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RMP-9, Guidelines for Access to University Personnel Records by Governmental AgenciesJuly 1, 1987
GUIDELINES FOR ACCESS TO UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL RECORDS
BY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES
I. Introduction.
All University records about individuals are classified as (1)
"confidential academic review records" (peer review records), (2)
"confidential records," (3) "personal records," or (4) "non-personal
records." Access rights by individuals and entities vary according to
the type of record. Comprehensive requirements for access to all types
of University records are contained in Business and Finance Bulletin
RMP-8, "Legal Requirements on Privacy of and Access to Information." The
purpose of these guidelines is to supplement that document by specifying
the rights of Federal, state, and local government officials to access
the four categories of University personnel records. Included in these
guidelines are the provisions of the two legal agreements between the
University and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the State of
California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) pertaining
to access to confidential academic review (peer review records) during
investigations of discrimination complaints or compliance reviews.
For additional information on access to and the privacy of personnel
information refer to:
Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-8, "Legal Requirements on Privacy of
and Access to Information," dated December 10, 1985;
Academic Personnel Manual Section 160, "Maintenance of, Access to, and
Opportunity to Request Amendment of Academic Personnel Records,"
revised July 5, 1984;* and
Staff Personnel Policy 605, "Staff Personnel Records," dated September
1, 1981.**
*All references to this policy apply to academic personnel except as
otherwise provided by a Memorandum of Understanding
**Staff Personnel Policy 605 does not apply to staff employees covered
by a Memorandum of Understanding
II. Access by Governmental Agencies to Confidential Academic Review
(Peer Review) Records.
This section does not apply to access to peer review records by the U.S.
Department of Labor (DOL) or the State of California Department of Fair
Employment and Housing (DFEH) relating to complaints of discrimination
or compliance reviews. See Sections III and IV.
If a representative of a governmental agency other than DOL or DFEH
requests access to material in University personnel records which
includes items that are "confidential academic review records" (peer
review records) pursuant to Academic Personnel Manual Section
160-20-b(1) (Appendix A), such request must be in written form. In
response to the written request, the requester should be informed that:
The University of California is in full support of (name of agency)'s
need and duty to acquire information pertinent to carrying out its
functions. University policies concerning confidential academic peer
review records, however, specify that such records are confidential
documents. This designation of confidentiality is essential to the
University's academic personnel process to secure candid evaluations
of individuals under review. The University provides safeguards in
the review process to assure that the confidentiality does not cloak
unfairness to individuals or result in abuse.
With respect to academic peer review personnel records, our policies
take into account the need to protect individual rights of privacy.
Furthermore, our academic personnel policies provide that subject
individuals may receive, on request, a comprehensive summary of the
substance of the confidential documents in their files, edited to
withhold disclosure of the identity of persons who have supplied
evaluations of the subject individuals with the understanding that the
identity of the evaluator will be held in confidence.
In light of the above policies, and provided that your agency has a
statutory right to review these records and shall maintain their
confidentiality, the University is prepared to make available for your
authorized representative on-site review of academic personnel files
relevant to your review.
In applying the general policies regarding use of confidential academic
documents in the personnel process, and in order to balance the need to
protect the confidentiality of certain records against the legitimate
needs of access by governmental agencies, you should abide by the
following guidelines dealing with representatives of governmental
agencies who have requested material from peer review records:
1. You should allow the governmental agent to view on-site the complete
files which are relevant to the governmental review, but only after
the names of evaluators and any identifying particulars have been
removed.
2. If the governmental agent asks to remove copies of or make and remove
notes about peer review documents from the physical custody of your
campus or Laboratory, the following officers should be consulted prior
to response:
a. the Senior Vice President-Academic Affairs, and
b. General Counsel.
III. Access by the U.S. Department of Labor to Confidential Academic
Review (Peer Review) Records Relating to Complaints of Discrimination or
to Compliance Reviews as Required by Consent Decree.*
If a representative of the Department of Labor, Office of Federal
Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), requests access to material in
University records which includes items the University characterizes as
confidential pursuant to Academic Personnel Manual Section 160-20-b(1)
(academic peer review records), the following procedures, as set forth
in the Consent Decree, should be followed:
"1. The University shall provide OFCCP access for inspection and
copying of such books, records, accounts, and other materials
which OFCCP determines to be relevant and necessary whenever it
is reviewing the University's compliance with Executive Order
11246, as amended, and the rules, regulations and orders issued
pursuant thereto (hereinafter Executive Order 11246 or the
Executive Order). The University shall allow OFCCP to remove
copies of said books, records, accounts, other materials, and
notes there from off campus or from any other place at
which they are maintained.**
"2. OFCCP will remove copies of books, records, accounts, and other
University materials off campus where it concludes that said
materials are necessary to its Executive Order review. However,
where such books, records, accounts, or other materials concern
the following, and are and have been maintained in confidence by
the University, prior to making copies, the OFCCP investigator
(EOS) will justify his/her decision to the appropriate OFCCP Area
Office Director:
"a. Letters of evaluation or other statements pertaining to any
individual received by the University in the academic peer
review process with the understanding that the letter or
statement will be held in confidence;
"b. Letters from the chairperson (or equivalent officer) in the
academic peer review process setting forth a departmental
recommendation; and,
*An agreement between the University of California and the U.S.
Department of Labor dated October 3, 1980 pertaining to the latter's
access to University academic peer review records. The full text of the
Consent Decree is available from the Office of the General Counsel.
**However, nothing in this Consent Decree shall be deemed to in any way
limit the University's right under 41 CFR 60-60.4(c) (or its successor)
to question the relevance of documents removed off campus or from any
other place in which they are maintained, and to seek their return
thereunder.
"c. Reports, recommendations, and other related documents from
administrative officers and campus ad hoc and standing
committee in the academic peer review process concerning
evaluations of individuals.
Only if the Area Office Director concurs, will copies of any
of the above-listed documents be taken off campus or removed
from any other place where they are retained by the
University. If the Area Office Director concurs, the
University shall be notified by the Area Office Director of
the documents to be copied and removed. Copies will then be
taken off campus, or from other locations where they are
maintained by the University, in accordance with OFCCP's
Executive Order compliance assessment needs ...
"4. Where OFCCP takes copies of any of the documents listed in
paragraph 2, a-c, above, off campus or from other locations where
they are maintained by the University, all copies of such
documents (which have not been entered as hearing or trial
exhibits) shall be returned to the University within a reasonable
period of time after completion, as determined by the Department
of Labor, of a compliance review, complaint investigation, other
investigation, or administrative or judicial enforcement
proceedings.* The University will then maintain said copies
for at least ten (10) years unless the parties mutually agree on a
shorter period of retention, and will provide them to OFCCP whenever it
requests them. When such documents are provided, OFCCP shall
maintain and return them in accordance with this Consent Decree."
* The term "completion" includes, but is not limited to, Departmental
reviews of such reviews, investigations, or proceedings.
IV. Access by the State of California Department of Fair Employment and
Housing to Confidential Academic Review (Peer Review) Records Relating
to Complaints of Discrimination as Required by Disclosure Agreement.
If a representative of DFEH requests access to material in University
academic peer review personnel records which includes items the
University characterizes as confidential pursuant to Academic Personnel
Manual Section 160-20-b(1), the procedures set forth in the Disclosure
Agreement (Appendix B) should be followed. This agreement concerns
disclosure of University records when DFEH is investigating charges of
employment discrimination, and details the specific steps to be followed
when releasing all types of academic personnel records, including
comprehensive summaries of confidential academic review records and
actual review records.
V. Access by Governmental Agencies to Academic, Staff, and Other
Employee Personnel Records Designated as Confidential (other than
Confidential Academic or Peer Review Records).
Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-8, "Legal Requirements on Privacy of
and Access to Information," Section VII.B.1. provides a complete
definition of confidential information which includes, but is not
limited by law to, medical, psychological, and investigative information
about an individual. See Appendix C. Academic Personnel Manual Section
160-20-b(2) similarly defines confidential information and clarifies
that such academic personnel information is generally not part of the
peer review file, but is occasionally maintained by the University.
Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-8 provides the definition of
confidential information for all staff employees.
If a representative of a governmental agency requests access to
confidential academic, staff, or other employee personnel information,
such request must be in written form and the information should be made
available only if the governmental agency has a legal right to such
access. Because of the sensitivity of confidential information and the
University's policy of protecting individual rights of privacy, the
requester should be informed that:
The University of California is in full support of (name of agency)'s
need and duty to acquire information pertinent to carrying out its
functions. Our personnel policies specify, however, that certain
materials in personnel records are confidential documents, and take
into account the rights of access of third parties, as well as the
need to protect individual rights of privacy.
In light of these policies and in conformance with the law, the
University is prepared to make available for your authorized
representative on-site review of confidential personnel files relevant
to your review, provided that your agency has a statutory right to
review these records and shall maintain their confidentiality.
VI. Access by Governmental Agencies to Academic, Staff, and Other
Employee Personnel Records Designated as Non-personal or Personal.
The preceding guidelines have dealt with access to confidential academic
review (peer review) records, and the separately defined confidential
information about academic, staff, and other employees. Following are
guidelines for governmental access to that personnel information which
the University considers non-personal or personal in nature.
Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-8, Section VII.B.3, Academic Personnel
Manual Section 160-20-b(3) and Staff Personnel Policy 605.18 specify
those types of personnel information which the University considers to
be non-personal, such as the individual's name, the date of
hire, the current position title, the current rate of pay, the
organizational unit assignment (including office address and telephone
number), and the current job description. These types of records are
public records and are available to governmental agencies upon request.
Personal information is defined in Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-8,
Section VII.B.4, Academic Personnel Manual Section 160-20-b(4), and
Staff Personnel Policy 605.19, as that information which is not
confidential (Section V above and Appendix C) or non-personal, and the
disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy of the individual. Examples of the most common types of personal
information are included in the referenced section of Business and
Finance Bulletin RMP-8. If a representative of a governmental agency
requests access to personal information about any employee, it will be
made available only if the governmental agency has a statutory right to
such access, or if the individual to whom the information pertains has
authorized release (Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-8, Section
VII.G.3., Academic Personnel Manual Section 160-20-d(3), Staff Personnel
Policy 605.22). The governmental agency should agree to not release
personal information obtained from the University except to the subject
of the information or to authorized individuals.
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