Bill
SB 5345
SB 5345 expands employees’ access to their own personnel files, requires free copy within 21 days and a private suit with penalties for noncompliance.
SB 5345 (Concerning access to personnel records)
Status and scope
- Introduced: January 17, 2025
- Current status: First reading; referred to House/Labor & Commerce (Senate version shown). The bill would amend RCW 49.12.240 and RCW 49.12.250, add a new section to chapter 49.12, and establish penalties.
- Purpose: Expand employees’ access to their own personnel records, define the scope of “personnel files,” add an enforcement mechanism via a private right of action, and set penalties for failures to comply.
What the bill would change (Key provisions)
1) Expanded definition of “personnel file” (Sec. 1)
- Employers must, at least annually and upon request, allow an employee to inspect the employee’s own personnel file(s) within the time frame required by RCW 49.12.250.
- A personnel file would include, if the employer maintains such records:
- Job application records
- Performance evaluations
- Nonactive or closed disciplinary records
- Leave and reasonable accommodation records
- Payroll records
- Employment agreements
- Other records designated by the employer as part of the employee’s personnel file
- The section clarifies what is not created or superseded by these provisions (no new retention schedule, no requirement to create records beyond current practices, and no override of existing privacy laws).
2) Copy provision, review rights, and discharge information (Sec. 2)
- Employers must provide a copy of personnel file(s) within 21 calendar days after a request, at no cost to the employee, former employee, or their designee.
- Annual right to review: An employee may petition to review all information in regularly maintained personnel files. Employers must remove irrelevant or erroneous information; employees may place a rebuttal/correction in the file if they disagree. Employers may remove information more frequently.
- Former employee rights: Rebuttal/correction rights extend for up to two years.
- Discharge information: Within 21 calendar days of a written request from a former employee or designee, employers must furnish a signed written statement stating the discharge’s effective date and, if applicable, the reasons.
- Definitions: “Former employee” includes someone who separated within three years of the request.
3) Private right of action and penalties (Sec. 3)
- New private cause of action in superior court for violations of RCW 49.12.240–49.12.260, with remedies including equitable relief, statutory damages, and reasonable attorneys’ fees/costs.
- Notice to sue: Before suing, the employee must provide a notice of intent to sue, indicating the right to pursue legal action. Action cannot proceed until five days after this notice.
- Damages per violation:
- $250 if the complete file or required statement is not provided within 21 days
- $500 if not provided within 28 days
- $1,000 if provided later than 35 days
- $500 for any other violations
Impact considerations
Notes
- The bill does not specify an effective date in the text provided; if enacted, effective dates would typically be included in the final enacted version.
- This is a legislative proposal and has not yet become law.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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