Wis. Stat. Ann. § 103.13 – Records open to employee

Records open to employees

This law requires that employers, upon request of current and former employees, allow the employee to inspect any personnel records used in determining employee's qualifications for a variety of things like promotion and transfer, and any medical records.  The employer is required to give each employee at least 2 requests every years, and to make the records available to the employee within 7 days of employee's request.  The law further sets forth certain requirements for the time and place of inspection by employees.  An employee is allowed to designate in writing a representative to request the records on the employee's behalf.  The law further sets forth the procedure for an employee requesting for a correction in the personnel record.

With respect to medical records, if the employer believes that disclosing them would have a detrimental effect of the employee, the employer can choose to release the medical records to the employee’s physician, and the physician can then either disclose to the employee or to the employee’s family.

The law further sets forth some exceptions to the employee's right to view personnel records:  when the records are related to a criminal investigation being conducted upon the employee, letters of reference, testing documents, staff management planning materials, information that includes personal information about someone other than the employee, records relevant to a lawsuit between employer and employee than can be obtained through discovery.

The law specifies that the right to inspect records includes the right to copy the records.  Any employer who violates these rules will be fined.