KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Beginning November 8, 2026, all New York employers – public and private, regardless of size – must provide current and former employees with copies of their personnel records within five business days of a written request, at no cost to the employee.

• Employers must independently notify employees within 10 days after placing information in a personnel record that has been, or may be, used to negatively affect the employee’s qualifications, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or possibility of discipline.

• Covered “personnel records” are defined functionally: they include any record used or potentially used in decisions about employment qualifications, promotion, transfer, compensation, or discipline – and extend to records held by vendors under agreements to keep or supply them.

• Governor Hochul signed the bill with a required Chapter Amendment – an agreement with the Legislature to amend the law during the next session (beginning January 2027) to clarify, among other things, that employers are not required to create personnel files or produce documents beyond those they currently maintain, and that the definition of “personnel record” is limited to records used to determine qualifications for hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary action.

• Violations carry fines of $500 to $2,500, enforced by the New York Attorney General, and the law prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights.

On September 9, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul signed S.3460/A.2107 into law as Chapter 293 of the Laws of 2026, adding new Section 210-b to the New York Labor Law.

The law takes effect on November 8, 2026. It creates a legal right for current and former employees to obtain copies of their personnel records, imposes an affirmative obligation on employers to notify employees when negative information is added to a personnel record, and establishes dispute, retention, and anti-retaliation protections. The legislation applies to all employers in the state – public and private, with no minimum employee threshold.

When signing the bill, Governor Hochul issued an approval memorandum requiring a Chapter Amendment – a formal agreement with the Legislature to amend the law during the next legislative session to resolve ambiguities the Governor identified in the enacted text. The current version of the law takes effect on November 8 and will remain in force until the Legislature enacts the Chapter Amendment.

Who and What the Law Covers

Section 210-b applies to every private and public employer in New York, with no minimum size requirement. Both current and former employees are protected. The law defines “personnel record” functionally: it covers any record used or that may be used to determine an employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or discipline. The law lists specific examples, including applications, resumes, job descriptions, compensation information, performance evaluations, written warnings, probationary periods, signed waivers, disciplinary documents, and dated termination notices. Coverage extends to records held by vendors under agreements to keep or supply those records – meaning an employer cannot avoid the obligation by outsourcing record storage.

The law excludes personal information about another individual when disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of that individual’s privacy. Where a collective bargaining agreement provides at least substantially similar access to personnel records, the CBA remains controlling.

The Governor’s Chapter Amendment is expected to address the breadth of this definition. According to the approval memorandum, the amendment will clarify that employers are not required to create a personnel file or produce new documents beyond the records they currently maintain, and that covered records are limited to those “used to determine an employee’s qualifications for hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation or disciplinary action.” Until the Chapter Amendment is enacted, however, the broader language of the current law controls.

The law also requires that the personnel record be maintained in typewritten or printed form or may be handwritten in ink. The Chapter Amendment may address whether this language imposes an affirmative obligation to create records in those formats or simply describes permissible formats for records that already exist.

Five Business Days to Provide Records

Upon receiving a written request from a current or former employee, the employer must provide a copy of the personnel record at no cost within five business days. The law permits employers to limit reviews to two occasions per calendar year. However, a review prompted by the employer’s notification that negative information has been added does not count toward that two-per-year limit. Former employees carry the same five-business-day deadline as current employees.

Ten Days to Notify of Negative Information

Section 210-b requires the employer to notify an employee within 10 days after placing information in the personnel record that has been, or may be, used to negatively affect the employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or the possibility of discipline. This notification obligation is triggered automatically – it does not depend on any employee request. The law does not prescribe a specific format for this notice, nor does it define what constitutes “negative” information.

Employees May Challenge Record Contents

The law provides a mechanism for employees to dispute the contents of their personnel records. If the employer and employee agree, disputed information may be corrected or removed. Where they do not agree, the employee may submit a written statement explaining the employee’s position, which becomes part of the record. That written statement must accompany the disputed information whenever it is transmitted to a third party while the original information remains in the file. Employees may also seek expungement through a collective bargaining agreement, other applicable personnel procedures, or judicial process when the employer knew or should have known the information was false.

The law does not define the procedures underlying “judicial process” or specify which court or type of proceeding applies. These are among the undefined terms that the Chapter Amendment or future agency guidance may clarify.

Retention, Enforcement, and Retaliation

Section 210-b requires employers to preserve the complete personnel record throughout employment and for three years after termination, subject to the correction and expungement provisions described above. Violations carry fines ranging from $500 to $2,500, with enforcement authority assigned to the New York Attorney General.

The law prohibits employers from discharging, threatening, penalizing, discriminating against, or retaliating against any employee for exercising rights under the law. The anti-retaliation provision specifically addresses immigration-related conduct, prohibiting employers from threatening to contact or contacting immigration authorities, or threatening to report the immigration status of an employee or an employee’s family members.

Enforcement is assigned to the Attorney General, but the law does not address whether private rights of action exist beyond the dispute and expungement remedies described above. This is another area that the Chapter Amendment may address.

The Coming Chapter Amendment

When Governor Hochul signed S.3460 into law, she issued an approval memorandum noting that the bill as drafted contains ambiguities that should be resolved to provide greater certainty for both employers and employees. The Governor reached an agreement with the Legislature to enact a Chapter Amendment during the next legislative session, which begins in January 2027.

The Chapter Amendment is expected to clarify at least two points: first, that employers are not required to create a personnel file or produce new documents beyond those they currently maintain; and second, that covered personnel records are limited to records used to determine an employee’s qualifications for hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary action. The Chapter Amendment is also expected to extend the notice period for negative information from 10 to 15 days, and the response time for providing a copy of the requested records from 5 to 10 days.

The Chapter Amendment may also address other undefined terms and open questions in the law – including the meaning of “judicial process” as an expungement remedy, the format in which records must be maintained, the scope of information that triggers the 10-day negative-information notice, whether the law creates a private right of action, and the meaning of “substantially similar access” for collective bargaining agreement purposes. Until the Chapter Amendment is enacted, the current version of the law governs. Employers should prepare to comply with the law as written while monitoring developments closely – the amendment could narrow or clarify obligations in ways that affect how compliance programs are designed.

What This Means for Businesses

Employers should use the window before November 8 to build the infrastructure needed to comply. The five-business-day response deadline is tight, particularly for organizations that maintain personnel records across multiple systems, offices, or vendors. Employers should inventory where covered records are maintained – across HR information systems, management files, and outside vendors – and confirm they can be collected and produced within that window. Establishing a written procedure for receiving and routing requests, designating a responsible person or team, and creating a tracking mechanism to document compliance will be critical.

The 10-day notice obligation for negative information requires integration into existing performance-management and disciplinary workflows. Every time a performance evaluation, written warning, or disciplinary document is placed in a personnel record, the employer must provide notice within 10 days. Employers should establish a clear process for documenting that the required notice was delivered.

Supervisors and HR personnel should be trained to recognize and immediately route incoming personnel-record requests, deliver the required adverse-information notices, and avoid any conduct that could be characterized as retaliatory. The law’s anti-retaliation provision – which specifically extends to immigration-related threats – makes training particularly important.

Retention practices should be aligned with the three-year post-termination preservation requirement. Employers should coordinate this obligation with any longer retention obligations under other laws or litigation holds that may apply.

Finally, employers should track the progress of the Chapter Amendment through the 2027 legislative session. Because the amendment is expected to narrow or clarify the definition of “personnel record” and address other ambiguities – including the meaning of terms like “judicial process,” the record-format requirement, and whether a private right of action exists – the compliance procedures employers put in place now may need to be updated once the amended law is enacted.

For assistance reviewing personnel-record policies, responding to requests, or evaluating related employment claims, please contact:

• Scott R. Green
• Or another member of the Employment and Labor team