1. General
1.1 The official hard copy personnel files for all Salt Lake City employees shall be maintained in a centralized location under the control and maintenance of the Division of Human Resources
1.2 Reports of employee medical examinations and related medical information shall be maintained by the Division of Human Resources in a separate, locked and controlled access cabinet or storage unit. In addition, the Risk Management Division shall maintain records under the same conditions. No other City department is authorized to retain and maintain medical examination reports or related medical information of City employees.
1.3 Department heads may establish policies and procedures for maintenance of working personnel files to be maintained within their departments. These are not considered official files of Salt Lake City Corporation. These files must be open to the employee who is the subject of the record.
1.4 All personnel files shall be kept in a secure location that is locked during non-business hours.
2. Access to Personnel Files
2.1 Access to the official hard copy personnel file maintained by the Division of Human Resources will be limited to the following
A. Division of Human Resources staff
B. The employee, active or terminated, who is the subject of the file
C. A person acting under the employee’s power of attorney
D. Law enforcement agency investigators acting in the course of an investigation
E. Supervisory personnel overseeing an employee’s hiring or current job tasks
F. The City Attorney’s Office
2.2 The Division of Human Resources will note in the personnel file the date and time of any examination of personnel files and the name of the examiner.
2.3 Access to all Human Resources personnel files will be determined as provided by the Government Records and Management Act (GRAMA) and City Code Chapter2.64. See Utah Code and City Code.
3. Removal of Information from Personnel Files
3.1 Employees may petition the Office of the City Attorney to remove any document containing evidence of adverse employment action (except for an employee’s merit rating, performance evaluations, or similar documents) from their file utilizing the Petition to Purge Human Resources File Documents form, provided:
A. The employee has had no adverse personnel action within the last year, including action sought to be purged
B. The action does not relate in any respect to the employee’s actions or failure to act involving potentially prosecutable issues
3.2 Petitions shall not be granted if removing the information will:
A. Increase the potential for litigation; or
B. Jeopardize the interests of the City.
3.3 In most cases, the City’s interests will be jeopardized by the removal of the following documents from an employee’s personnel file:
A. A discipline letter relating to sexual or other protected class harassment or discrimination, violence in the workplace, or similar misconduct.
B. A discipline letter relating to drug or alcohol use that impaired an employee’s job performance, created an unsafe work condition, or caused the loss of a job qualification
C. A warning letter or discipline letter relating to a serious violation of policy where there is no demonstrable evidence that the employee has modified his or her conduct to prevent the reoccurrence of similar incidents in the future and
D. A warning letter or discipline letter relating to a continuing pattern of misconduct (even for minor policy violations) or substandard performance where there is no demonstrable evidence that the employee has made a significant change in his or her performance or conduct.
3.4 If the Office of the City Attorney denies an employee’s request for the removal of a document from the employee’s official personnel file, the denial notice to the employee shall include the information the Office of the City Attorney relied upon in denying that request. If the employee believes the information relied upon was incorrect or incomplete, the employee may petition the Office of the City Attorney for reconsideration of the request. Such requests must be in writing and received by the Office of the City Attorney within ten (10) working days after the employee’s receipt of the denial notice, and must contain the basis for the request for reconsideration. Upon receipt of such requests the City Attorney will reconsider the denial in light of any new information and notify the employee of the City Attorney’s decision. Any decision on request for reconsideration shall be final and may not be the subject of an expungement request for at least one year from the date the employee is notified on the final decision.
3.5 Any information removed from an employee’s official personnel file at the employee’s approved request will be placed in a confidential sealed file for the City’s employment law attorney and may be opened only in the event of:
A. Litigation related to such information
B. The consent of the employee
C. An authorized request of a state regulatory agency with jurisdiction to investigate the employment practices of the City
D. A joint request of the Director of Management Services and the City Attorney, after determining that such information is necessary to the interests of Salt Lake City
E. Pursuant to a valid GRAMA request
CURRENT REFERENCES: Government Records Access and Management Act (See State Code,
Petition to Purge Human Resources File Documents
PRE -1995 REFERENCES: Executive Order 4.01.201
Effective Date July 29, 1995
Effective Date of Policy (date signed by the Mayor): August 7, 2004