No federal law gives an employee the right to access and inspect their personnel file maintained by their employer—but some state laws do. Many states require public employers to allow employees to access and inspect their personnel files—and some states require private employers to do so as well.

Some states limit an employee’s right to access and inspect their personnel file to certain documents—and some states require an employer to provide employees with certain documents (such as a disciplinary document) within a certain number of days after it is placed in the employee’s personnel file (known as an adverse-action notice).

Laws regarding whether employees have the right to access and inspect their personnel file—and if so, the circumstances under which they may do so—are generally located in a state’s statutes.

In Utah, employees have the right to access and inspect their personnel files, as regulated by state law. Specifically, Utah Code Ann. § 34-2-6(1)(a) provides that an employee has the right to inspect their personnel files at reasonable intervals, generally during regular business hours. The law applies to both current and former employees, and it requires employers to provide access to the files within a reasonable period of time after an employee makes a request. However, there are some limitations on what documents an employee may inspect. For example, letters of reference or any portion of the file prepared by the employer for use in a criminal or administrative proceeding are excluded. Additionally, Utah does not have a specific adverse-action notice requirement, but employers are encouraged to follow best practices and keep employees informed about significant entries in their personnel files, especially those that could affect employment decisions.