CHAPTER 58

H.P. 319 - L.D. 411

An Act To Provide Employees Fair Access to Personnel

Files

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §631, as amended by PL 1999, c. 235, §1, is further amended to read:

§631. Employee right to review personnel file

The employer shall, upon written request from an employee or former employee, provide the employee, former employee or duly authorized representative with an opportunity to review and copy the employee's personnel file if the employer has a personnel file for that employee. The reviews and copying must take place at the location where the personnel files are maintained and during normal office hours unless, at the employer's discretion, a more convenient time and location for the employee are arranged. In each calendar year, the employer shall provide, at no cost to the employee, one copy of the entire personnel file when requested by the employee or former employee and, when requested by the employee or former employee, one copy of all the material added to the personnel file after the copy of the entire file was provided. The cost of copying any other material requested during that calendar year is paid by the person requesting the copy. For the purpose of this section, a personnel file includes, but is not limited to, any formal or

informal employee evaluations and reports relating to the employee's character, credit, work habits, compensation and benefits and nonprivileged medical records or nurses' station