Employee Personnel File Access Requirements in North Dakota

At a glance

No general private-employer access right

North Dakota's current labor and employment title contains no general statute requiring an ordinary private employer to let a current or former employee inspect or copy a personnel file. It therefore sets no generally applicable private-sector request form, response deadline, inspection location, copy price, correction process, post-termination window, or refusal remedy.

Broader access may come from an employer policy, collective-bargaining agreement, or a law governing a different record or proceeding, but those are not a statewide private personnel-file floor.

Public-employee statute does not extend to private files

N.D.C.C. § 54-06-21(1)-(7) governs each public employee's official personnel file. A public employee or designated representative may examine it by appointment during normal business hours and reproduce any material at the employee's expense.

Before character or performance material is filed, the public employee must have an opportunity to read it. The employee may answer any filed material, and the answer must be attached to the file copy. An answer cannot itself support a later adverse personnel action. If an established grievance process finds material meritless or unfounded, it must be removed immediately and cannot be used later against the employee.

The section also bars anonymous file material while allowing administrators to keep separate performance notes for preparing evaluations or possible discipline. These protections belong to the public-employee scheme and do not impose the same duties on an ordinary private employer.

What trips people up

North Dakota's public-employee rule is detailed enough to resemble a general personnel-file act. Its heading and placement in the general state-officer chapter are the limiting features: it governs public employee personnel records.

The attached answer is not described as accompanying third-party disclosures, unlike the durable transmission rule in some states. Its stated protection is attachment to the file copy and a bar on using the answer itself as the basis for later adverse action.

Common questions

Can a private employee rely on § 54-06-21?

No. The section is expressly titled and structured as a public-employee personnel-record law.

May a public employee use a representative?

Yes. The employee or designated representative may examine the official file by appointment during normal business hours.

Must a private employer provide copies?

North Dakota has no general private-sector personnel-file copy statute. The at-cost reproduction right in § 54-06-21 belongs to the public scheme.

Statutes and sources

• N.D.C.C. title 34: official labor-and-employment title structure — official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• N.D.C.C. § 54-06-21: public-employee file administration, examination, copies, answer, grievance, and separate notes — official text (accessed July 12, 2026).