G.L. c. 149, § 52C; G.L. c. 6, §§ 167–178; 803 CMR 2.00
Personnel records and background checks in Massachusetts — § 52C and the CORI rules
A claim in Massachusetts trial courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
Two Massachusetts regimes govern what an employer may keep about you and what it may find out about you, and neither works the way people assume.
Personnel records — § 52C gives an employee a right to see and copy their file, and requires the employer to notify them within ten days of putting negative information in it. But the section is enforced by the Attorney General, not by a private damages action.
CORI — criminal offender record information is regulated by G.L. c. 6 §§ 167–178 and the "ban the box" restrictions in c. 151B, and the consequences of getting it wrong run through the discrimination statute rather than through a standalone claim.
Personnel records — § 52C
Who is covered. An employer with 20 or more employees must maintain a personnel record for each employee. The section applies to a broad range of employers, and the record includes the documents the statute lists — the application, wage and performance information, disciplinary records, and materials used to determine qualification for employment, promotion, transfer, compensation or discipline.
Your right to see it. An employee may review their personnel record, and the employer must provide an opportunity within five business days of a written request. An employee is entitled to a copy on request.
Twice a year. The employer need not permit review more than twice in any calendar year, not counting a review occasioned by the ten-day notice below.
The ten-day notice. This is the provision most employees have never heard of and most employers overlook. Where an employer places in the personnel record information that has been, may be, or has been used to negatively affect the employee's qualification for employment, promotion, transfer, compensation or the possibility of disciplinary action, the employer must notify the employee within ten days of placing it there.
Disagreements. An employee who disagrees with information in the record may submit a written statement of position, which becomes part of the record — or the parties may agree to remove or correct the material.
Enforcement is by the Attorney General. Section 52C provides for a fine — a civil penalty of not less than $500 nor more than $2,500 for a violation — recoverable in an action by the Attorney General. There is no private damages action in the section.
What that means in practice. A request under § 52C is used to obtain the file, and the file is then evidence in whatever claim the employee brings — a discrimination case, a Wage Act claim, a whistleblower claim. An employer that put undisclosed negative material in the file and then relied on it at trial has a serious problem, and that is the real leverage the section supplies.
CORI — criminal record checks
The framework. G.L. c. 6 §§ 167–178 and the regulations at 803 CMR 2.00 govern who may obtain criminal offender record information, what level of access they have, and what they must do with it. The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services administers the system.
Registration and acknowledgment. An employer wanting CORI access must register, and must obtain the subject's signed acknowledgment form before requesting a report. Verification of identity is required.
The adverse action rules. Before an employer takes an adverse action based on CORI, it must provide the subject with a copy of the report and its policy, identify the information on which it relies, give the person an opportunity to dispute the accuracy of the record, and provide information about how to correct it.
Sealed and expunged records. A person whose record has been sealed under G.L. c. 276 § 100A may answer "no record" to an inquiry, and an employer may not act on sealed information.
What may not be asked. Chapter 151B § 4(9) and § 4(9½) restrict what an employer may ask about criminal history — the "ban the box" provisions. An initial written application may not ask about criminal history at all, and there are categories the employer may never ask about, including arrests that did not result in conviction, first convictions for certain minor offences, and misdemeanour convictions beyond the statutory look-back period.
Where the claim lives. A violation of the c. 151B inquiry restrictions is an unlawful practice under c. 151B, which means the MCAD route, the 300-day charge, and the fee and damages structure of that statute. That is the enforcement mechanism, and it is far stronger than anything in the CORI chapter itself.
Consumer reports — the other background check regime
Where the employer used a consumer reporting agency — a commercial background screening company — a separate set of rules applies.
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires clear written disclosure and authorisation before the report, a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, and a reasonable opportunity to respond before the decision is final.
Massachusetts consumer credit reporting provisions in G.L. c. 93 §§ 50–68 add state-law requirements, and c. 260 § 5A places several of the c. 93 consumer sections on the four-year consumer clock.
An employer that ran a commercial background check and rejected the applicant without the pre-adverse-action step has violated the FCRA whatever the CORI rules say.
How long you have to file
There is no private limitations period under § 52C, because there is no private action — the Attorney General enforces it.
300 days to the MCAD for a c. 151B criminal-history inquiry violation, and three years to sue.
Two years for a federal FCRA claim from discovery, with a five-year outer limit.
Four years for a c. 93A claim arising from the consumer-report provisions.
What has to happen before you file
Make the § 52C request in writing, and keep the date. Five business days.
File an MCAD charge, for a c. 151B claim.
What the claim pays
Under § 52C — a civil penalty of $500 to $2,500 payable to the Commonwealth, in an action by the Attorney General. Nothing to the employee directly.
Under c. 151B — back pay, front pay, emotional distress damages, punitive damages, and mandatory attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff, with no statutory cap.
Under the FCRA — actual damages, statutory damages for a willful violation, punitive damages, and attorney's fees.
Under c. 93A, where the conduct was in trade or commerce — the multiplier and mandatory fees.
Which court
Superior Court or District Court for the c. 151B and FCRA claims, following the amount. Federal court is available for the FCRA claim.
Common defenses
- Fewer than 20 employees, for the § 52C record-keeping obligations.
- The document is not part of the personnel record as the section defines it.
- The employee already received the material or was otherwise notified.
- The inquiry fell within a c. 151B exception — some employers are required by other statutes to ask.
- The adverse action rested on something other than the record.
What people get wrong
Section 52C gives no damages claim. It gives access, and a fine payable to the Commonwealth. The value is the file.
Five business days, twice a year, on written request.
The ten-day notice is a real obligation, and an employer that skipped it while stockpiling negative material has handed the employee an argument.
Criminal-record inquiry violations are c. 151B claims — MCAD, 300 days, mandatory fees.
A sealed record can be answered "no record."
If a screening company was used, the FCRA applies and its pre-adverse-action step is the one most often skipped.
Where it came from
Both regimes exist because information about a worker outlives the events it records, and both were written after the same realisation: the person the information is about is the last to see it.
Section 52C was the Legislature's answer for the file the employer creates itself. Its structure is telling — it gives access and notice rather than damages, on the theory that an employee who can see what is in the file can correct it, and that the file's real consequences will be litigated in whatever claim it eventually supports. Whether that theory holds is debatable; what it means in practice is that § 52C is a discovery tool, not a cause of action.
The CORI reforms of 2010 addressed the other direction — information the state holds and employers buy. The changes were aimed at a specific failure: a criminal record that was inaccurate, sealed, or decades old was following people out of the labour market permanently, and neither the employer nor the applicant had any reliable way to check it. So the reforms restricted who could see what, required the applicant to be shown the record before an adverse decision, and moved the enforcement of the inquiry restrictions into c. 151B, where the remedies bite.
The pattern across both is the same. Massachusetts regulated the conduct in one statute and put the remedy in another, and finding the claim means following the conduct to the statute that pays.
Common questions
Can I get a copy of my personnel file in Massachusetts?
Yes. On written request the employer must give you an opportunity to review it within five business days, and provide a copy — up to twice per calendar year.
Does my employer have to tell me when it puts something bad in my file?
Yes. Within ten days of placing information that has been or may be used to negatively affect your employment, promotion, transfer, compensation or discipline.
Can I sue for a personnel records violation?
Not for damages. Section 52C is enforced by the Attorney General, with a civil penalty of $500 to $2,500. The practical value is getting the file.
Can an employer ask about my criminal record?
Not on an initial written application, and never about certain categories including arrests without conviction and older minor convictions. A violation is an unlawful practice under c. 151B.
What if my record was sealed?
You may answer that you have no record, and the employer may not act on sealed information.
What if the employer used a background check company?
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act applies, including the requirement to give you the report and a chance to respond before taking adverse action.