116VA09

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
The records include information concerning VA employees and other individuals who have participated in a VA alternative dispute resolution program.

Categories of records in the system:
The records may contain information related to the name, grade and step of the ADR requesters and respondents; the type of ADR requested, e.g., mediation or arbitration; the type of ADR used; the source of the individual(s) conducting the ADR, e.g., another Federal agency; the grades and steps of the individuals conducting the ADR process; administrative data on the particular ADR case, e.g., date requested; date concluded and total hours spent on the ADR; the nature of the dispute, e.g., discrimination or harassment; the stage in the dispute in which ADR is inserted, the jurisdictional forum in which the dispute was located when ADR was requested, any waiver of rights under 29 CFR part 1614, the terms of any settlement agreement, e.g., damages, attorneys fees, reassignment, and the satisfaction of the parties with the ADR process, and. the source of the neutral third party who conducted the procedure, e.g., the facility's program, a local shared neutral's program, the national program, or a private, non governmental program.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
Title 5, United States Code, sections 571-584; Federal Acquisition Regulation; Part 33, Protests, Disputes, and Appeals and/or VA Acquisition Regulation, Part 833, Protests, Disputes, and Appeals; and Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, section 1614.

Purpose(s):
VA will use the information to track and monitor agency dispute resolution activities at the local level. VA also intends to analyze the data to evaluate ADR utilization VA-wide, identify agency ADR best practices, and determine whether certain forms of ADR may be more appropriate in various types of cases.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:

VA is proposing to establish the following routine use disclosures of the information that will be maintained in the system:

1. Disclosure may be made to a Congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an inquiry from the Congressional office made at the request of that individual.
2. Disclosure may be made to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in records management inspections conducted under the authority of Title 44 U.S.C.
3. Records from this system of records may be disclosed to the Department of Justice (DOJ) or in a proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative body before which the Agency is authorized to appear when: (1) The Agency, or any component thereof; (2) any employee of the Agency in his or her official capacity, where DOJ or the Agency has agreed to represent the employee; or (3) the United States, when the Agency determines that litigation is likely to affect the Agency or any of its components; is a party to litigation, and has an interest in such litigation, and the use of such records by DOJ or the Agency is deemed by the Agency to be relevant and necessary to the litigation, provided, however, that the disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
4. Disclosure of relevant information may be made to individuals, organizations, private or public agencies, or other entities with whom VA has a contract or agreement or where there is a subcontract to perform such services as VA may deem practicable for the purposes of laws administered by VA, in order for the contractor or subcontractor to perform the services of the contract or agreement.
5. VA may disclose on its own initiative any information in this system that is relevant to a suspected or reasonably imminent violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature and whether arising by general or program statute or by regulation, rule or order issued pursuant thereto, to a Federal, State, local, tribal, or foreign agency charged with the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting such violation, or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, regulation, rule or order. VA must be able to comply with the requirements of agencies charged with enforcing the law and investigations of violations or possible violations of law.
6. Disclosure may be made to an appeal, grievance, hearing, or complaints examiner; an equal employment opportunity investigator, arbitrator, or mediator; and an exclusive representative or other person authorized to investigate or settle a grievance, complaint, or appeal filed by an individual who is the subject of the record.
7. Disclosure may be made to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the General Accounting Office (GAO) in order for them to perform their responsibilities for evaluating Federal programs.
8. Information may be disclosed to officials of labor organizations recognized under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71, when relevant and necessary to their duties of exclusive representation concerning personnel policies, practices, and matters affecting working conditions.
9. Information may be disclosed to officials of the Merit Systems Protection Board or the Office of the Special Counsel when requested in connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and other merit systems, review of rules and regulations, investigation of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and such other functions, promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as may be authorized by law.
10. Information may be disclosed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission when requested in connection with investigations of alleged or possible discriminatory practices, examination of Federal affirmative employment programs, or for other functions of the Commission as authorized by law.
11. Information may be disclosed to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (including its General Counsel) when appropriate jurisdiction has been established and the information has been requested in connection with the investigation and resolution of allegations of unfair labor practices or in connection with the resolution of exceptions to arbitration awards when a question of material fact is raised; and to the Federal Service Impasses Panel in matters they are considering.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system:

Storage:
Records are maintained on a web development server.

Retrievability:
Records are retrieved by name or other assigned identifiers of the individuals who participate in the VA ADR process.

Safeguards:

1. Access to and use of these records is limited to those persons whose official duties require such access.
2. Access to the ADR tracking system is controlled by using an individually unique user identification code.
3. Access to the VA facility where the ADR tracking system is maintained is controlled at all hours by the Federal Protective Service, VA, or other security personnel and security access control devices.
4. Public use files prepared for purposes of research and analysis are purged of personal identifiers.

Retention and disposal:
Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with records disposition authority approved by the Archivist of the United States.

System manager(s) and address:
Official responsible for policies and procedures: Dispute Resolution Specialist (09), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.

Notification procedure:
Individuals who wish to determine whether this system of records contains information about them should address written inquiries to Dispute Resolution Specialist (09), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.

Record access procedure:
Individuals seeking information regarding access to and contesting of records in this system may write Dispute Resolution Specialist (09), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.

Contesting record procedures:
(See Record Access Procedures above.)

Record source categories:
Information in this system of records is provided by employees who serve as local ADR program coordinators who obtain information from the ADR program participants.

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