216-447-1551
info@rbslaw.com
Employment Law Q&A: Personnel Files
- Are employees or former employees entitled to view their personnel folders?
- In Ohio the answer is no. There is no law which would require an employer to permit an employee or former employee to view their entire personnel file. In other states, there may be statutes which provide an employee access to his or her personnel folder. As such, if you have operations in states other than Ohio you should review the law in those states to determine if an employer is required to permit an employee to view their personnel file.
Employees do have the right, however, under Ohio Rev. Code §4113.23(A) to access their own medical records. Specifically, §4113.23 (A) states:
No employer … shall refuse upon written request of an employee to furnish to the employee or former employee or their designated representative a copy of any medical report pertaining to the employee. The requirements of this section extend to any medical report arising out of any physical examination by a physician or other health care professional and any hospital or laboratory tests which examinations or tests are required by the employer as a condition of employment or arising out of any injury or disease related to the employee’s employment.In order to avoid running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers must keep medical records separate from personnel files in a secure file cabinet. If kept electronically, they should be in a separate folder that is only accessible to designated employees (i.e. password protected).
In relation to wages, Ohio Revised Code §4111.14(G) states that an employer must provide the following information to an employee or person acting on an employee’s behalf (union representative, attorney, or parent, guardian, or legal custodian) upon request: name; home address; occupation; rate of pay; total gross wages paid to an employee for each pay period; and hours worked each day.