SORN 09-90-0011
System name: Employee Appraisal Program Records, HHS/OS/ASPER.
Security classification: None.
System location: Personnel offices shown in Applicants for Employment Records, HHS System 09-90-0006, Appendix 1 and operating offices in organizational units serviced by those personnel offices.
Categories of individuals covered by the system: Current Federal employees of the Department.
Categories of records in the system: This system contains information which includes employee's name, SSN, employing organization, grade, title, series, and materials relating to the evaluations of employee's performance.
Authority for maintenance of the system: 5 U.S.C. 4302, 5 U.S.C. 3301, 5 U.S.C. 3302, Executive Order 10577.
Purpose(s):
These records are used as a basis for awards, promotions, and other recognition, reduction-in-force standing, adverse actions, retention during probation, and other personnel actions. These records are maintained in each component of the Department.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:
Information in these records may be used:
(1) By the Office of Personnel Management, Merit Systems Protection Board (including its Office of the Special Counsel), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (including the General Counsel of the Authority and the Federal Service Impasses Panel) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and to an arbitrator 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, 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) 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.
(4) 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 state or local 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.
(5) Where 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) Where a contract between a component of the Department and a labor organization recognized under E.O. 11491 or 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, on magnetic tape, and on punch cards.
Retrievability: Records are retrievable by name or social security number.
Safeguards: Access to and use of these records are limited to those persons whose official duties require such access.
Retention and disposal: Appraisals and satisfactory rating are retained until a new appraisal or rating is issued, 2 years have elapsed, or the individual leaves the Department, and are then destroyed. Unsatisfactory and outstanding ratings are filed in the Official Personnel Folder which is retained until the individual leaves the Department. (See HHS Personnel Instruction 293-1, Exhibit X293-1-2, Item 10.)
System manager(s) and address: Personnel Officers shown in Applicants for Employment Records, HHS System 09-90-0006, Appendix 1.
Notification procedure: Same as above. Employee should provide name, social security number and organization in which employed.
Record access procedures: Same as notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record contents being sought. (These access procedures are in accordance with Department Regulations (45 CFR 5b.5(a)(2)), Federal Register, October 8, 1975, page 47410.
Contesting record procedures: Contact the official at the address specified under notification procedures above, and reasonably identify the record or specify the information to be contested and state the corrective action sought and the reasons for the correction. (These procedures are in accordance with Department Regulations (45 CFR 5b.7), Federal Register, October 8, 1975, page 47411.)
Record source categories: Information in this system of records is provided by the individual, derived from information supplied by the individual or supplied by Department officials.
System exempted from certain provisions of the act: None.