5.1. ERMUSR 03-08-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tennessen Warning When a city asks a person to provide private data about himself or herself, that person must be informed of: • The purpose and intended use of the requested data. • Whether he/she may refuse or is legally required to supply the requested data. • Any known consequence of supplying or refusing to supply private or confidential data. • The identity of other persons or entities authorized to receive the data. Access to Personnel Data in General Private personnel data can only be accessed by the data subject and by government officials whose duties reasonably require access. There is no formal definition of "work duties that reasonably require access" tc private personnel data. This determination depends on the facts of each situation. It is the role of the Responsible Authority to decide if an individual's work duties reasonably require access to such data and to establish written procedures that ensure access is gained only by those entitled. A common issue occurs, especially in smaller cities, when a council member requests private personnel data on a city HIEhIIEht employee. Facts of the situation at hand must be evaluated City council members do not have by the Responsible Authority who then decides whether or an automatic right to review not access to the data should be granted. This scenario private personnel data. may place the Responsible Authority, who is often the city clerk, in a difficult position when access should be denied under the Act. It is a good idea to develop a written policy that specifies when council members can have access to private personnel data. Access to Personnel Data by Data Subject A city may limit access by a data subject to all private data (personnel data or other) to once every six months. The data subject is entitled to more frequent access if additional data are collected or created or if there is a dispute about data completeness or accuracy. It is up to each city or Responsible Authority to decide whether they are going to enforce this limitation. ]f such a restriction is to be enforced, the practice should be in writing and a city must apply it uniformly and not selectively. If a data subject requests access to data about themselves, the Responsible Authority must respond to the request immediately or within ten business days if immediate compliance is not possible. If the subject requested the data within the previous six months, it is acceptable to respond by informing the data subject that the city limits access to private data to once every six months pursuant to the Act and therefore the data cannot be released at this time. Complaints and Discipline The existence and status of any complaint about a city employee are public. In general, the identity of the complainant is also public unless the complainant is another employee. Hi hli ht When the complainant is another employee, any data collected would be considered personnel data and, as noted earlier, the presumption is that personnel data are private data unless covered by an exception.