Phase 2 of 3 · Hire, Land, Keep
Personnel file
The employer's record of one worker's hiring papers, reviews, discipline and pay changes, kept with medical and immigration documents stored somewhere separate.
One folder per worker, and three folders that never go in it.
In plain English
A personnel file is the employer's record of one worker: the hiring paperwork, reviews, warnings, pay changes, and the separation.
- What it looks like in business
- Medical notes, accommodation requests, and the I-9 come out and live in their own folders, because different rules govern who may read each one.
- Why it matters
- Federal recordkeeping sets how long the file is kept, and mixing medical papers into it turns a routine request into a privacy problem.
Reading it once is not the same as knowing it. Put this term in the daily rotation and let the quiz come back for it.
Study this termWhere this comes from
29 C.F.R. Part 1602, recordkeeping
This is HR guidance, not legal advice, and rules change. Check the current text and your own facts before you act on it. When a situation needs a lawyer, Jennifer will say so.
Where it sits
Phase 2: Hire, Land, Keep
A repeatable path from a vague vacancy to a person who is still good at day 90, with the live record checked before day one.