Do I have to let a process server come into the workplace to serve papers on an employee?

Situations may arise where a process server comes to your premises to try and serve an employee with legal papers that are unrelated to work, such as divorce papers. Process servers have no legal right to enter an employer’s premises to serve legal papers on employees, and employers can ask them to leave without fear of repercussion. An employer also has no obligation to direct an employee to meet a process server at a worksite.

Employers who have a lobby or reception area to receive visitors should make a policy decision whether to cooperate with process servers and call employees to reception to be served. Reception staff should be trained to either call employees to meet a process server or to ask the process server to leave the premises.

Since service must be made personally to the individual identified in the legal documents, employers should instruct all employees, including management employees, not to accept service of process on behalf of any other employee.

Process servers may wait to serve employees when they leave their worksites. If the process server is in a semi-public area, such as the employer’s parking lot, the employer has no ability to prevent the process server from serving papers on an employee.

You can find information on the service of subpoenas for company records in Civil Action Subpoena of Records in the HR Library.