Employee demands copy of personal file

March22Collector · April 2002

We have an employee who was recently disciplined. He is currently on suspension and has called me demanding a copy of everything in his personal file. He also wants a copy of our policies. I've denied his request for a copy of our policies, but I'm not sure if we are required by law to give him copies of the items in his personal file. We are from Indiana, and the info I have is from 1998 which states there are no state or federal laws requiring such. Can you please give me some advice here? Am I required by law to give him copies of his personal file items? Thanks!

Don D · April 2002

Required? Maybe. Depends on your State's law. No federal law requiring it. Wise? Perhaps. I would hope he had been given a copy of the appropriate policies already and hopefully you have your employees sign an acknowledgement of receipt. That comes into play with EEOC or Unions or other grievance situations every time. If he was suspended for violating a particular policy I might send him a copy of the policy he violated. If he is going to file a charge, you are going to wind up producing both the file and the policies. I would have to listen to the tone of his demands before deciding. Might, might not. Supposedly you covered the violations and relevant policies with him prior to suspension. Many on the Forum will advise you to hand it over. I am prone not to and don't want to spend time doing the discovery work for the other side, even realizing if he files a charge, I will wind up doing that anyway. Chances are he won't and I won't have to spend that time later. Check your state law on the personnel file. In my state it's not required.

Rockie · April 2002

In most instances, personnel files are considered property of the company and not the employee. There is no requirement to turn anything over to a terminated employee and I personally would not do so unless I was subpoenaed. I would definitely not turn over a copy of the policies to this employee as any pertinent policies should have been given to all employees in the form of a handbook, policy manual, etc., along with a receipt from employee that they did receive the policies. It sounds like this person is laying groundwork and gathering information to present to an attorney. Hopefully, whatever the issues were, they were properly documented before termination.

Again, check your state laws in regards to personnel files. Also, it never hurts to run these things by a labor law attorney.

Paul · April 2002

We have a policy that states that once a year an employee can look at their personnel file. The employee has to request the meeting, as HR must be present the entire time. The length of time is a maximum of one hour, and no copies can be made of any documents in the file, nor can items be added or removed. The employee is allowed to make notes of what is in the file, and I have even had one employee transcribe into a microcassette player a document. We feel that this is a reasonable policy and removes any stigma that HR has a "secret" file on the employee.

Regarding policies, the other responses have assumed that you have an employee handbook and that you have given it out to everyone. Not all companies do this. Some have just a management handbook that is given out to the supervisors, managers and directors. Either way, everyone wants to know what the boundaries are (whether they are a line employee or part of management). If you do not have any type of formal handbook, I would suggest that you start working on one with your corporate attorney. Please just be aware of the fact that you will have to live by what you put in the handbook.

March22Collector · April 2002

>Regarding policies, the other responses have assumed that you have an
>employee handbook and that you have given it out to everyone. Not all
>companies do this.

No, we don't have a handbook that we give to our employees. We do, however, review all policies with our new hires and then they sign a form that they have been given the information. I think I'll ask the employee which forms he would like to have copied. Regardless, I think I'll just give him a copy of his disciplinary paperwork as he signed it when we disciplined him...Thanks.

Don D · April 2002

I think after having re-read your original posting and now reading your last comment, that I would not send him anything. I sense from what I read that his tone has been a bit demanding and perhaps threatening. And I agree wholeheartedly that he thinks he is involving himself in some sort of legal research or discovery. My sense is that whatever you might send him, he's a bit of a loose cannon who thinks he knows what he's doing in making such demands on your company. I would brush him off at this point and wait to see if he can convince some hungry attorney that you wronged him. You won't have lost a thing by your refusal...if he's going to try to find an attorney, he's going to do that regardless of how you respond to his demands! Sending him copies of things from his file and your business procedures will not cause him to shrink away. It's not realistic to think for a minute that he will review what you send and suddenly say to himself, "Hmmm, I didn't realize that. I think I'll just let this thing die." And if you have provided all of what he seeks and he goes to EEOC, you will be copying and providing all the same documentation twice!

Margaret Morford · April 2002

I would give it to him. If your documentation is good and you can prove what your policies are, a lawyer will be less likely to take his case once he/she sees the documentation. If he sues you, he can get it by subpoena anyway.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

Theresa Gegen TX · April 2002

I agree with Margaret on giving the employee the information he requests (unless there is something in there that you don't want him to have).

If you don't give it to the employee, he is going to think that something is up, probably sue or make a claim though an agency, and end up getting it later anyway.

Also, it seems a bit unfair that an employee cannot have a copy of the company policy that governs his employement. If he is being disciplined for violating a company rule or there is a progressive discipline policy, I would atleast give him copies of the policies that apply.

If your documentation is in order, there is no downside to giving him the information.

Good Luck.

Employee demands copy of personal file

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