09-90-0020 SYSTEMS
LISTING
System name:
Suitability for
Employment Records, HHS/OS/ASPER.
Security
classification:
None.
System
location:
Personnel
Offices listed in “Applicants for Employment Records” HHS System 09-90-0006, Appendix I.
Categories
of individuals covered by the system
Employees of the
Department and applicants for employment.
Categories
of records in the system
This system
consists of a variety of records relating to an individual's suitability for
employment in terms of character, reputation and fitness, including letters of
reference, and responses to
pre-employment inquiries. National Agency Checks and inquiries material
received from the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection
Board, and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel relating to nonsensitive
positions, qualifications and character investigations, and other information
which may relate to the suitability of the individual for the position.
Authority
for maintenance of the system
55 U.S.C. 3301,
3302, 7301; Executive Order 10577; Executive Order 11222.
Purpose(s):
Records in this
system are used by the designated appointing and selecting authorities to make
determinations concerning the individual's suitability for employment. These
records are maintained at ASPER, OPDIV Headquarters and field offices, and
Regional Personnel Offices.
Routine
uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the
purposes of such uses:
1.
Information
in these records may be used by the Office of Personnel Management, Merit Systems
Protection Board, U.S. Office of Special Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
and the Federal Labor Relations Authority (including the General Counsel of the
Authority and the Federal Service Impasses Panel) in carrying out their
functions.
2.
In
the event that this system of records indicates a violation or potential
violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature, and whether
arising by general statute or particular program statute, or by regulation,
rule or order issued pursuant thereto, the relevant records in the system of
records may be referred, as a routine use, to the appropriate agency, whether
federal, state, local, or foreign, charged with the responsibility of
investigating or prosecuting such violation or charged with enforcing or
implementing the statute, or rule, regulation or order issued pursuant thereto.
3.
In
the event the Department deems it desirable or necessary in determining whether
particular records are required to be disclosed under the Freedom of
Information Act, disclosure may be made to the Department of Justice for the
purpose of obtaining its advice.
4.
A
record from this system of records may be disclosed as a “routine use” to a
federal, state or local agency maintaining civil, criminal or other relevant
enforcement records or other pertinent records, such as current licenses, if
necessary to obtain a record relevant to an agency decision concerning the
hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security clearance, the
letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant or other benefit. A record from this system of records may be
disclosed to a federal agency, in response to its request, in connection with
the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security clearance,
the reporting of an investigation of an employee, the letting of a contract, or
the issuance of a license, grant or other benefit by the requesting agency, to
the extent that the record is relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's
decision on the matter.
5.
When
federal agencies having the power to subpoena other federal agencies' records,
such as the Internal Revenue Service or the Civil Rights Commission, issue a
subpoena to the Department for records in this system of records, the
Department will make such records available.
6.
When
a contract between a component of the Department and a labor organization
recognized under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 provides that the agency will disclose
personal records relevant to the organization's mission, records in this system
of records may be disclosed to such organization.
7.
The
Department contemplates that it will contract with a private firm for the
purpose of collating, analyzing, aggregating or otherwise refining records in
this system. Relevant records will be disclosed to such a contractor. The
contractor shall be required to maintain Privacy Act safeguards with respect to
such records.
8.
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.
9.
In
the event of litigation where the defendant is (a) the Department, any
component of the Department, or any employee of the Department in his or her
official capacity; (b) the United States where the Department determines that
the claim, if successful, is likely to directly affect the operations of the
Department or any of its components; or (c) any Department employee in his or
her individual capacity where the Justice Department has agreed to represent
such employee, the Department may disclose such records as it deems desirable
or necessary to the Department of Justice to enable that Department to present
an effective defense, provided such disclosure is compatible with the purpose for
which the records were collected.
10. Records may be disclosed to student
volunteers, individuals working under a personal services contract, and other
individuals performing functions for the Department but technically not having
the status of agency employees, if they need access to the records in order to
perform their assigned agency functions.
Policies
and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of
records in the system:
Storage:
Records are
maintained in file folders and in electronic form.
Retrievability:
Records are
indexed by any combination of name, date of birth, Social Security Number, or
identification number.
Safeguards:
1.
Authorized
Users: Data in electronic form are accessed by passwords known only to those whose
official duties require access.
2.
Physical
Safeguards: File cabinets and rooms where records are stored are locked when
not in use. During regular business hours, rooms are unlocked but are
controlled by on-site personnel.
3.
Procedural
and Technical Safeguards: A password is required to access files maintained in electronic
form. Passwords are changed frequently. All users of the information (see
Authorized Users, above) protect information from public view and from
unauthorized personnel entering an unsupervised office.
These practices
are in compliance with the standards of Chapter 45-13 of the HHS General Administration
Manual, “Safeguarding Records Contained in Systems of Records,” and the Department's
Automated Information System Security Program Handbook, and the National
Institute of Standards and Technology Federal Information Processing Standards
(FIPS Pub. 41 and FIPS Pub. 31).
Retention
and disposal:
Records from the
Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the
U.S. Office of Special Counsel concerning applicants for or incumbents of
nonsensitive positions, are retained until a decision is reached on whether to
hire or retain the applicant or incumbent, and are then destroyed. Other
records in this system are retained until there is no further administrative
need for them, the individual leaves the Department, or three years have
elapsed, whichever is later, and are then destroyed. Paper copies are destroyed
by shredding. Computer files are destroyed by deleting the record from the
file.
System
manager(s) and address(es):
Heads of
personnel offices which service organizational units in which the individual is
employed or in which he/she applied for employment. See Applicants For
Employment Records, HHS, System 09-90-0006, Appendix 1.
Notification
procedureS:
To determine if
a record exists, write to the System Manager as indicated above. The requester must
verify his or her identity by providing either a notarization of the request or
a written certification that the
requester is who he or she claims to be. The request should include the requester's
name, date of birth, and organization in which employed or to which he or she applied
for employment. The requester must understand that knowing and willful request
for a record pertaining to an individual under false pretenses is a criminal
offense under the Act, subject to a five thousand dollar fine.
Record
access procedures:
To obtain access
to records, write to the System Manager as indicated above to obtain access to records
and provide the same information as is required under the Notification
Procedures. Requesters should reasonably
specify the record contents being sought. Individuals may also request an
accounting of disclosure of their records, if any.
Contesting
record procedures:
Records that
contain information that is inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant may
be contested. To contest such information, individuals should contact the
System Manager specified above. They should reasonably identify the record,
specify the information contested, the corrective action sought, and state
their reasons for requesting the correction, along with supporting information
to show how the record is inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant.
Record
source categories:
Information
contained in the system is obtained from:
1.
Applications
and other personnel and security forms furnished by the individual.
2.
Information
furnished by other Federal agencies.
3.
Information
provided by sources such an employers, schools, references, former employers.
Systems
exempted from certain provisions of the act:
Individuals will be provided information from the above system except when in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(5): 1. disclosure of such information would reveal the identity of a source who furnished information to the Government under an express promise that the identity of the source would be held in confidence; or 2. if the information was obtained prior to the effective date of section 3, Pub. L. 93-579, disclosure of such information would reveal the identity of a source who provided information under an implied promise that the identity of the source would be held in confidence. (45 CFR 5b.11.)