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Initially
approved by the Chancellor October 17, 1983
Revised
October 21, 1985
Revised
March 26, 2001
Revised
February 13, 2009
POLICY STATEMENT # 59
PERSONNEL RECORDS
Policy:
Proper
handling of employee personnel records by UNC Charlotte
as a public institution requires harmonizing the interests
of employees, UNC Charlotte as employer, and the general
public. State law in North Carolina places certain
requirements on handling state employee personnel
records and establishes penalties for their violation.
Beyond the mere legal requirements, certain additional
standards concerning personnel records should be maintained.
This policy statement incorporates both legal requirements
and additional standards for two purposes: to provide
guidance to employees about their privileges and obligations
with respect to their own personnel records, and to
guide UNC Charlotte personnel responsible for producing
and maintaining personnel records in the appropriate
handling of those records. No access to or disclosure
from employee personnel records is permitted except
in accordance with these requirements.
I.
Definitions
According
to state law, a "personnel file" consists
of any employment-related or personal information,
wherever located and in whatever form, which
relates to an Individual's application, selection
or non-selection, promotion, demotion, transfer, leave,
salary, contract for employment, benefits, suspension,
performance evaluation, disciplinary action, or termination
of employment if that information is gathered by UNC
Charlotte, the Retirement Systems Division of the
Department of State Treasurer, or by the Office of
State Personnel. Personnel file information also
includes an individual's home address, social
security number, medical history, personal financial
data, marital status, dependents, and beneficiaries.
"Individuals" having UNC Charlotte personnel
files include present UNC Charlotte employees, former
employees, and applicants for employment. An "applicant
for employment" is an individual who takes those
steps necessary to be considered an applicant for
purposes of the UNC Charlotte Affirmative Action plan.
Not
every record that mentions an employee constitutes a
personnel record. When there is doubt, refer inquiries
to the Office of Legal Affairs.
II.
Information
Required to Be Disclosed to Any Member of the Public
The
law requires the University to permit the public access
to the following information from an individual’s
personnel file: name, age, date of original state
employment or appointment to the State service, the terms of any contract by which the
employee is employed whether written or oral, past
and current, to the extent that the agency has the
written contract or a record of the oral contract
in its possession, current position or title, current
salary, date and amount of most recent salary increase
or decrease, date of most recent status change (promotion,
demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, resignation,
termination, etc.) or other change in position
classification, and the office or department to which
the employee is currently assigned. Salary information
includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred
and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing
entity. In addition, the UNC Board of Governors has
enacted a policy in which provisions specific to the
contracts of head coaches and athletic directors in
the UNC system can be found (see The UNC
Policy Manual §1100.3.A.6). As a general rule,
all requests for access to personnel information from
any person or agency except the subject employee or
the employee's supervisors (see VI below), should
be referred to the Department of Human Resources (SPA)
or the Office of Academic Affairs (EPA) or the Graduate
School (Graduate Assistants, Teaching Assistants and
Research Assistants).
III.
Location of Personnel Records
A.
Current employees: Personnel records on current
employees are maintained in a variety of campus
offices, depending on the nature of the record.
B.
Former employees: Personnel records on all
former SPA employees are retained only in the Department
of Human Resources. When employment terminates,
all personnel records for SPA positions shall be
forwarded to the Department of Human Resources.
Personnel records on former EPA employees are retained
in the Office of Academic Affairs and in their respective
departments/units for up to three years before being
sent to the University Archives, where the files
are merged.
C. Unsuccessful
applicants for employment: Personnel records on
all unsuccessful applicants for SPA employment are
retained only in the Department of Human Resources.
Personnel records on all unsuccessful applicants for
EPA employment are retained in the unit or department
conducting the search for three years, and then the
files are destroyed.
A. Current
employees: Personnel records for current employees
are maintained in the appropriate offices throughout
the period of employment, subject to the "relevancy"
requirement of Section VII below.
For SPA employees who transfer to another department
within the University, the former department shall
send the personnel records of the transferred SPA
employee to the Department of Human Resources.
B.
Former employees: After receiving the personnel
records for SPA positions consistent with Section
III.B above, the Department of Human Resources shall
retain such records for five years; such records
shall then be forwarded to the State Archives for
permanent storage. When employment terminates for
EPA positions, all files are maintained in the Office
of Academic Affairs and in their respective departments/units
for up to three years and then sent to University
Archives for permanent storage. The University
Archivist merges all files and maintains a directory
of files.
C.
Unsuccessful applicants for employment: Personnel
records of all unsuccessful applicants for SPA positions
shall be retained in the Department of Human Resources
for three years, then destroyed. Personnel records
of all unsuccessful applicants for EPA positions shall
be retained in the recruiting department/unit for
three years and then destroyed.
V.
Employee Inspection of His/Her Personnel File
A
current employee who wishes to inspect his/her personnel
file in a particular campus office should contact the
administrator in charge of that office. An employee,
former employee, or applicant who wishes to make a more
general inspection should make a written request directed
to:
SPA
employees: Director of Personnel
EPA
employees: Associate Provost for Academic Budget
and Personnel
Graduate
assistants: Dean of the Graduate School
Those
offices will accumulate all records and schedule a time
and place for the employee to inspect the personnel
file.
VI.
Maintaining Confidentiality and Permitting Access
Employees
responsible for maintaining personnel records and files
of current UNC Charlotte employees should permit access
to those records only in accord with the requirements
in this section unless they receive special instructions
from their supervisor.
A.
Access should be permitted to:
1.
All supervisors who are above the employee who
is the subject of the records in the supervisory
chain, or persons authorized by those supervisors
to carry out personnel administration functions,
but only for purposes of official University business.
2.
The employee, applicant for employment, or former
employee who is the subject of a personnel record,
who may have access to the personnel record in
its entirety, except for confidential letters
of recommendation solicited prior to employment,
and certain medical records.
"Confidential
letters of recommendation" include notes from
telephone reference checks and statements from UNC
Charlotte and other individuals solicited prior
to the initial date of employment. Once a new employee
begins at UNC Charlotte, all copies of such confidential
letters of recommendation should be forwarded to
the Department of Human Resources (SPA employees),
to the office of Academic Affairs (EPA employees),
or to the Graduate School (Graduate Assistants,
Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants).
"Medical
records" require special consideration.
Records relating to employee medical or counseling
services provided by the University Health Service
and University Counseling Center are not part
of the personnel file. An employee is not entitled
to review medical records that are part
of his/her personnel file if those records include
"information concerning a medical disability,
mental or physical, that a prudent physician would
not reveal to a patient." That information
may be released to a licensed physician designated
in writing by the employee.
Because
"medical records" present special confidentiality
requirements, all copies of such documents should
be forwarded to the Benefits Office in the Department
of Human Resources.
Employees
responsible for maintaining personnel files are
expected to review the personnel file for the presence
of confidential recommendations and medical records
before permitting any employee access to his or
her personnel file.
If
any case of doubt about whether to disclose information
from personnel records, contact the Department of
Human Resources or the Office of Academic Affairs.
VII.
Relevance
Information
and documents not relevant to personnel administration
should not be retained in the personnel file.
VIII.
Employee Objections to Material in the Personnel
File
Any
individual, as defined above, is legally entitled
to take either or both of the following actions if
he or she considers material in the personnel file
to be inaccurate or misleading:
A.
Place in the file a statement relating to the material
considered inaccurate or misleading.
B. Seek
removal of material in the file in accordance with
grievance procedure applicable to the employee's
category of employment.
IX.
Notice to Employee of Disclosure of Confidential
Information to Outside Agencies
The
University will notify the employee as promptly as
possible when it makes a disclosure of confidential
information required or permitted by law, as in response
to a subpoena, court order, or to a properly authorized
government official. The University official making
such disclosure is responsible for notifying the employee
in writing, with a copy of the notice to the personnel
file. No such notice will be given where the only
information requested is information available to
the general public.
X.
Use of Information from Credit Reporting Services
in Personnel Decisions
Because
of federal law requirements governing requests for
or use of information obtained by or through any consumer
credit reporting agency, no UNC Charlotte representative
is authorized to request or make use of such information
for any University-related purpose without the written
approval of the Chancellor. The UNC Charlotte
Office of Police and Public Safety is exempt from
this requirement with respect to employment of campus
security officers, consistent with the federal requirements.
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