H-446                _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 358

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Sayan, Betrozoff, Allen, Vekich, Belcher, Nutley, Wang, Miller, Fisch, Winsley, Leonard, Van Luven and Unsoeld

Read first time 1/30/85 and referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

AN ACT Relating to employees' personnel files; and adding new sections to chapter 49.12 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     Every employer shall, at reasonable times and intervals determined by the director of labor and industries, upon the request of a former or current employee, permit that employee to inspect his or her own personnel file(s) which are used or have been used to determine that employee's qualifications for employment, promotion, additional compensation, or termination or other disciplinary actions for the sole purpose of determining if the personnel file contains irrelevant or erroneous information.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) Each employer under this chapter shall keep a copy of each employee's personnel file at the employer's place of business at the place the employee reports to work or shall make the file available at the work place within a reasonable period of time after the employee requests the file.

          (2) An employee annually may petition that the employer review all information in the employee's personnel file.  The employer shall determine if there is any irrelevant or erroneous information in the file, and shall purge all such information from the file.  If an employee does not agree with the employer's determination and there is no grievance procedure in effect under a collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the employer and the employees' bargaining representative through which the employee may challenge the determination, the employee may file a complaint with the department of labor and industries.  The department shall investigate and may order the purging of material from the employee's personnel file.  If the employer and the employee do not agree on whether a record or piece of information is irrelevant or erroneous, the employee may at his or her request have placed in the employee's personnel file a statement containing the employee's rebuttal or correction.  Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the employer from purging the information more frequently.

          (3) This section shall apply to former as well as current employees.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     Sections 1 and 2 of this act do not apply to the records of an employee relating to the investigation of a possible criminal offense.  Sections 1 and 2 of this act do not apply to information or records compiled in preparation for an impending lawsuit which would not be available to another party under the rules of pretrial discovery for causes pending in the superior courts.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 49.12 RCW.