Partner Dan Palermo recently appeared in Law.com and the New York Law Journal discussing New York’s new law granting workers’ access to personnel files.
The new law, the subject of a Harris Beach Murtha legal alert authored by Dan and Ibrahim Tariq, both members of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group, gives employees access to personnel records maintained by employers, requires notice when negative information is added to the files and allows employees to submit written responses to information contained in those files.
Dan told Law.com the law’s most challenging aspect is the notice requirement because it leaves room for interpretation of what qualifies as “negative information.” Is it only formal disciplinary documents or is it broader, including performance evaluations, work criticism, coaching memos or other workplace records?
He added the law could influence employment litigation because employers may be obligated to provide information about adverse employment actions, discrimination and retaliation to employees before those materials emerge in the discovery process.
“Now there’s going to be an obligation to provide that in real time,” he said.
To learn more about what Dan and other said about the new law, read the full article.
