A. A personnel file will be established for every employee and maintained in the custody of the Human Resources Department. No information will be placed in the file without the employee’s knowledge.
B. The following information will be a permanent part of the file and will be maintained following termination until the year following the year of the employee's 75th birthday:
(1) Employee's most recent employment application.
(2) Employee notifications regarding hiring, promotion, demotion, suspension, dismissal or other substantial change in employment or pay status other than general increases.
(3) Authorizations for deductions from pay such as but not limited to insurance, retirement, taxes, union dues or other voluntary contributions. These are permanent so long as they are not canceled or superseded with a more recent authorization.
(4) Letters of commendation or other awards or recognitions.
(5) For employees hired after November 7, 1986, verification of the employee's citizenship or right to work in the United States (Immigration and Naturalization Service Form I-9).
(6) Most recent job description, performance standards and objectives.
(7) Routine and emergency information as required such as phone numbers, home address, persons to contact, physical or medical limitations related to the job.
(8) Job-related training, qualification or license records.
(9) Any other information with significant bearing on the employee's work behavior, qualifications or fitness for employment.
(10) In addition, any information the employee considers to be important to their employment which is not offensive, prejudicial or discriminatory may be placed in the file at the employee's request.
(11) Record of exit interview.
(12) Records of preemployment reference checks.
C. The following information will be a permanent part of the file; however, it will not be referred to after two years old so long as no discipline for similar offenses has occurred since their issuance.
(1) Letters of warning or reprimand, or confirmations or oral reprimands. The person issuing such a letter may direct that it be removed earlier if in the issuing person's opinion, the letter has served its purpose and is no longer required.
D. The following information will be temporary and will be removed from the file and destroyed as indicated:
(1) Performance evaluation reports when five years old.
(2) Records of any arrests, charges, investigation of wrongdoing, or similar actions involving the employee which later resulted in the employee's acquittal or in the charges being dropped.
E. The following information will not be kept in the employee's personnel file:
(1) Racial, ethic, religious or political identifications or affiliation.
(2) Any listing or records of grievances filed by the employee.
F. The personnel file will be in the custody of the Human Resources Department, and except for public information, will be available only to any of the following persons, under supervision, in the Human Resources Department:
(1) Office and legal personnel as officially required.
(2) The individual employee, at a reasonable time, and when accompanied by the employees written authorization, his/her legal representative or bargaining unit representative.
(3) Legal authorities only when required by subpoena in which case the employee will be notified of the information provided.
G. Public information will include the employee's name, job title, salary, and fringe benefits provided.
H. Regular examination of the personnel file to purge temporary documents shall be done annually.