System name: Conflict of Interest Records, HHS/OS/ASPER.
Security classification: None.
System location: Personnel Offices of the Department (See Applicants for Employment Records, HHS System 09-90-0006, Appendix 1) or authorized approving officials to be identified by those Personnel Offices.
Categories of individuals covered by the system: Incumbents of Department positions the duties of which are of such a nature that incumbent's outside activities may come in conflict with the incumbent's official duties.
Categories of records in the system: This system consists of a variety of records relating to an employee's conduct and outside activities. In addition to the name of the employee, position title, grade, salary, pay plan, and employing organization, the system includes information about outside employment, outside compensation and related information.
Authority for maintenance of the system: Executive Order 11222.
Purpose(s): Records in this system are used to determine whether an employee's financial interests or outside activities are in conflict with the employee's duties as a Federal employee. Records are maintained in each component of the Department. See also “Retrievability'' below.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses: Information in this system of 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, and 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 as a “routine use'' to a federal, state or local agency maintaining civil, criminal or other relevant
enforcement records or other pertinent records, such as current licenses, if necessary to obtain a record relevant to an agency decision concerning the hiring or detention of an employee, the issuance of a security clearance, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant or other benefit.
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, issued a subpoena to the Department for records in this system of records, the Department will make such records available.
(6) 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.
(7) 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.
(8) 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.
(9) 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: Conflict of Interest Records are maintained in file folders.
Retrievability: Records are retrievable by name. They may be used for production of summary descriptive statistics and analytical studies in support of the functions for which the records are collected and maintained and for other purposes compatible with the intent for which the records system was created.
Safeguards: These records are treated as controlled for Official Use Only and made available only to persons specifically authorized to receive them.
Retention and disposal: Records are retained until 2 years after the individual discontinues the activity for which approval was required, or until the individual leaves the Department, and are then destroyed. (See HHS Personnel Instruction 293-1, Exhibit X293-1-1, item 25.)
System manager(s) and address: Personnel Offices of the Department shown in Appendix 1 to Applicants for Employment Records, HHS System 09-90-0006.
Notification procedure: For incumbents who are in position under the Executive Schedule; Office of the Secretary Staff Office Heads; or Principal Regional Officials contact: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Personnel, Office of Personnel, Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201.
For incumbents of positions in the Food and Drug Administration, contact:
Director, Policy Management Staff, HFA-20, Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fisher Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.
For incumbents of other positions included in this records system, contact the Personnel Office shown in Appendix 1 to Applicants for Employment Records,
HHS System 09-90-0006, which services the organizational units in which the individual is employed. The individual should indicate name, position title, grade
and series, and organization in which located.
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 and 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: (1) Supplied directly by the individual, or (2) derived from information supplied by the
individual, or (3) supplied by Department officials or other persons such as
trustee, attorney, accountant, relative.
Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Act: None
