AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- INSPECTION OF PERSONNEL FILES (Expands the obligations of employers to create, maintain and retain their employees' personnel records, it requires that records be retained for at least 3 years after employee's termination. It also increases the financial penalties for each violation.)

H7442

2026 -- H 7442
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LC004127
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- INSPECTION OF PERSONNEL
FILES

Introduced By:
Representatives Shanley, Spears, Batista, Tanzi, Dawson, Craven, and
McEntee

Date Introduced:
January 30, 2026

Referred To:
House Labor
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
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SECTION 1. Sections 28-6.4-1 and 28-6.4-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-6.4 entitled
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"Inspection of Personnel Files" are hereby amended to read as follows:
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28-6.4-1. Inspection of files.
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(a)(1) Every employer shall, upon not less than seven (7) days’ advance notice, holidays,
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Saturdays, and Sundays excluded,
and at any reasonable time other than the employee’s work hours

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and upon the written request of an employee, permit an employee to inspect
the employee’s

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personnel
files

records

that are used or have been used to determine that employee’s qualifications
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for employment, promotion, additional compensation, termination, or disciplinary action
. This
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inspection shall be made
at the place of employment and during normal business hours.

in the
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presence of an employer or employer’s designee

At the election of the employee, the employer
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shall give the employee a copy of the employee's personnel records, within ten (10) business days
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of submission of a written request for such copy to the employer
.
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(2) The employee shall not be permitted to make any copies of nor remove his or her
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personnel file from the immediate place of inspection located on the business premises.
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(3) The employer may charge the employee a fee reasonably related to the cost of supplying
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copies of requested documents.
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(2) “Employee” means a person currently employed or formerly employed by an employer.
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(3) “Employer” means an individual, corporation, partnership, labor organization,

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unincorporated association, the state, including all of its departments, agencies, boards,
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commissions, and political subdivisions (including municipalities and school districts), or any other
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legal business, public or private, or commercial entity, employing one or more employees,
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including agents of the employer.
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(4) “Personnel records” means a physical or electronic record kept by an employer, or a
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person, corporation, partnership or other association that has a contractual agreement with the
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employer, to prepare, keep, maintain , or supply a personnel record as provided in this section, that
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identifies an employee, to the extent that the record is used or has been used, or may affect or be
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used relative to that employee's qualifications for employment, performance or conduct evaluation,
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promotion, transfer, compensation, disciplinary action, or termination. Without limiting the
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applicability or generality of the foregoing, all of the following written information or documents
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to the extent prepared by an employer of one or more employees, regarding an employee shall be
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included in the personnel record for that employee: the name, address, date of birth, job title and
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description; rates of pay and any other compensation paid to the employee throughout the
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employee’s employment; starting date of employment; the job application of the employee;
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resumes or other forms of employment inquiry submitted to the employer in response to its
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advertisement by the employee; the job offer letter submitted to the employee; any contract of
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employment or other agreement between employer and employee setting forth the terms and
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conditions of the employee’s employment with the employer and any changes thereto; all employee
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performance evaluations including, but not limited to, employee evaluation documents; written
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warnings of substandard performance; lists of probationary periods; waivers by the employee;
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copies of dated termination notices; any other documents relating to disciplinary action regarding
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the employee. A personnel record shall be maintained electronically, in typewritten and/or printed
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form, and/or may be legibly handwritten in indelible ink.
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(4)
(5)
This section does not apply to records of an employee relating to the investigation
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of a possible criminal offense
or records prepared for use in any civil, criminal, or grievance
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proceedings, any letter of reference, recommendations, managerial records kept or used only by the
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employer, confidential reports from previous employers, and managerial planning records
.
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(6) An employer shall retain the complete personnel records of an employee as required to
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be kept under this section, without deletions or expungement of information from the date of
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employment of such employee to a date three (3) years after the termination of employment by the
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employee with such employer. In any cause of action brought by an employee against such
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employer in any administrative or judicial proceeding including, but not limited to, the Rhode
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Island Commission for Human Rights, the Rhode Island department of labor and training, the

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Rhode Island office of the attorney general, or a court of appropriate jurisdiction, such employer
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shall retain any personnel records required to be kept under this section which are relevant to such
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action, until the final disposition thereof.
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(b) Employers are not required to permit an inspection of any employee’s personnel
file or

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records
or to provide a copy of personnel records to the employee
on more than three (3) occasions
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in any calendar year.
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(c) An employer that, upon request by a prospective employer or a current or former
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employee, provides fair and unbiased information about a current or former employee’s job
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performance is presumed to be acting in good faith and is immune from civil liability for the
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disclosure and the consequences of the disclosure. The presumption of good faith is rebuttable upon
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a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the information disclosed was:
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(1) Knowingly false;
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(2) Deliberately misleading;
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(3) Disclosed for a malicious purpose; or
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(4) Violative of the current or former employee’s civil rights under the employment
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discrimination laws in effect at the time of the disclosure.
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28-6.4-2. Violation — Penalties.
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(a)
Any employer
or any agent of an employer

who fails or refuses to permit an inspection
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of or provide a copy of a personnel file as provided under § 28-6.4-1 or
who
otherwise
violates the
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provisions of
§ 28-6.4-1 or who willfully destroys, alters, or falsifies a personnel record required
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to be maintained under § 28-6.4-1, or who knowingly creates documentation for the purpose of
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misleading an employee or agency, as to the basis for employment decisions,

this chapter without
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just cause
shall be
fined

subject to a civil penalty of

not more than one hundred dollars ($100).

not
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less than one thousand five hundred ($1,500) dollars nor more than three thousand ($3,000) dollars
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per violation. Each refusal to produce or permit inspection of a personnel record that is willfully
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destroyed, altered, or falsified and each personnel record that is willfully destroyed, altered, or
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falsified, shall constitute a separate violation.
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(b) It shall be the duty of the director of the Rhode Island department of labor and training
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to ensure compliance with and enforce the provisions of § 28-6.4-1 and this section. The director,
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or the director’s designee, may investigate any violations thereof, and institute or cause to be
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instituted action for civil penalties. The director, or the director’s authorized representatives, are
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empowered to hold hearings, and the director or the director’s designee shall cooperate with any
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employee in the enforcement of a claim against the employee’s employer in any case whenever, in
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the opinion of the director or the director’s designee, the claim is just and valid.

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(c) The civil penalty provided for in § 28-6.4-2(a) shall be shared equally between the
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Rhode Island department of labor and training and the aggrieved employee. In determining the
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amount of any civil penalty imposed under this section, the director or the director’s designee shall
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consider the size of the employer's business; the good faith of the employer; the gravity of the
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violation; the history of previous violations; and whether or not the violation was an innocent
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mistake or willful. In no event, however, shall the assessed civil penalty be less than one thousand
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five hundred ($1,500) dollars per violation.
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(d) An employer’s duty to retain “personnel records” as defined herein applies to all
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personnel records created on or after the effective date of these sections.
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SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- INSPECTION OF PERSONNEL
FILES
***
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This act would greatly expand the obligations of employers to create, maintain and retain
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their employees' personnel records. It would also require that records be retained for at least three
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(3) years after the employee's termination. It also significantly increases the financial penalties for
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each violation, from fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) to three thousand dollars ($3,000).
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This act would take effect on January 1, 2027.
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