Appendix A to Part 5b - Employee Standards of Conduct
34:1.1.1.1.5.0.1.13.1 : Appendix A
Appendix A to Part 5b - Employee Standards of Conduct
(a) General. All employees are required to be aware of
their responsibilities under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C.
552a. Regulations implementing the Act are set forth in 34 CFR 5b.
Instruction on the requirements of the Act and regulation shall be
provided to all new employees of the Department. In addition,
supervisors shall be responsible for assuring that employees who
are working with systems of records or who undertake new duties
which require the use of systems of records are informed of their
responsibilities. Supervisors shall also be responsible for
assuring that all employees who work with such systems of records
are periodically reminded of the requirements of the Act and are
advised of any new provisions or interpretations of the Act.
(b) Penalties. (1) All employees must guard against
improper disclosure of records which are governed by the Act.
Because of the serious consequences of improper invasions of
personal privacy, employees may be subject to disciplinary action
and criminal prosecution for knowing and willful violations of the
Act and regulation. In addition, employees may also be subject to
disciplinary action for unknowing or unwillful violations, where
the employee had notice of the provisions of the Act and
regulations and failed to inform himself sufficiently or to conduct
himself in accordance with the requirements to avoid
violations.
(2) The Department may be subjected to civil liability for the
following actions undertaken by its employees:
(a) Making a determination under the Act and §§ 5b.7 and 5b.8 of
the regulation not to amend an individual's record in accordance
with his request, or failing to make such review in conformity with
those provisions;
(b) Refusing to comply with an individual's request for
notification of or access to a record pertaining to him;
(c) Failing to maintain any record pertaining to any individual
with such accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness as is
necessary to assure fairness in any determination relating to the
qualifications, character, rights, or opportunities of, or benefits
to the individual that may be made on the basis of such a record,
and consequently a determination is made which is adverse to the
individual; or
(d) Failing to comply with any other provision of the Act or any
rule promulgated thereunder, in such a way as to have an adverse
effect on an individual.
(3) “An employee may be personally subject to criminal liability
as set forth below and in 5 U.S.C. 552a (i):
(a) Any officer or employee of an agency, who by virtue of his
employment or official position, has possession of, or access to,
agency records which contain individually identifiable information
the disclosure of which is prohibited by the Act or by rules or
regulations established thereunder, and who, knowing that
disclosure of the specific material is so prohibited, willfully
discloses the material in any manner to any person or agency not
entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined
not more than $5,000.”
(b) “Any officer or employee of any agency who willfully
maintains a system of records without meeting the notice
requirements [of the Act] shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
fined not more than $5,000.”
(c) Rules Governing Employees Not Working With Systems of
Records. Employees whose duties do not involve working with
systems of records will not generally disclose to any one, without
specific authorization from their supervisors, records pertaining
to employees or other individuals which by reason of their official
duties are available to them. Notwithstanding the above, the
following records concerning Federal employees are a matter of
public record and no further authorization is necessary for
disclosure:
(1) Name and title of individual.
(2) Grade classification or equivalent and annual rate of
salary.
(3) Position description.
(4) Location of duty station, including room number and
telephone number.
In addition, employees shall disclose records which are listed in
the Department's Freedom of Information Regulation as being
available to the public. Requests for other records will be
referred to the responsible Department official. This does not
preclude employees from discussing matters which are known to them
personally, and without resort to a record, to official
investigators of Federal agencies for official purposes such as
suitability checks, Equal Employment Opportunity investigations,
adverse action proceedings, grievance proceedings, etc.
(d) Rules governing employees whose duties require use or
reference to systems of records. Employees whose official
duties require that they refer to, maintain, service, or otherwise
deal with systems of records (hereinafter referred to as “Systems
Employees”) are governed by the general provisions. In addition,
extra precautions are required and systems employees are held to
higher standards of conduct.
(1) Systems Employees shall:
(a) Be informed with respect to their responsibilities under the
Act;
(b) Be alert to possible misuses of the system and report to
their supervisors any potential or actual use of the system which
they believe is not in compliance with the Act and regulation;
(c) Make a disclosure of records within the Department only to
an employee who has a legitimate need to know the record in the
course of his official duties;
(d) Maintain records as accurately as practicable.
(e) Consult with a supervisor prior to taking any action where
they are in doubt whether such action is in conformance with the
Act and regulation.
(2) Systems Employees shall not:
(a) Disclose in any form records from a system of records except
(1) with the consent or at the request of the subject individual;
or (2) where its disclosure is permitted under § 5b.9 of the
regulation.
(b) Permit unauthorized individuals to be present in controlled
areas. Any unauthorized individuals observed in controlled areas
shall be reported to a supervisor or to the guard force.
(c) Knowingly or willfully take action which might subject the
Department to civil liability.
(d) Make any arrangements for the design development, or
operation of any system of records without making reasonable effort
to provide that the system can be maintained in accordance with the
Act and regulation.
(e) Contracting officers. In addition to any applicable
provisions set forth above, those employees whose official duties
involve entering into contracts on behalf of the Department shall
also be governed by the following provisions:
(1) Contracts for design, or development of systems and
equipment. No contract for the design or development of a
system of records, or for equipment to store, service or maintain a
system of records shall be entered into unless the contracting
officer has made reasonable effort to ensure that the product to be
purchased is capable of being used without violation of the Act or
regulation. Special attention shall be given to provision of
physical safeguards.
(2) Contracts for the operation of systems and equipment.
No contract for the design or development of a system of whom he
feels appropriate, of all proposed contracts providing for the
operation of systems of records shall be made prior to execution of
the contracts to determine whether operation of the system of
records is for the purpose of accomplishing a Department function.
If a determination is made that the operation of the system is to
accomplish a Department function, the contracting officer shall be
responsible for including in the contract appropriate provisions to
apply the provisions of the Act and regulation to the system,
including prohibitions against improper release by the contractor,
his employees, agents, or subcontractors.
(3) Other service contracts. Contracting officers
entering into general service contracts shall be responsible for
determining the appropriateness of including provisions in the
contract to prevent potential misuse (inadvertent or otherwise) by
employees, agents, or subcontractors of the contractor.
(f) Rules Governing Responsible Department Officials. In
addition to the requirements for Systems Employees, responsible
Department officials shall:
(1) Respond to all requests for notification of or access,
disclosure, or amendment of records in a timely fashion in
accordance with the Act and regulation;
(2) Make any amendment of records accurately and in a timely
fashion;
(3) Inform all persons whom the accounting records show have
received copies of the record prior to the amendments of the
correction; and
(4) Associate any statement of disagreement with the disputed
record, and
(a) Transmit a copy of the statement to all persons whom the
accounting records show have received a copy of the disputed
record, and
(b) Transmit that statement with any future disclosure.