last updated: Thursday, July 1, 2004
One Official Personal History file must be maintained for all employees appointed to titles assigned to collective bargaining units. It is highly recommended that an Official Personal History file be maintained for all other employees as well.
Article 23 (Personnel Files) of the 1999-2003 collective bargaining agreement for the Graduate Student Employee Unit provides some general guidelines relating to all such files:
Employees' personnel files shall be kept at a centrally designated location on each campus. Each file shall include, but not be limited to, copies of personnel transactions, official correspondence with the employee, and written reports and evaluations if any, related to an employee's job performance. Upon request, an employee shall have the right to review the employee's personnel file during normal business hours. Copies of materials in the employee's personnel file shall be made available to the employee upon request at the employee's expense. In addition, the employee shall have the right to make a written response to any supervisory evaluation in the employee's personnel file which shall then be attached to that evaluation. A representative of GSEU designated pursuant to subsection 26.3, having written authorization from the employee concerned, and in the presence of a representative of the University, may examine the official personnel file of the employee.
This quote is intended to provide typical agreement language and guidance. Depending upon the category of employee, bargaining agreements have special requirements such as the examples below.
Unless prohibited by law, the campus has an obligation to notify an employee of any request for access to the employee's official file other than related to Official University purposes.
In no event shall statements which are both unsolicited and unsigned be placed in the official personnel file.
Upon receipt of the "other written evaluations and/or recommendations" referred to in subdivision (a) [of Agreement section] which pertain to reappointment, an employee who has completed three or more consecutive years of service in a position of academic or qualified academic rank or in a professional title shall, upon written request, be entitled to a meeting with the person who prepared a written evaluation and/or recommendation described in this subdivision to discuss the basis for such written evaluation and/or recommendation.
Provisions for ensuring that under certain circumstances employees get to see materials related to personnel transactions that are being submitted for review by the final reviewing authority before that authority actually reviews the material.
Since the proper maintenance of these files is both complex and of significant importance, a review of the specific language on the subject in the appropriate collective bargaining agreement must be done to ensure the proper interpretation of rules related to, and the administration of, official personnel files/official personal history folders. Although the campus location for these files for different categories of employees may vary from campus to campus, it is extremely important that all custodians, whether located in the Human Resources Office, the Office of the Dean or Vice President, the Office of the President, or other offices, are knowledgeable of the rules governing the files they maintain.
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Note: It is appropriate for supervisors and others in a direct supervisory relationship to an employee to maintain an "unofficial" file on such employee. The file might include copies of transactions, counseling notes and a communications log, among other work-related documents. However, it should be recognized that these files have no official status in, for example, a disciplinary proceeding. So, if supervisory staff wish to give official status to information contained in such files, they must reduce it to writing in, for examples, a counseling memorandum to the employee copied to his/her personal history folder, or in accordance with campus procedures, in a recommendation for disciplinary action copied to the affected employee. Supervisors are encouraged to contact their Human Resources Office for guidance if they are maintaining such "unofficial" files. |
In order to protect privacy and prevent access to information beyond what is required in order to respond to legitimate external inquiries, it may be appropriate to segregate certain documents within the file or to maintain separate files for some documents. Medical information needs to be protected and should be maintained separately. Similarly, I-9 forms that are subject to audit, should be maintained in a separate file.
Additional guidance is available from the campus Human Resources Office. That office will consult with the SUNY Office of Employee Relations as necessary.
Reference(s):
Check
"Review of Personal History Folder" for the appropriate collective
bargaining unit agreement:
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/CNA/bumatrix.html
Federal
Privacy Act of 1974
http://www.usdoj.gov/foia/privstat.htm
NYS
Personal Privacy Protection Law (Article 6 A - Public Officers Law)
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=94&a=9
Records
Retention and Disposition (See parts 1, 3, 6, and 7 for Affirmative Action,
Employee Relations, Personnel/Payroll and Training)
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/nysaservices/ns_mgr_pub_genschedule.shtml