Minnesota Employers and Personnel Records

Beginning next year, most Minnesota employers will have a new obligation: to inform new employees of their right to review their personnel records and obtain copies of those records.

Effective January 1, 2008, Minnesota employers with 20 or more employees must provide "written notice" to each new hire of the "rights and remedies" provided in the Minnesota Personnel Record Review and Access Act.

"Written notice" is not specifically defined within the Act, so there are several options for an employer to comply with this notice requirement to all new hires. Employers should review their new-hire procedures and either (1) revise their current handbook so it provides "written notice" upon hire or (2) create a "written notice" that documents that each new hire has been given the notice starting next year. The "written notice" will need to provide each new hire with notice of the following rights and remedies:

1. The employee's right, upon written request, to review the employee's "personnel records," as those are defined by the Act.

2. The employee's right, after the review, to make a written request for a copy of those records.

3. The employee's right to dispute information contained in those records.

4. The procedures for resolving disputes about the contents of those records.

5. The employee's right not to be retaliated against for asserting these rights.

6. The remedies available under the Act for violations of the above rights, including the right to compel compliance, the right to recover actual damages plus costs, and, in cases of retaliation for asserting one's rights, the right to recover back pay, reinstatement, other make-whole and equitable relief, and attorney fees.

None of these rights or remedies is new. What is new is that, starting on January 1, employers must inform employees in writing about these rights and remedies.