Washington has passed a new bill relating to employee access to personnel records. The bill modifies the state’s Industrial Welfare Act (IWA) to require private employers to provide a copy of a personnel file within 21 calendar days after an employee, former employee, or their designee requests the file. The copy must be provided at no cost to the employee, former employee, or their designee.
“Personnel file” “includes the following records, if the employer creates such records:
- All job application records;
- All performance evaluations;
- All nonactive or closed disciplinary records;
- All leave and reasonable accommodation records;
- All payroll records; and
- All employment agreements.
Employers must also, within 21 calendar days of receiving a written request from a former employee or their designee, furnish a signed written statement to the former employee or their designee stating the effective date of discharge, whether the employer had a reason for the discharge, and if so, the reasons.
“Former employee” means a person who separated from the employer within three years of the date of the person’s request.
The modifications are effective July 27, 2025.
