Basic Needed Information

• Employers need certain basic information to comply with federal laws requiring them to submit business information for purposes, such as census surveys by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. This information includes the employee's full name, Social Security number, home address, birth date, gender, job title, and payroll records. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 some of this information, such as gender and age, cannot be obtained before an applicant is offered a job, unless the applicant grants direct permission.
  
  

Medical Information

• Medical information can be important for employers to have, to protect employees from exposure to potentially harmful situations. These records also include on-the-job accidents and medically related problems.
  
  Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, these records must be maintained separately from all other personnel files. This is confidential information that cannot be viewed by anyone who is not authorized, including tax auditors who might need access to personnel records.
  
  

Additional Separate Files

• Although the only files legally required to be kept separate are for medical records, other records are recommended to be kept separate, so they can be pulled easily without endangering confidential material. These include tax forms, such as the I-9 and W-4; safety records; and any grievance or investigation records.
  
  

State Laws

• Although federal law regarding personnel files is limited, state laws might be more stringent, especially when it comes to what files might need to be kept separately and what information can be acquired. In addition, some states' laws regulate the employee's access to these files. For example, in Texas, it is left up to the employer to decide how much access, if any, an employee has to that employee's own records. The laws of some other require a certain amount of access.