[Federal Register: January 8, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 5)] [Notices] [Page 1110-1111] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr08ja98-49] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY Privacy Act of 1974; Amendment of a System of Records AGENCY: Federal Labor Relations Authority. ACTION: Notice of amendment of system of records to include new routine uses; request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(11)), the Federal Labor Relations Authority is issuing notice of its intent to amend the system of records entitled Pay, Leave and Travel Records (FLRA/INTERNAL-15) to include new routine uses necessitated by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-193. DATES: Comments must be received no later than February 9, 1998. The proposed amendments concerning routine uses will become effective as proposed without further notice on February 9, 1998 unless comments dictate otherwise. ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may comment on this publication by writing to Harold D. Kessler, Assistant to Executive Director, Office of the Executive Director, Federal Labor Relations Authority, 607 14th Street, N.W., Room 415, Washington, D.C. 20424-0001. All comments received will be available for public inspection at that address. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold D. Kessler, at the address given above or by telephone: (202) 482-6560. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Discussion of Proposed Additional Routine Use Necessitated by Pub. L. 104-193 Pursuant to Pub. L. 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) will disclose data from its Pay, Leave and Travel Records system of records to the Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, for use in the National Database of New Hires, part of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) and Federal Tax Offset System, DHHS/OSCE No. 09-90-0074. A description of the Federal Parent Locator Service may be found at 62 FR 51663 (October 2, 1997). The FPLS is a computerized network through which states may request location information from federal and state agencies to find non- custodial parents and their employers for purposes of establishing paternity and securing support. On October 1, 1997, the FPLS was expanded to include the National Directory of New Hires, a database containing employment information on employees recently hired, quarterly wage data on private and public sector employees, and information on unemployment compensation benefits. On October 1, 1998, the FPLS will be expanded further to include a Federal Case Registry. The Federal Case Registry will contain abstracts on all participants involved in child support enforcement cases. When the Federal Case Registry is instituted, its files will be matched on an ongoing basis against the files in the National Directory of New Hires to determine if an employee is a participant in a child support case anywhere in the country. [[Page 1111]] If the FPLS identifies a person as being a participant in a state child support case, that state will be notified. Requests made by states to the FPLS for location information will continue to be processed after October 1, 1998. When individuals are hired by the FLRA, either the FLRA or its personnel/payroll system provider may disclose to the FPLS such individuals' names, social security numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, dates and states of hire, and information identifying the FLRA as the employer. The FLRA or its personnel/payroll system provider may also disclose to the FPLS names, social security numbers, and quarterly earnings of each FLRA employee, within one month of the end of the quarterly reporting period. Information submitted by or on behalf of the FLRA to the FPLS will be disclosed by the Office of Child Support Enforcement to the Social Security Administration for verification to ensure that the social security number provided is correct. The data disclosed by or on behalf of the FLRA to the FPLS will also be disclosed by the Office of Child Support Enforcement to the Secretary of the Treasury for use in verifying claims for the advance payment of the earned income tax credit or to verify a claim of employment on a tax return. II. Compatibility of Proposed Routine Use Necessitated by Pub. L. 104- 193 The FLRA is amending its routine uses in accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)). The Privacy Act permits the disclosure of information about individuals without their consent for a routine use where the information will be used for a purpose that is compatible with the purpose for which the information was originally collected. The Office of Management and Budget had indicated that a compatible use is a use that is necessary and proper. See OMB Guidelines, 51 FR 18982, 18985 (May 23, 1986). Since the proposed uses of the data are required by Public Law 104-193, they are clearly necessary and proper uses, and, therefore, ``compatible'' uses under the Privacy Act's requirements. III. Effect of Proposed Change Necessitated by Pub. L. 104-193 on Individuals The FLRA will disclose information under the proposed routine uses only as required by Pub. L. 104-193 and as permitted by the Privacy Act. Disclosure will be made by the FLRA or its personnel/payroll system provider. IV. Other Changes The FLRA is making another change required to update the system of records. Specifically, the notice also amends the routine uses to add a new routine use for the disclosure of information to the FLRA's personnel/payroll system provider. As required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) of the Privacy Act, the FLRA has sent notice of this amended system of records to the Office of Management and Budget, as well as to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and to the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Accordingly, the Pay, Leave and Travel Records (FLRA/INTERNAL-15) system notice originally published at 45 FR 85316, 85331, (December 24, 1980) and amended most recently at 60 FR 50202, 50203 (September 28, 1995) is further amended as follows: FLRA/Internal-15 * * * * * ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES: These records and information in these records may be used: * * * * * p. To disclose information to appropriate offices and agencies that are under an agreement with the Federal Labor Relations Authority to prepare pay, leave and travel records, to meet government payroll recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and to retrieve and supply payroll and leave information as required by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. q. To disclose the names, social security numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, dates of hire, quarterly earnings, employer identifying information, and state of hire of employees to the Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, for the purpose of locating individuals to establish paternity, establishing and modifying orders of child support, identifying sources of income, and for other child support enforcement actions as required by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (Welfare Reform law, Pub. L. 104-193). * * * * * Dated: January 5, 1998. For the Authority. Solly J. Thomas, Executive Director, Federal Labor Relations Authority. [FR Doc. 98-472 Filed 1-7-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6727-01-P