Overview
The Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”), Article 6 (Section 84-90), of the NYS Public Officers Law, provides the public right to access to records maintained by government agencies with certain exceptions.
"Record" means any information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with, or for this agency, in any physical form whatsoever including, but not limited to, reports, statements, examinations, memoranda, opinions, folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs, drawings, maps, photos, letters, microfilms, computer tapes or disks, rules, regulations or codes.
Learn more about records access and Open FOIL NY.
Requesting your own records: The Personal Privacy Protection Law (PPPL) applies to personal information collected and maintained by state agencies. This includes requests by claimants and/or their authorized designee for workers' compensation or disability benefit claim information. If you or your authorized designee is requesting your own records pursuant to PPPL, you do not need to file a FOIL request. Please submit a notarized authorization allowing NYSIF to release copies of that information to you or your designee (a separate authorization for each claim number is required). On the authorization, you must indicate the uses that will be made of such personal information by you or your authorized designee.
Request Records
Use the GovQA online form:
Mail a written request to:
Records Access Officer
Office of General Counsel
NYSIF
PO Box 66699
Albany, NY 12206
Email a written request to: freedominfo@nysif.com
Fax a written request to: (518) 437-8029
Submit a request for records in person:
Requests for records can be made in person at our offices at 199 Church Street, New York, New York, between 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., business days. Upon entering the building, advise Security Staff that you would like to request records from the Office of the General Attorney. Security Staff will contact the Office of the General Attorney and a staff member will provide assistance. Please be advised records require review prior to disclosure. As a result, documents and records will not be immediately available.
FOIL Process
We will send you a letter within five business days of the receipt of a written request for a record reasonably described, make such record available, deny such request in writing, or furnish a written acknowledgment of the receipt of such request. If you have not received a letter within five business days, please contact us at (212) 312-7256 or freedominfo@nysif.com.
An acknowledgment letter will provide you with an estimate of when the records you request will be available, which shall be reasonable under the circumstances of the request. This date is determined by the number of documents you request, their format, their availability, the time it takes to redact any information that cannot be disclosed pursuant to FOIL, the time it takes to assemble the documents, and other factors.
If the records you request require a fee to be paid, you will be notified prior to the records being released to you. Unless a different fee is otherwise prescribed by statute, Public Officers Law §87(1) authorizes an agency to charge a fee of 25¢ per copy for copies of records up 9”x 14”, or the actual cost of reproducing a record. In determining the actual cost of producing a record, an agency may include only:
- an amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to prepare the requested record(s), if at least two hours of agency employee time is needed to prepare a copy of the record request;
- the actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the person making the request in complying with such request; and
- the actual cost to the agency of engaging an outside professional service to prepare a copy of a record, but only when an agency's information technology equipment is inadequate to prepare a copy, if such service is used to prepare the copy.
Once the requested records are prepared, you may receive the records via email, fax, paper, CD/DVD, or USB. Records shall be available for public inspection by appointment at NYSIF office locations whenever practicable. You may schedule an appointment for in-person inspection of records by calling (212) 312-7256.
Right to Appeal
Under provisions of the Public Officers Law you may appeal a FOIL determination. If you desire to submit such an appeal, you must do so within 30 days of the written response to your FOIL request. Please include a copy of the original request for records and a copy of the FOIL response letter you received along with your appeal letter to:
FOIL Appeals Officer
Office of General Counsel
NYSIF
PO Box 66699
Albany, NY 12206
You will be informed in writing of the decision within ten business days of our receipt of such an appeal. Please indicate the FOIL Request Number when corresponding on this subject.
Subject Matter List of Agency Records
The following is a current list of records, by subject matter, that are maintained by this agency. Some of the listed records may be exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law (Article 6, Section 87 (3)(c)).
NYSIF Records Subject Matter List
Most Frequently Requested FOIL Topics
- Requests by attorneys involved in personal injury litigation, who ask for copies of workers’ compensation records through NYSIF FOIL, rather than directly to NYSIF Record Request.
Response: If the requestor does not provide a HIPPA-complaint authorization, the request is denied. If the requester provides a valid authorization, the request is granted and the matter referred to the NYSIF Records Access office. The Records Access office will coordinate with our outside copying vendor to provide the records to the requestor.
- Requests for records connected to NYSIF RFPs, or other procurements, for NYSIF contracts, and related documents. These requests commonly are sent for three different reasons: unsuccessful bidders, who after the fact would like to see the winning proposal (and other proposals), to learn for next time; companies looking to bid in the future, or who simply want to keep tabs on the marketplace; and companies that provide data on government and other markets, to draw people to their websites, and the related services they often provide.
Response: If the RFP is still in process, i.e., no contract has been awarded, the request is denied pursuant to POL section 87 (2c) as an impairment of a contract award. If the RFP has been completed, the request is granted subject to redactions. Redactions may be made pursuant to POL 87 (2d) as a trade secret which would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the company.
- Requests for records from any of NYSIF’s systems, or data we have as a result of the business NYSIF does. These requests are for non-contract information that NYSIF maintains. They include things such as: information about NYSIF’s financial records and investments; lists of NYSIF’s employees and related data; financial information about the market, that NYSIF gathers in the course of its work; requests for information about a specific policyholder; surveys that NYSIF may have done; breakdowns of policyholders or claimants into categories that the requester thinks, or hopes, that NYSIF has; etc.
Response: Generally, these requests are granted subject to redactions. FOIL reviews the records against the statute, COOG opinions, court decisions, etc. and makes a determination how to respond, including any trade secret redactions.
Helpful Tips
When submitting a FOIL request:
- Be as specific as possible in describing the requested records. Include relevant dates, names, descriptions, etc. See suggested language for a FOIL request from the Committee on Open Government.
- Specify whether you would like to inspect the records or have copies of the records sent to you.
- If records are available, specify how you want them sent, i.e., via US mail, e-mail or fax. If you have requested a large volume of records, we may choose to send the records by U.S. mail for security or other important reasons. We will notify you of any charge for reproducing such records before they are sent to you.
- Include your email, mailing address and fax number, as well as a telephone number where you can be reached during business hours, if it is necessary to contact you to clarify your request.
Please note that NYSIF is not required to create a new record in response to FOIL requests.
For more information about FOIL, please visit the New York State Committee on Open Government.