Yes. Current and former California employees generally have the right under Labor Code §1198.5 to inspect and receive copies of personnel records relating to their performance or workplace grievances. A California personnel file request generally must be made in writing, and the employer normally has 30 calendar days to provide access or copies.
Personnel records can become particularly important after a performance improvement plan, disciplinary action, workplace complaint, retaliation concern, or termination.
The Law covers more than a folder labelled “personnel file.”
The DLSE identifies records commonly used to make decisions about promotion, compensation, discipline or termination, including:
The focus is generally on records relating to the employee’s performance or a grievance concerning that employee.
Yes. This is an important new development.
Effective January 1, 2026, Labor Code §1198.5 expressly includes education and training records within covered performance-related personnel records.
When an employer maintains these records, California law now requires them to identify information such as the training provider, date and duration, core competencies including equipment or software skills and any resulting certification or qualification.
This can matter when an employer later claims an employee lacked qualifications or necessary training.
The request generally must be submitted in writing by the employee, former employee or authorized representative. An employer may provide its own request form, and the law allows employers to take reasonable steps to verify the requester’s identity.
A simple request should identify you clearly and state that you are requesting inspection or copies of personnel records under Labor Code §1198.5.
Keep proof showing when the request was delivered.
The normal deadline is 30 calendar days after the employer receives the written request.
The employee and employer may agree in writing to extend that deadline, but the agreed date generally cannot go beyond 35 calendar days after receipt. Employers may charge no more than their actual reproduction cost for copies.
Current employees generally receive access at the workplace or another mutually agreeable location. If the employer requires a current employee to go somewhere else to inspect the records, the statute protects against loss of compensation resulting from that requirement.
Yes. Former employees retain personnel-file rights under §1198.5. An employer generally must comply with only one request per year from a former employee.
A former employee can also receive the records by mail if they reimburse the actual postal expense. Employers generally must preserve personnel records for at least three years after termination.
That can make a request useful when questions arise months after a discharge.
The inspection right is broad but not unlimited.
Excluded categories include certain records relating to possible criminal investigations, letters of reference and specified records obtained before employment or connected with examination or promotional processes. Employers may also redact the names of nonsupervisory employees appearing in covered records.
Employees should therefore not assume that §1198.5 entitles them to every document the company possesses.
Yes, but separate statutes apply. Labor Code §226 covers payroll records, while Labor Code §432 addresses copies of documents an employee or applicant signed relating to obtaining or holding employment.
This distinction is useful because a complete employment-record review may involve more than the §1198.5 personnel file alone. California DLSE specifically recognizes these separate rights.
A personnel file can help you compare what the employer is saying now with what it documented previously.
Suppose an employee receives years of favorable reviews, complains to HR, and then suddenly receives severe discipline and a PIP. Their personnel records may help establish:
Employees facing that sequence should also review performance improvement plan retaliation in California and the broader protections discussed by a workplace retaliation lawyer.
The records themselves do not prove retaliation, but they may help identify inconsistencies in the employer’s explanation.
After termination, compare your file with the reason the employer gave for firing you.
Look at prior reviews, warnings, the final disciplinary record, training history and termination documents. If the employer claims years of poor performance but its own records contain repeated praise and no earlier discipline, that discrepancy may warrant closer examination.
Employees disputing the legality of a discharge can also review the firm’s wrongful termination lawyer.
One important limitation: if an employee files a lawsuit relating to a personnel matter, §1198.5’s inspection/copy right ceases while that lawsuit is pending in the trial court. Records would generally be pursued through the litigation process instead.
Failure to comply with §1198.5 within the required period can have consequences.
The current statute authorizes a $750 penalty for failure to permit inspection or copying within the required or mutually agreed period. An employee may also seek injunctive relief to obtain compliance and potentially recover costs and reasonable attorney’s fees in that action.
California DLSE likewise directs employees denied access to contact the agency regarding enforcement of the $750 penalty.
Do not simply file the documents away.
Compare them chronologically:
Also compare the file against copies of reviews, emails and notices you already possess.
The Ghol Firm in Beverly Hills represents California employees in retaliation, wrongful termination and related employment disputes.
California Labor Code §1198.5 gives current and former employees meaningful access to personnel records concerning performance and workplace grievances.
A written request generally triggers a 30-calendar-day response deadline, and the law provides remedies when an employer fails to comply. Since January 1, 2026, covered records expressly include education and training records as well.
Personnel files can be particularly useful after a PIP, disciplinary action or termination because they allow employees to compare an employer’s current explanation with its earlier written record.
Yes. Current employees have the right to inspect and obtain copies of covered personnel records under Labor Code §1198.5.
Yes. Former employees retain the right, although employers generally need to comply with only one §1198.5 request per year from a former employee.
Generally 30 calendar days after receiving the written request, unless the parties agree in writing to a permissible extension not exceeding 35 calendar days from receipt.
Yes, but the charge generally cannot exceed the actual cost of reproduction. A former employee requesting mailed copies may also be charged actual postage.
A qualifying failure to comply can expose the employer to a $750 statutory penalty, and an employee may seek injunctive relief to obtain compliance.
As of January 1, 2026, §1198.5 expressly includes education and training records relating to employee performance.
If you reported illegal conduct and were fired, demoted, written up, suspended, or pressured to resign, contact The Ghol Firm for a free consultation. No fees unless we win.
