Alaska Employment Law

Alaska Statute 23.10.430 provides:

An employer shall permit an employee or former employee to inspect and make copies of the employee’s personnel file and other personnel information maintained by the employer concerning the employee under reasonable rules during regular business hours.

8 AAC 15.910(d) implements the statute by defining “personnel file and other personnel information.” 

Neither the statute nor the regulation specifies the time frame for the employer’s response to the employee’s request, beyond the reference to “reasonable rules.”  (An even bigger defect is the absence of any penalty or fee provision for enforcing the statute.)

What would be a “reasonable” time for an employer to adopt in its personnel rules, or for a court to apply?  Two approaches come to mind.  The first would look at disclosure requirements under other Alaska laws.  An example would the Alaska Public Records Act, whose implementing regulations require a public agency to furnish requested documents within “ten working days” of receipt of a written request.  2 AAC 96.325(a).  Under exceptional circumstances, the agency may take an additional ten working days.  Id. at § 325(d).  The University of Alaska (which is subject to the Act, but not to the implementing regs - see 2 AAC 96.900(7) and AS 40.25.123(d)) has set a 15-working day limit on responses for releasable documents, with a possible additional  period of 10-working days.  UA Policy 06.02.060.  At a further end of the spectrum, the Civil Rules allow 30 calendar days for a response from the recipient of a Civil Rule 34 production request.  

A second approach would consider the time pressures on employees who make such requests.   For instance, a current employee may need to inspect and copy records to determine whether to file an internal complaint or grievance; grievance deadlines are typically short (5-30 calendar days), and the employer’s disclosures deadline would need to be even shorter.  Or, a former employer may need to review her personnel file to decide whether to execute a release form for a prospective employer.  In order to lessen the gap in employment, the employer’s response time would again need to be fairly short.   Of course, the employee’s need might not be so acute.  A former employee might want to review personnel documents for the purpose of filing an EEOC charge (300 day limitations period) or to file suit (typically 2 years); depending on how much time has lapsed since the employee left employment, the urgency to see the records might be great or small.   While the time pressures on employees might vary, a single response deadline eliminates disputes about the pressure in any given case. 

Both of these two approaches (comparable disclosure statutes, and time pressures on requesting employees) suggests a response period of no more than 30 calendar days, and possibly as little as five calendar days.  Counsel drafting personnel rules will want to construct grievance deadlines that are longer than disclosure response deadlines.

A third approach would be to look at laws in other states with similar requirements for disclosing personnel files.  Other states may have expressly set response deadlines.  (I haven’t done the research, but would be surprised to see deadlines longer than 30 calendar days.)  The collective judgment of those legislatures might also be informative for an Alaskan employer or judge trying to set a “reasonable time.”