Re: Employee access to personnel file

From: Holly Elissa
Email: hollyelissab@comcast.net
Date: May 23, 2007

Comments

I consulted with an attorney colleague about the Freedom of information act.

She reminded me that the "Freedom of Information Act" is a federal law that guarantees your right as a citizens (of any state) to access the information that the goverment holds on you. This brought back memories of Vietnam war protestors petitioning the federal government to find out what records the government had of antiwar protests.

She was unsure if, after 911 and the Patriot Act, this right has been diminished or amended in any way.

So, we need to separate the rights given by the Freedom of information act from the rights of employees to get information from employers on employee records. In the 1st case, we are given the right to find out what data our government has about us. In the second situation, the holder of information on us is not the government, but our employer.

This is what may vary from state to state and even from organization to organization. If i uncover more about this, I'll gladly let you know. Does this answer your question?