DOL/OASAM-20

SYSTEM NAMES:

Personnel Investigation Records.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:

None for the system. However, items or records within the system may have national defense/foreign policy classifications up through secret.

SYSTEM LOCATION:

Assistant Director, Executive Resources and Personnel Security Team (OASAM), U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20210.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:

a. Current and former employees or applicants for employment in the Department.

b. Individuals considered for access to classified information or restricted areas and/or security determinations as contractors, experts, instructors, and consultants to Departmental programs.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

Investigative files and investigative index card files which pertain to clearance investigations for Federal employment. These records contain investigative information regarding an individual's character, conduct, and behavior in the community where he or she lives or lived; arrests and convictions for violations against the law; reports of interviews with present and former supervisors, coworkers, associates, educators, etc; reports about the qualifications of an individual for a specific position and files and index cards relating to adjudication matters; reports of inquiries with law enforcement agencies, employers, educational institutions attended; reports or action after OPM or FBI Section 8(d) Full Field Investigation; Notices of Security Investigation; and other information developed from above.

NOTE: This system does not apply to records of a personnel investigative nature that are part of the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Privacy Act System OPM/CENTRAL-9, Personnel Investigation Records. Access to or amendment of such records must be obtained from OPM.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

Executive Order 10450.

PURPOSE(S):

The purposes of this systems are:

a. To provide investigatory information for determination concerning compliance with Federal personnel regulations and for individual personnel determinations including suitability and fitness for Federal employment, access and security clearances, evaluations of qualifications, loyalty to the U.S. and evaluations of qualifications and suitability for performance of contractual services for the U. S. Government.

b. To document such determinations;

c. To provide information necessary for the scheduling and conduct of the required investigations;

d. To otherwise comply with mandates and Executive Order; and

These records may also be used to locate individuals for personnel research.

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 in disclosing relevant and necessary information:

a. To designated officers and employees of agencies, offices, and other establishments in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, and the District of Columbia Government, when such agency, office, or establishment conducts an investigation of the individual for the purpose of granting a security clearance, or for the purpose of making a determination of qualifications, suitability, or loyalty to the United States Government, or access to classified information or restricted areas.

b. To designated officers and employees of agencies, offices, and other establishments in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, and the District of Columbia Government, having the responsibility to grant clearances to make a determination regarding access to classified information or restricted areas, or to evaluate qualifications, suitability, or loyalty to the United States Government, in connection with performance of a service to the Federal Government under a contract or other agreement.

c. To the intelligence agencies of the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for use in intelligence activities.

d. To Federal agencies as a data source for management information through the production of summary descriptive statistics and analytical studies in support of the functions for maintained or for related studies.

e. To disclose information to officials of the Merit Systems Protection Board, including the Office of the Special Counsel, when requested in connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and other merit systems, review of office rules and regulations, investigations of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and such other functions, e.g., as promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as may be authorized by law.

f. To disclose information to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission when requested in connection with investigations into alleged or possible discrimination practices in the Federal sector, examination of Federal affirmative employment programs, compliance by Federal agencies with the Uniform Guideline Employee Selection Procedures, or other functions vested in the Commission by the President's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978.

g. To disclose information to the Federal Labor Relations Authority or its General Counsel when requested in connection with investigations of allegations of unfair labor practices or matters before the Federal Service Impasses Panel.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:

Not applicable.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ASSESSING, RETAINING, AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

STORAGE:

Records are maintained in file folders and on index cards.

RETRIEVABILITY:

Records are retrieved by the name of the individual on whom they are maintained.

SAFEGUARDS:

Folders are maintained in file cabinets secured by three position combination locks. The index to the system and those records which are maintained on index cards are contained in covered and locked Wheeldex machines. All employees are required to have an appropriate security clearance before they are allowed access to the records.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

a. Index cards which show the scheduling or completion of an investigation, and investigative files, if any, are retained for 2 years, plus the current year from the date of the most recent investigative activity. Other index cards which show no investigative record other than the completion of a clear National Agency Check or a clear National Agency Check Inquiry, and where no investigative file folder exists, are retained for two years plus the current year.

b. Reports of action after OPM or FBI section 8(d) background investigation are retained for the life of the investigative file.

c. Notices of Security Investigations are retained for 20 years.

All records are destroyed by burning.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:

Director, Human Resources Services Center, OASAM, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

Individuals wishing to inquire whether this system contains information about them should contact the system manager in writing. Individuals must furnish the following information for their records to be located and identified:

a. Full name

b. Date of birth

c. Signature

d. Any available information regarding the type of record involved.

e. The category of covered individuals under which the requester believes he or she fits.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:

Individuals wishing to request access to their records should contact the system manager in writing. Individuals must furnish the following information for their records to be located and identified:

a. Full name

b. Date of birth

c. Signature

d. Any available information regarding the type of record involved.

e. The category of covered individuals under which the requester believes he or she fits.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:

Individuals wishing to request amendment to their non-exempt records should contact the system manager in writing. Individuals must furnish the following information for their records to be located and identified:

a. Full name

b. Date of birth

c. Signature

d. Any available information regarding the type of record involved.

e. The category of covered individuals under which the requester believes he or she fits.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

Information contained in the system was obtained from the following categories of sources:

a. Applications and other personnel and security forms furnished by the individual;

b. Investigative and other record material furnished by Federal agencies;

c. Notices of personnel actions furnished by Federal agencies;

d. By personal investigation or written inquiry from sources such as employers, educational institutions, references, neighbors, associates, police departments, courts, credit bureaus, medical records, probation officials, prison officials, newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and other publications.

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:

This system may contain the following types of information:

a. Investigatory material compiled solely for the purpose of determining suitability, eligibility, or qualifications for Federal civilian employment. The Privacy Act, at 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(5), permits an agency to exempt such material from certain provisions of the Act. Materials may be exempted to the extent that release of the material to the individual whom the information is about would:

1. Reveal the identity of a source who furnished information to the Government under an express promise (granted on or after September 27, 1975) that the identity of the source would be in confidence; or

2. Reveal the identity of a source who, prior to September 27, 1975, furnished information to the Government under an implied promise that the identity of the source would be held in confidence.

b. For all the above reasons the Department hereby exempts this system from the following provisions of the Privacy Act: 5 U.S.C. 552a (c)(3),(d),(e)(1),(e)(4)(G),(H) and (I) and (f).