Governor Hochul recently signed A.2107/S.3460, which imposes new retention, disclosure and notice obligations related to an employee’s personnel record. Modeled after Massachusetts’s personnel records law, New York Labor Law § 210 B takes effect on November 8, 2026.
Harris Beach Murtha’s Labor and Employment Practice Group has been closely tracking this legislation since its introduction. As discussed in more detail in our previous legal alert, the statute grants employees the right to inspect and obtain copies of their personnel records and requires employers to provide requested records within five business days. It also requires employers to notify employees whenever negative information is added to a personnel file and provides employees an opportunity to submit a written response disputing that information. The law also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for exercising their rights under the statute.
The enactment of § 210-B also raises a number of practical and compliance concerns for employers. As a result, there are indications additional legislative or regulatory guidance may be forthcoming, and employers should continue to monitor developments closely as implementation approaches.
Unresolved Ambiguity
Governor Hochul signed the bill September 9, 2026, based on an agreement reached with the Legislature to address lingering ambiguity in the upcoming legislative session. Specifically, in the approval memorandum, Governor Hochul noted the law should clarify two points. First, “that employers are not required to create a personnel file or produce new documents beyond the records they currently maintain.” Second, she recognized “that personnel files only include records or documents used to determine an employee’s qualifications for hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary action.”
While Governor Hochul’s clarifications are helpful in refining the scope of personnel records for employers, they are not controlling until acted upon by the Legislature.
An additional ambiguity, not addressed in the Governor’s approval memorandum, concerns the statute’s requirement that employers monitor and disclose “negative information” contained in personnel records. The law does not define what constitutes “negative information.” Instead, it provides only that employers must notify employees of information that “has been used or may be used to negatively affect the employee’s qualification for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or the possibility that the employee will be subject to disciplinary action.” This lack of clarity leaves significant room for interpretation and may create uncertainty regarding what types of records trigger the notice requirement. As a result, employers may face difficult judgment calls when determining whether particular documents, comments, evaluations, or other personnel records constitute “negative information” requiring disclosure to an employee.
Practical Steps for Employers
While there may be further action by the Legislature once it is in session, employers should be prepared to comply with the law, as currently written in the statute, on November 8, 2026. Accordingly, before November 8, 2026, employers should consider conducting a thorough evaluation of their personnel-record policies and systems. Among other things, employers should consider:
- Auditing personnel-record policies and systems to determine where covered records are maintained, who has access to them and how employee requests will be received and fulfilled.
- Identifying responsible personnel to manage and respond to employee personnel-file requests, including identifying backups to ensure timely responses.
- Training relevant personnel and third-party vendors on the law’s requirements, to maintain records, comply with timing obligations and notice practices, and comply with anti-retaliation protections.
- Confirming production procedures so covered personnel records can be produced within five business days of an employee’s request.
- Developing procedures for “negative information” notices by identifying the categories of records that may trigger notice obligations and establishing a process for notifying employees within 10 days when such information is added to a personnel file.
- Creating a process for employee rebuttal statements so employee statements disputing information in their personnel file are maintained and shared with the record as required.
- Reviewing record-retention practices to confirm they align with statutory requirements.
Harris Beach Murtha’s Labor and Employment Practice Group will closely monitor the Legislature’s activity in the upcoming session for legislation that clarifies the lingering ambiguity employers face in the wake of this new law. For more information about the requirements of this law, read our legal alert on the subject, and New York Law Journal’s interview with attorney Daniel J. Palermo.
If you have questions or need assistance with this new proposed law of other labor matters, please reach out to attorney Daniel J. Palermo at (585) 419-8946 and dpalermo@harrisbeachmurtha.com; attorney Ibrahim Tariq at (585) 419-8556 and itariq@harrisbeachmurtha.com; or the Harris Beach Murtha attorney with whom you most frequently work.
This alert is not a substitute for advice of counsel on specific legal issues.
Harris Beach Murtha’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York State in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains; as well as in Boston, Massachusetts, Providence, Rhode Island, and Newark, New Jersey.