Am I entitled to see my payroll records?
Yes. Your payroll records must be made available to you upon reasonable request, which request must be complied with by your employer as soon as practicable, but no later than 21 calendar days from the date you make such request. Effective January 1, 2003, a failure by the employer to permit a current or former employee to inspect or copy his or her payroll records within the 21 day period entitles the current or former employee to recover a $750.00 penalty from the employer in a civil action brought before a court of competent jurisdiction.
The employer is not required to make those personnel records or a copy available at a time when the employee is actually required to render service to the employer, if the requester is the employee. An employer is required to comply with only one request per year by a former employee to inspect or receive a copy of his or her personnel records. A former employee may receive a copy by mail if he or she reimburses the employer for actual postal expenses. An employer is not required to comply with more than 50 requests to inspect and receive a copy of personnel records filed by a representative or representatives of employees in one calendar month. The employer may take reasonable steps to verify the identity of a current or former employee or an authorized representative. Prior to making records available for inspection or providing a copy of those records, the employer may redact the name of any nonsupervisory employee.
If a former employee seeking to inspect his or her personnel records was terminated for a violation of law, or an employment-related policy, involving harassment or workplace violence, the employer may comply with the request by doing one of the following: (1) making the personnel records available to the former employee for inspection at a location other than the workplace that is within a reasonable driving distance of the former employee’s residence, (2) providing a copy of the personnel records by mail.
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