SB 513 is a new California law, effective January 1, 2026, that expands the definition of personnel records to include education and training records.
Employers that maintain performance, education, training records, or any grievance concerning the employee, must do so for at least 3 years and allow current/former employees to obtain these records within 30 days of a request. Failure to comply can lead to penalties.
What Employers Need to Know In 2026
This new change is a legal requirement and employers who do not follow the new rules could face penalties.
NOTE: This law does not create new record keeping requirements. Employers are not required to create, maintain, or store education or training records that they do not already keep in the normal course of business. If an employer does maintain education or training records related to an employee’s performance (e.g., training certificates, safety training, course completion records), those documents must include certain information and be made available for inspection and copying upon request.
The following are 4 key points from the new law that should be kept in mind as you are creating and maintaining records.
1. Required Details for Training & Education Records
Training or education records for employees must include all of the following:
✅ Employee’s full name
✅ Training provider’s name (who gave the training)
✅ Date and duration of the training
✅ Core competencies/skills covered, including equipment or software skills
✅ Any resulting certification or qualification earned by the employee
Training documents must be more complete and standardized than many employers have kept in the past.
TO DO: STANDARDIZE WHAT YOU COLLECT
Do you currently keep education or training records? A helpful place to start is by taking inventory of all the personnel records you currently maintain.
Next, review your records to ensure you are gathering enough information and that they are stored properly.
2. Record Retention Requirements
Employers must generally keep personnel records (including training/education info) for at least 3 years after an employee leaves.
NOTE: Former employees may only make one request per year to inspect or receive a copy of their records.
TO DO: BACKUP YOUR DATA
If something happened to your system, do you have a backup of your data?
For example, consider automatically backing up your records to a secure, encrypted cloud system. This ensures records can be quickly restored in the event of data loss or a system failure.
3. Inspection & Access Rights Still Apply
Like other personnel records under California law:
- Current or former employees — or someone they authorize — can inspect and request copies of their personnel records.
- Employers generally must provide the records within 30 days of a written request (up to 35 days if agreed).
This requirement now extends to training and education records as part of the personnel file.
4. Consequences for Not Complying
Employers who fail to provide access to personnel records as required under CA SB 513 may face financial and legal consequences, including:
- Monetary penalties: Employers may be fined up to $750 per violation for failing to allow current or former employees (or their representatives) to inspect or copy personnel records within the required timeframes.
- Legal action: Employees may seek injunctive relief to force compliance and may also recover court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Source: California Labor Code § 1198.5, as amended by SB 513.
TO DO: REVIEW YOUR CURRENT RECORDS AND PROCESSES
This means recordkeeping and response processes should be compliant and timely.
- Update your response workflows for personnel file requests.
- Train staff on these new requirements.
It is our goal to help you meet the requirements of this new law as seamlessly as possible. Therefore, a future blog post will provide further guidance on how to properly enter personnel records into Datatech Software.