On Could thirteenth Governor Ferguson signed SHB 1308, which modifications how and when employers should present personnel recordsdata to staff, efficient July 27, 2025. Under are the important thing provisions:
- Staff, former staff (those that separated inside three years of the request date), and their designees can ask for personnel information.
- Personnel information (if created by the employer) embody all: job utility information, efficiency evaluations, nonactive or closed disciplinary information, payroll information, and employment agreements.
- Non-public employers have 21 calendar days to supply a replica of the file(s), without charge to the worker, former worker, or their designee.
- If an employer receives a written request by a former worker or their designee, it should present a signed written assertion to the previous worker or their designee with the efficient date of discharge and causes, if any, for the termination. The employer should accomplish that inside 21 calendar days of receiving the request. That is just like an current regulation that requires the employer to ship a letter with termination date and causes inside 10 days.
- An worker or former worker might file a personal authorized motion to implement the above provisions 5 days or extra after giving the employer discover of the fitting and intent to sue. This discover will be included with the preliminary personnel file request or at any time after. For every violation discovered, an employer is accountable for equitable aid, statutory damages starting from $250 to $1,000, and attorneys’ charges and prices.
Presently, staff and former staff have the fitting to view (not obtain) their recordsdata a minimum of as soon as per 12 months. When an worker requests their personnel file, the employer should “make such file(s) accessible domestically inside an inexpensive time frame,” which is mostly thought-about 10 days. Current regulation doesn’t require employers to ship a replica of the personnel file, mandate the forms of information that should be thought-about a part of an worker’s file, or present any enforcement enamel, however all of that can change underneath the brand new regulation.
Ideas: It’s time to evaluation your insurance policies and practices concerning personnel information. First, make sure that your personnel recordsdata embody all of the information famous above, if these information exist (you don’t have to create information if you happen to don’t have already got them). For those who hold payroll information separate from the personnel information to keep up confidentiality, you need to proceed preserving them separate however be ready to incorporate these information in response to a personnel file request. Additionally, be ready to ship the information inside 21 days to keep away from the specter of authorized motion.
We’re within the strategy of updating our Authorized Information, Worker and Third-Occasion Entry to Personnel Information to replicate the brand new necessities, together with what ought to be in personnel information, who can request recordsdata or termination statements, and when to reply. Within the meantime, if in case you have any questions on easy methods to reply an worker, former worker, or lawyer’s request for a personnel file or causes for termination, name your Vigilant Legislation Group employment lawyer.
We’ll be masking this matter in Half I of our “Washington’s New Employment Legal guidelines” webinar sequence, on June 16, specializing in legal guidelines taking impact this July. Register now, and hold an eye fixed out for an invite to Half II, coming in October, which is able to cowl legal guidelines taking impact on or after January 2026.
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