On June 21, 2013, Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed Public Act No 13-176 (the "Act") into law. The Act amends the Connecticut Personnel Files Law to impose new requirements on Connecticut employers with respect to: (1) providing current and former employees with access to their personnel files; (2) notifying employees of discipline and termination documents; and (3) informing employees of their right to submit rebuttals to any performance, disciplinary or termination documents. The Act also amends the civil penalties that the Connecticut Department of Labor may impose for violations of the Personnel Files Law. Employers must begin complying with the new amendments to the Personnel Files Law on October 1, 2013. Below is a summary of the amendments.
Employee Access To Personnel Files
Prior to the amendment, the Personnel Files Law
required employers to provide a current or former employee an
opportunity to inspect the employee's personnel file
"within a reasonable time" after the employer's
receipt of a written request from the employee. The Act makes this
requirement more specific by mandating that an employer provide a
current employee with a right to inspect and copyhis/her personnel
file withinseven days of the employer's
receipt of such written request. The Act also provides that
employers must provide a former employee with the right to
inspect and copy his/her personnel file within ten
days of the employer's receipt of a written request
from the former employee, provided that the former employee has
submitted the request within one year after the employee's
separation.
The Act also modifies the requirement regarding the location of
former employees' inspection and copying of personnel files.
Prior to the amendment, inspection and copying of a personnel file
would take place at the employer's place of business or a place
reasonably near the employer's place of business. The Act,
however, requires that employers permit a former employee to
inspect and copy his/her personnel file at a "mutually agreed
upon" location, and if no location can be agreed upon, the
employer must mail a copy of the personnel file to the former
employee within ten days of receiving the written request to copy
the personnel file.
Requirement To Provide Discipline and Termination Documents To
Employees
The Act imposes a new requirement on employers to
provide certain discipline and termination documents to employees.
Specifically, the Act requires employers to provide an employee
with a copy of "any documentation of any disciplinary action
imposed on that employee" within one business
day after the date the discipline is imposed. Such
documentation presumably includes all written warnings,
suspensions, demotions, salary reductions, and any other
disciplinary action. The Act also imposes a new requirement that an
employer "immediately provide" an employee with a copy of
"any documented notice of that employee's termination of
employment."
Notice To Employee of Right To Submit Rebuttal
Prior to the amendment, the Personnel Files Law provided an
employee with the right to ask an employer to remove or correct
information in his/her personnel file. Under the Act, employers
will have to include in every documented disciplinary action,
notice of termination and performance evaluation a statement in
"clear and conspicuous language" that if the employee
disagrees with any information in such documents, the employee may
submit a written statement explaining his or her position. The
employer must keep the employee's statement in the personnel
file and include it whenever the file is transmitted or disclosed
to a third-party.
Changes To Civil Penalties Under Personnel Files
Law
Under the pre-amendment Personnel Files Law, the
Connecticut Labor Commissioner could issue a $500 civil penalty for
an employer's first violation of the Personnel Files Law
against a particular employee and a $1,000 civil penalty for each
subsequent violation related to the same employee. The Act,
however, allows the Labor Commissioner to issue a civil penalty of
up to $500 for a first violation and up to $1,000 for each
subsequent violation regardless of whether such violations are
related to the same employee.
When determining the amount of the civil penalty, the Act requires
the Connecticut Labor Commissioner to consider: (1) the amount
needed to insure immediate and continued compliance with the
Personnel Files Law; (2) the violation's character and degree
of impact, (3) any prior violations of the Personnel Files Law by
the same employer; and (4) any other factor the Commissioner deems
relevant.
The Act does not authorize a private right of action under the
Personnel Files Law. As a result, an employee alleging a violation
of the Personnel Files Law must pursue his complaint through the
Connecticut Department of Labor rather than through a private
lawsuit.
Awareness and Compliance
As noted above, the amendments go into effect on
October 1, 2013. Accordingly, employers should promptly begin
notifying their legal, human resources and supervisory personnel of
the new requirements under the Act. In addition, the Act's new
requirements should serve as a reminder to employers to use care in
preparing all disciplinary and termination documents.
Originally published on the Employer's Law Blog
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