Workplace Wake-Up with Jen Shaw
Sep 30, 2026 · 16 min · 10 segments
A former employee sends an email demanding “my entire personnel file and every document you have about me.” Does the employer really have to turn over everything? Usually not. IN this episode, Jen…
Remember that a former employee and a current employee can ask for their, quote, entire personnel file.
And often you will get an email that says something like, I demand my entire personnel file and every document you have about me.
Do you really have to turn everything over? Usually not, all right? I'm gonna explain to you today what employees are entitled to receive, why different categories of records have different rules and deadlines, and what issues you should think about before you simply hit send and forward those documents.
LA Lawyer, is not the standard, okay? The law, Labor Code Section 1198.5, defines what is in a personnel record.
Labor Code Section 226A defines what information must be disclosed in response to a payroll record request.
But at this stage, before there's litigation filed and you're just making a request, there are some very specific rules.
As I just mentioned, there are different rules with respect to personnel records and payroll records.
Now, if you think about how you're gonna get this request, I want you to understand that when somebody says, I want everything, what they're really asking for are personnel records and payroll records, okay? There are a lot of things they don't get at the early stage when they're making that kind of a request without a pending lawsuit where they can actually issue a discovery request to you, request certain documents from you.
So you need a process internally that helps you identify what information you actually have to produce.
Remember that a former employee and a current employee can ask for their, quote, entire personnel file.
And often you will get an email that says something like, I demand my entire personnel file and every document you have about me.
Do you really have to turn everything over? Usually not, all right? I'm gonna explain to you today what employees are entitled to receive, why different categories of records have different rules and deadlines, and what issues you should think about before you simply hit send and forward those documents.
LA Lawyer, is not the standard, okay? The law, Labor Code Section 1198.5, defines what is in a personnel record.
Labor Code Section 226A defines what information must be disclosed in response to a payroll record request.
But at this stage, before there's litigation filed and you're just making a request, there are some very specific rules.
As I just mentioned, there are different rules with respect to personnel records and payroll records.
Now, if you think about how you're gonna get this request, I want you to understand that when somebody says, I want everything, what they're really asking for are personnel records and payroll records, okay? There are a lot of things they don't get at the early stage when they're making that kind of a request without a pending lawsuit where they can actually issue a discovery request to you, request certain documents from you.
So you need a process internally that helps you identify what information you actually have to produce.
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