In the State of Illinois, there is a law that addresses an employee’s access to the personnel file. The law is called the Personnel Records Act. Highland’s Personnel Records Policy 4.27 complies with this Act. As an overview, below are a few highlights. As with all HR policies, employees are encouraged to review the full wording on the HR Staff Portal. If there are questions, please contact HR.
Highlights:
Employees may review their own files at least two times in a calendar year unless otherwise provided for in a collective bargaining agreement. Privileged communications relating to initial employment and other exceptions listed in the Act are not included in the review.
An employee wishing to review his or her file(s) should submit a written request to his or her supervisor or to the human resources representative. The employee will be permitted to review the file during normal business hours and in the presence of a supervisor or a member of HR.
Information may not be removed from the file. Copies of one or two documents may be provided at the employee’s request. Employees may add written comments for inclusion in the personnel file for any document with which they disagree.
Employee files are considered confidential.
Payroll records and absence records are kept by the Payroll Office.