Another bill that could set new requirements and deadlines for providing personnel records is scheduled for action this week in the House.

Over the last several weeks, we’ve been tracking a bill that would set new requirements and deadlines for employers to provide complete copies of personnel records to employees on request. We first wrote about the Senate version of the bill, SB 5061, here.

Now, the House version of the bill is scheduled for action this week ahead of the first policy committee cutoff. HB 1320 is sponsored by Rep. Julia Reed (D–Seattle), and requires employers to turn over a complete, unredacted copy of an employee’s personnel records (at no cost) on request by the employee or their authorized representative within 14 days of the request. The bill does permit public employers to redact certain information as required by law. It also creates a private cause of action to enforce access and establishes statutory damages for various degrees of violations.

In the Senate bill, AWC was successful in having amendments adopted to address our main concerns with the bill, including clarifying how the bill interacts with the Public Records Act and what records need to be included. AWC will likely make the same amendment requests for HB 1320.

Dates to remember

HB 1320 is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on Tuesday, February 14 at 10:30 am. It is also scheduled for a committee vote on February 15 at 8 am.