Posted on: August 27 2026
Employee personnel files (also referred to as employment/employee files) are essential employer owned records which support payroll and benefits administration, performance management, workplace decisions, and legal compliance. An issue at OEA NS we’re often asked to address relates to questions about employee files and access/release inquiries. While keeping all employee information in one place may seem convenient, it can end up creating difficult and often legal issues for the employer.
In this article, we’ll provide you with information about keeping records, security of documentation privacy, and address access to requests for file information.
Employee information can be found in many places (i.e., paper files, human resources information systems, payroll and benefits systems, email accounts, shared drives, managers’ notes, etc.)
A written employee-records policy assists to establish a system of record and clarify responsibilities for collecting, maintaining, accessing, disclosing, retaining, and securely destroying employee information.
Clear policy provides information to manage expectations and establish a mutual understanding within the organization and the workplace parties. It also assists in preventing duplicate or inconsistent records and unofficial “shadow files” maintained by individual managers or departments, limiting the information kept to only what is needed for legitimate employment, business, or legal purposes.
As such, it is helpful to consider the following recommendations for best practices in personnel file management.
A personnel file should contain factual records documenting the employee’s employment history and terms and conditions of employment. Information should be accurate, current, objective, and relevant to the employment relationship.
Depending on the workplace and the position, this may include:
Some employee records are necessary but contain sensitive, confidential, or specialized information. These records should generally be maintained in separate, access-restricted files rather than in the personnel file. Examples include:
Employers should not collect or retain information without a defined employment, business, or legal purpose. Information should also be securely removed or destroyed when it is no longer required and not kept indefinitely simply if felt that it might be useful someday. Examples include:
Unnecessary, outdated, or excessively sensitive information can create privacy, security, and employment-related risks for the organization.
When meeting to discuss employee matters, employers need to make notes which may refer to attendance, performance, coaching conversations, workplace incidents, and help to accurately recall events and determine whether further action is required. While not kept in a personnel file, employer meeting notes should be factual and professional, understanding they could later be reviewed during an investigation, grievance, legal proceeding, or employee information request.
There is no single retention schedule that applies to every document in a personnel file. The appropriate period depends on the type of record, the employer’s legal obligations, applicable limitation periods, collective agreements, operational needs, and whether a complaint, audit, investigation, or legal proceeding is underway.
Under Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards requirements, employers must keep prescribed employment records to demonstrate that employees received the minimum benefits to which they were entitled. The Province advises that these records must be kept at the employer’s main place of business for at least 36 months after the work was performed. Required records include wage rates, hours of work, vacation, leaves, pay, vacation pay, employment dates, and certain termination or layoff information.
For occupational health and safety (OH&S) matters, certain organization-level records required by Nova Scotia’s Workplace Health and Safety Regulations generally must be retained for at least five years after they are made, subject to specific exceptions. These may include OH&S inspections, procedures, training records, when first-aid is administered in the workplace, JOHSC documentation, and regulatory orders. These records should be maintained in the appropriate workplace health and safety management system.
While these are examples of legislated minimums, it may beneficial for some employers, due to the nature of their work, to maintain records for longer than is described, in case of potential occupational exposures or reasons related to litigation.
A best practice for employers is to include a retention schedule or statement in the employee records policy. The schedule should identify for each kind of record when the retention period begins, who authorizes destruction, and how paper and/or electronic records are securely destroyed.
Note that normal destruction will need to be suspended when records may be relevant to a complaint, investigation, audit, grievance, litigation, or other legal proceeding.
Access to employee information should be based on job responsibilities, not seniority or curiosity. It should also be kept to what is required to perform their duties and not automatically provide access to every other part. For example:
To help guide and monitor this, organizations are best served by keeping a secure log to document what information was being asked for, by whom, for what purpose, as well as for when/how long/how often it was requested.
An employee’s right to access personnel information depends partly on the employer’s jurisdiction.
Employees of federally regulated employers (public/private) generally have a right under a PIPEDA to request access to personal information the employer holds about them, learn how it has been used and disclosed, challenge its accuracy, and request appropriate corrections. Access may be limited where a statutory exception applies, such as where disclosure would reveal another person’s personal information or legally privileged information.
Employees of Nova Scotia’s public bodies may request access to records containing their personal information under FOIPOP and may request correction of inaccurate personal information. The right is subject to the Act’s exceptions, and protected information may be redacted. Nova Scotia’s new FOIPOP legislation is scheduled to come into force on April 1, 2027, so public-sector employers should plan to review their policies before that date.
When an employee requests access to or copies of their own personnel files, employers must always consider:
A well-managed personnel file should provide a clear and factual record of the employment relationship. It should not become a storage place for every document connected to an employee. To ensure this, it is best that employers regularly review their practices and consider the following:
Looking for more assistance about this or other subjects? Contact OEA NS at info@oeans.ca.
References
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