(a) Purpose and scope. This part contains the regulations of the
U.S. Department of Labor implementing the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C.
552a. The regulations apply to all records which are contained in
systems of records maintained by, or under the control of, the
Department of Labor and which are retrieved by an individual's name or
personal identifier. These regulations set forth the procedures by
which an individual may seek access under the Privacy Act to records
pertaining to him, may request correction or amendment of such records,
or may seek an accounting of disclosures of such records by the
Department. These regulations are applicable to each component of the
Department.
(b) Government-wide systems of records. (1) DOL/GOVT-1 (Office of
Workers' Compensation Programs, Federal Employees' Compensation Act
File):
(i) All records, including claim forms, medical, investigative and
other reports, statements of witnesses, and other papers relating to
claims for compensation filed under the Federal Employees' Compensation
Act (as amended and extended), are covered by the government-wide
system of records entitled DOL/GOVT-1. This system is maintained by and
under the control of the Employment Standards Administration's Office
of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), and, as such, all records
contained in the OWCP claims file, as well as all copies of such
documents retained and/or maintained by the injured worker's employing
agency, are official records of the OWCP.
(ii) The protection, release, inspection and copying of records
covered by DOL/GOVT-1 shall be accomplished in accordance with the
rules, guidelines and provisions of this part, as well as with part 70
of this subtitle, and with the notice of the systems of records and
routine uses published in the Federal Register. All questions relating
to access/disclosure, and/or the amendment of FECA records maintained
by the OWCP or an employing agency, are to be resolved in accordance
with this part.
(iii)(A) While an employing agency may establish procedures that an
injured employee or beneficiary should follow in requesting access to
documents it maintains, any decision issued in response to such a
request must comply with the rules and regulations of the Department of
Labor.
(B) Any administrative appeal taken from a denial issued by the
employing agency shall be filed with the Solicitor of Labor in
accordance with Secs. 71.7 and 71.9 of this part.
(iv) No agency other than the OWCP has authority to issue
determinations in response to requests for the correction or amendment
of records contained in or covered by DOL/GOVT-1. Any request for
correction or amendment received by an employing agency must be
referred to the OWCP for review and decision.
(2) For the government-wide system of records entitled DOL/GOVT-2
(Job Corps Student Records), a system maintained by and under the
control of the Employment and Training Administration, the regulations
of this Department shall govern, including the procedure for requesting
access to, or amendment of the records, as well as appeals therefrom,
shall govern.
(c) Definitions. As used in this subpart, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
(1) Agency has the meaning set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552(f).
(2) Component means each separate agency, bureau, office, board,
division, commission, service, or administration of the Department of
Labor, as well as each agency which possesses records covered by a DOL
government-wide system of records.
(3) Individual Data Subject means the individual by whose name or
identifier the subject record is retrieved.
(4) Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information
about an individual which is maintained by any component within a
system of records and which contains the individual's name, identifying
number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the
individual, such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, or photograph.
(5) Requester means an individual who makes either a request for
access, a request for correction or amendment, or a request for an
accounting.
(6) Routine use has the meaning set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552a(7).
(7) Statistical record has the meaning set forth in 5 U.S.C.
552a(6).
(8) System of records means a group of any records under the
control of the Department or any component from which information is
retrieved by the name of an individual or by some identifying number,
symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to that individual.
(9) Under the control of means those official records for which the
agency is officially responsible and either has in its possession or
exercises dominion over. This excludes those records which, although in
the physical possession of agency employees and used by them in
performing official functions, are not, in fact, agency records.
Uncirculated personal notes, papers and records which are retained or
discarded at the author's discretion and over which the agency
exercises no dominion or control (e.g., personal telephone list) are
not agency records for purposes of this part.
(10) He, his, and him include ``she'', ``hers'' and ``her''.
