Federal & State Regulations | Recordkeeping - New Hampshire

Summary of differences between federal and state regulations

Federal

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require employers to allow employees access to their personnel files. This access is generally a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee’s representative). However, while federal law does not, some state laws require employers to allow employees access to their files. Employers need to comply with the state laws.

State

Contact

New Hampshire Department of Labor Inspection Division—Wage and Hour Administrator

Regulations

New Hampshire State Regulation Section 275:56 Employee Access to Personnel Files.

Federal

Contacts

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

U.S. Health and Human Services Department

Regulations

29 CFR 1910.1020(e) (OSHA)

45 CFR 164.524 (HIPAA)

Records to be kept on file
Wage and Hour/Payroll	Payroll Every employer shall keep a true and accurate record of: The hours worked by each employee not exempt under 29 U.S.C. Section 213 (a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, The wages paid to each employee, and Classification of employment. These records must be kept for at least four years. NH Stat. §§ 275:49, 279:27; N.H. Code Admin. Rules Lab 803.03(g)
	Every employer shall: Record payroll information so that time records, showing the time work began and ended including any bona fide meal periods, shall support individual pay sheets and that payroll sheets, in turn, shall support canceled checks or cash receipts; Require that time records with entries that are altered shall be signed or initialed by the employee whose record was altered; Not make use of automated time keeping devices or software programs that can be altered by an employer without the knowledge of the employee, or that do not clearly indicate that a change was made to the record; Make such good records as shall show the exact basis of remuneration of an employee's compensation; Make any such records available if requested, to show other than an employer-employee relationship; and Maintain on file a signed copy of the written notifications provided to each employee describing the: Employee's rate of pay or salary; The employer's practices and policies as they pertain to paid vacations, holidays, sick leave, bonuses, severance pay, personal days, payment of the employees expenses, pension, and all other fringe benefits; and Any change to such employees rate of pay, salary or employment practices or policies. N.H. Code Admin. Rules Lab 803.03(f)
	Unemployment For unemployment purposes, employing units must maintain records of the period covered by the payroll and the following information with respect to each worker: Name; Date on which the worker was hired, rehired, or returned to work after lay-off, and the date when the worker was separated from employment; For each calendar week in which the worker performed any service in employment, the number of hours the worker was employed; The worker’s wages earned in each pay period, showing separately: Money wages; Cash value of all other remuneration received from the worker's employer; and Any special payments for services other than those rendered exclusively in a given pay period, such as bonuses, gifts, prizes, separation allowance, accrued leave, vacation, sickness allowance, payments in lieu of notice, showing separately: Money payments; Other remuneration; and The nature of such payments and the period during which such payments were made; Amount and date of such wage payment; and Social Security number. Employers must also keep records of the number of workers in covered employment for each place of employment. Included and excluded service In addition to all other records required, every employing unit having “included service” and “excluded service” shall preserve for each worker engaged in the performance of such services the following records: The number of hours in each pay period during which the worker was engaged in “included service;” and The number of hours in each pay period during which the worker was engaged in “excluded service.” Form of records Each employer shall keep the employer's payroll records in such form that it shall be possible from an inspection thereof to determine with respect to each worker in the employer's employ who may be eligible for partial benefits the following: Wages earned, by weeks; Whether any week was in fact a week of less than full-time work; and Time lost, if any, by each such worker, due to reasons other than lack of work. These records must be preserved for a period of not less than six years after the calendar year in which the remuneration for the services was paid, or, if not paid, was due. NH Stat. §282-A:117, NH Code Admin R. Empl. 302.05
Accessible Records	Public and private employees Every employer must provide employees access and copies of their personnel files upon request. An employer may only charge the employee a fee reasonably related to the cost of supplying the requested documents. If, upon inspection of his personnel file, an employee disagrees with any of the information contained in the file, and the employee and employer cannot agree upon removal or correction of such information, then the employee may submit a written statement explaining his version of the information together with evidence supporting such version. Such statement shall be maintained as part of the employee's personnel file and shall be included in any transmittal of the file to a third party and shall be included in any disclosure of the contested information made to a third party. This requirement does affect employers of domestic labor in the home of the employer, or farm labor where less than five persons are employed. NH Stat. §275:56
	Toxic substance exposure Every employer whose employees handle, use, or are otherwise exposed to any toxic substance during the course and scope of their employment shall keep on file in a convenient office location and make available for examination and reproduction upon request a material safety data sheet (MSDS) for each toxic substance or product mixture containing two or more toxic substances to which an employee may be exposed in carrying out his duties. Employers must provide an MSDS within 72 hours of an employee request. NH Stat. §277-A:5
Inaccessible Records	Employees' access to their personnel files does not require employers disclose: Information in the personnel file of a requesting employee who is the subject of an investigation at the time of his request if disclosure of such information would prejudice law enforcement; or Information relating to a government security investigation. Additionally, health, fitness, lifestyle, and other information obtained from employees by their employer or the employer's agents for purposes of providing employees with a health risk assessment or other wellness program shall not be considered personnel records and shall not be retained in an employee personnel file. NH Stat. §275:56

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Recordkeeping - New Hampshire

Summary of differences between federal and state regulations

State

Federal