work qualifications, promotions, raises, and medical documents, but not any records relating to an employer's investigation of a possible criminal offense. Employers are obligated to show these records "within a reasonable time." What's in a personnel file? This advice piece for small business owners details the main items: application forms, payroll details, performance appraisals, training records, commendations and/or written warnings. To protect themselves from lawsuits,
employers try to avoid medical records, investigation records, and "insupportable opinions" in the margins of application forms.
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