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 Ohio, employees have the right to access their personnel files, although the specifics of this right can vary based on whether the employer is a public or private entity. For public employers, Ohio's Public Records Act requires that personnel files be made available to the public, which includes the employees themselves. This means that public employees in Ohio can inspect their personnel files. However, for private employers, there is no specific Ohio statute that grants employees the right to access their personnel files. Private employees may request to see their personnel files, but the employer is not legally required to grant access under Ohio state law. It is important to note that while there is no overarching state law for private employees, some private employers may have internal policies that allow employees to access their personnel files. Additionally, if an employee is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the terms of that agreement may provide specific rights regarding access to personnel files.