New necessities in Washington for personnel information coming quickly – Cyber Tech

On Could thirteenth Governor Ferguson signed SHB 1308, which modifications how and when employers should present personnel information to staff, efficient July 27, 2025. Under are the important thing provisions:

• Staff, former staff (those that separated inside three years of the request date), and their designees can ask for personnel data.
• Personnel data (if created by the employer) embody all: job software data, efficiency evaluations, nonactive or closed disciplinary data, payroll data, and employment agreements.
• Personal employers have 21 calendar days to offer a duplicate of the file(s), for gratis to the worker, former worker, or their designee.
• If an employer receives a written request by a former worker or their designee, it should present a signed written assertion to the previous worker or their designee with the efficient date of discharge and causes, if any, for the termination. The employer should achieve this inside 21 calendar days of receiving the request. That is just like an present regulation that requires the employer to ship a letter with termination date and causes inside 10 days.
• An worker or former worker could file a personal authorized motion to implement the above provisions 5 days or extra after giving the employer discover of the precise and intent to sue. This discover might be included with the preliminary personnel file request or at any time after. For every violation discovered, an employer is chargeable for equitable aid, statutory damages starting from $250 to $1,000, and attorneys’ charges and prices.

Presently, staff and former staff have the precise to view (not obtain) their information not less than as soon as per 12 months. When an worker requests their personnel file, the employer should “make such file(s) accessible regionally inside an inexpensive time frame,” which is usually thought of 10 days. Present legislation doesn’t require employers to ship a duplicate of the personnel file, mandate the kinds of data that should be thought of a part of an worker’s file, or present any enforcement enamel, however all of that may change below the brand new legislation.

Suggestions: It’s time to assessment your insurance policies and practices concerning personnel data. First, ensure that your personnel information embody all of the data famous above, if these data exist (you don’t must create data if you happen to don’t have already got them). If you happen to maintain payroll data separate from the personnel data to take care of confidentiality, you need to proceed conserving them separate however be ready to incorporate these data in response to a personnel file request. Additionally, be ready to ship the data inside 21 days to keep away from the specter of authorized motion.

We’re within the strategy of updating our Authorized Information, Worker and Third-Celebration Entry to Personnel Information to mirror the brand new necessities, together with what needs to be in personnel data, who can request information or termination statements, and when to reply. Within the meantime, when you’ve got any questions on easy methods to reply an worker, former worker, or lawyer’s request for a personnel file or causes for termination, name your Vigilant Legislation Group employment lawyer.

We’ll be protecting this matter in Half I of our “Washington’s New Employment Legal guidelines” webinar sequence, on July 16, specializing in legal guidelines taking impact this July. Register now, and maintain an eye fixed out for an invite to Half II, coming in October, which is able to cowl legal guidelines taking impact on or after January 2026.

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