Employee files should only contain the following: application forms, resumes, reference checks, performance related documents, and any termination related documents. Documents about insurance or medical information, safety, child support, garnishments, workers compensation claims, or EEO or tax forms should never be kept in an employee’s file.

Employees’ records should always be kept in a locked file to protect their privacy — in fact, all documents containing social security numbers and other private information should always be kept in a locked file. Access to such files should be restricted to a need-to-know basis, and should be limited to supervisors and human resource or payroll personnel.

While there is no federal law requiring employers to share personnel files with their employees, by Washington state law, employees have the right to request to see their personnel files at least annually (this includes former employees). As an employer, you must comply with such a request within ten business days. Records that an employee has the right to review include application forms, resumes, documents about their qualifications, signed job descriptions, supervisors’ files, performance evaluations and other performance-related records, as well as documents about salary, sick and vacation leave, and benefits. A supervisor or an HR professional should stay with the employee while they are reviewing their file, to protect the integrity of its contents.

It is a good idea to carefully monitor the contents of your employee files on a regular basis to ensure that only appropriate information is being placed in them. While employers are allowed to remove “irrelevant or erroneous” information from their employee files, employees may rebut or correct the employer’s decision to remove that information up to two years from their date of termination.

Usually, an employee requests to see their file because they believe an adverse action has been taken against them as a result of information contained within. For instance, perhaps they believe that a supervisor has been documenting their behavior and placing information about them into their file without their knowledge. As another example, a terminated employee might request to see their file because they believe it contains information that will cause them to receive a poor reference. Should your employee files contain inappropriate information, these scenarios could have harmful ramifications for your business.

Maintaining the correct forms of documentation can ensure that situations like the aforementioned end favorably for your business, but having a solidly documented disciplinary policy can sometimes prevent these circumstances from arising at all. Give your employees written notice of their need to improve performance and obtain their signature on it. Discuss problems directly with the employee, have them sign and date their acknowledgement of the discussion, and place the document in their file. There should never be a surprise when employees review their personnel files.

Should an employee request a copy of an item in their personnel file, the law does not require you to provide them with a copy. This decision is left to the employer. If you do choose to allow an employee to have a copy of the contents of their personnel file, then you may charge a reasonable copying and administrative fee for doing so. Payroll information, however, is another story. Employers are required to give employees copies of payroll related items if requested to, and may not charge the employee a fee for those copies.

Lastly, be sure that you shred any private documents when you discard out of date files. The law requires employers to properly dispose of any documents which contain pay information, social security numbers, or any other private information.