You Could Use That Letter of Praise, but It’s Gone

Q: I worked for a mid-sized corporation for eight years in a middle-management capacity before resigning to start my own business.

In preparing a list of references, I recalled a great letter of praise that I received from a client a few years ago. When I requested a copy from the human resources department, I was told that I could make an appointment to review my personnel files, but could not copy anything.

When I phoned the company’s vice president, he left a voice mail message weeks later saying my records have been purged.

Are companies required by law to keep personnel files for a specific amount of time? If so, how long? What is the law regarding my viewing and copying these files?

--D.D., Newport Beach

A: According to California law, you have a right to inspect your personnel file during normal business hours and retain a copy of any document that you signed. In fact, it may be a criminal offense if your employer refuses to cooperate.

Your file should contain documents used to determine your qualifications for employment, promotion, additional compensation, or termination or other disciplinary action. This would include your initial application, subsequent evaluations, W-4 IRS form, as well as other documents required by state law. You could argue that letters of praise used to evaluate your performances should also be included in the file.

State and federal laws define how long an employer is required to retain certain documents. For example, an employer may be required to keep all payroll records from one to four years, depending on the law. Human resource experts provide a variety of recommendations for the length of time employers should retain other documents.

The law does not set a specific time for retaining a letter of praise in a personnel file, however. As a practical matter, you can solve your problem by contacting the customer directly and asking for another copy of the letter. You also might review previous annual evaluations to determine whether the letter was mentioned. If so, you could cite the evaluation as proof that such a letter was written.

To avoid these problems, it’s a good idea for employees to retain copies of relevant documents, including complimentary correspondence, at home.

--Don D. Sessions

Employee rights attorney

Mission Viejo

Booted From Room by the New Owners

Q: I was employed at a hotel under a contract that either party could cancel after giving 30 days’ notice. As part of the agreement, I was supplied a room.

The business was sold. The new owners said they did not require my services, and gave me seven days to vacate the property.

When a business is sold like this, do the new owners have to honor any of the terms in an employment contract? Since I considered the hotel room my residence, I thought I should have 30 days to move out.

--J.G., Beverly Hills

A: If the hotel was owned by a company, rather than one or more individuals, and if one or more persons sold stock in the company to others, the owner of the hotel remains the same. It’s the same company even though there may be different owners--and your contract remains binding on the company.

However, if the hotel was owned by one or more individuals, rather than by a company, or if it was owned by a company and sold as an asset, rather than in a stock transaction, the new owners are not required to honor your contract.

Of course, you still have a contract with the former owners, who may be liable for breaching that contract by not giving you 30 days’ notice.

--Deborah C. Saxe

Management attorney

Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe

Questionable Ban on Bidding for Overtime

Q: I work for an out-of-state government contractor and am in a union.

The company claims in one of its memos that if an employee is taking vacation or is sick during a week where overtime work is needed, that employee is not eligible to bid for the overtime work.

Is this legal? There’s nothing in the contract that allows this form of action.

--J.D., San Bernardino

A: Depending on the terms of your union contract, your employer’s action may well be illegal.

Under federal labor law, it is unlawful for an employer to change wages, hours or other terms or conditions of employment without bargaining in good faith with the certified or recognized union. Thus, unless your contract permits the change in the bidding procedure or contains a waiver of your union’s right to bargain over the overtime issue, your union should be able to demand that your employer stop applying the new rule until the union has had a meaningful opportunity to bargain over the change. If your employer should fail to comply with this demand, your union could then file unfair labor practice charges with Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board in Los Angeles.

In addition, if the new restrictions on overtime bidding violate the bidding procedures in your contract, and if your contract contains a grievance procedure, your union should also be able to demand arbitration of the issue. If your union does so, the NLRB would most likely defer its investigation of the union’s unfair labor practice charges until an arbitrator has ruled on the union’s breach-of-contract claim.

As noted above, however, your union contract may contain language permitting the new overtime bidding procedure or limiting your union’s right to bargain or file a grievance over the changes. If so, your union would be unsuccessful before the NLRB or in arbitration.

The best way to find out the answers to these questions is to file a grievance with your union protesting the new bidding restrictions. After investigating the issues, your union should be able to tell you whether your grievance has merit and whether your employer has violated its legal duty to bargain.

--Joseph L. Paller Jr.

Union, employee attorney

Gilbert & Sackman

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If you have a question about an on-the-job situation, please mail it to Shop Talk, Los Angeles Times, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; dictate it to (714) 966-7873, or e-mail it to shoptalk@latimes.com. Include your initials and hometown. The Shop Talk column is designed to answer questions of general interest. It should not be construed as legal advice.