Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security Payroll, Personnel, and Time and Attendance Records System of Records, 63172-63175 [E8-24993]

Agencies

• Office of the Secretary
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 206 (Thursday, October 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63172-63175]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24993]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DHS-2008-0019]


Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security Payroll, 
Personnel, and Time and Attendance Records System of Records

AGENCY: Privacy Office; DHS.

ACTION: Notice of Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of the 
Department of Homeland Security's ongoing effort to review and update 
legacy system of record notices, the Department of Homeland Security 
proposes to consolidate four legacy record systems: Treasury/CS.165 
Overtime Earnings, Treasury/FLETC.001 FLETC Payroll/Personnel Records 
System, Treasury/CS.170 Overtime

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Reports, and Treasury/CS.251 Unscheduled Overtime Report (Customs Form 
31) into one Department of Homeland Security-wide system of records. 
This system will help the Department of Homeland Security ensure proper 
payment of salary and benefits to Department of Homeland Security 
personnel and track time worked for reporting and compliance purposes. 
Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses 
of these legacy system of records notices have been consolidated and 
updated to better reflect the Department's payroll, personnel, and time 
and attendance record systems. This consolidated system, titled 
Payroll, Personnel, and Time and Attendance Records, will be included 
in the Department's inventory of record systems.

DATES: Submit comments on or before November 24, 2008. This new system 
will be effective November 24, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2008-0019 by one of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-866-466-5370.
     Mail: Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy 
Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
     Instructions: All submissions received must include the 
agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments 
received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided.
     Docket: For access to the docket, to read background 
documents, or comments received go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions and privacy 
issues please contact: Hugo Teufel III (703-235-0780), Chief Privacy 
Officer, Privacy Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, 
DC 20528.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Pursuant to the savings clause in the Homeland Security Act of 
2002, Public Law 107-296, Section 1512, 116 Stat. 2310 (November 25, 
2002), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components and 
offices have relied on preexisting Privacy Act systems of records for 
the collection and maintenance of records that concern DHS's payroll, 
personnel, and time and attendance records.
    As part of its efforts to streamline and consolidate its Privacy 
Act record systems, DHS is establishing a new agency-wide system of 
records under the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) for DHS payroll records. 
This will ensure that all components of DHS follow the same privacy 
rules for collecting and handling payroll, personnel, and time and 
attendance records.
    In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of DHS's 
ongoing effort to review and update legacy system of record notices, 
DHS proposes to consolidate four legacy record systems: Treasury/CS.165 
Overtime Earnings (66 FR 52984 October 18, 2001), Treasury/FLETC.001 
FLETC Payroll/Personnel Records System (66 FR 43955 August 21, 2001), 
Treasury/CS.170 Overtime Reports (66 FR 52984 October 18, 2001), and 
Treasury/CS.251 Unscheduled Overtime Report (Customs Form 31) (66 FR 
52984 October 18, 2001) into one DHS-wide system of records. This 
system will help DHS ensure proper payment of salary and benefits to 
DHS personnel and track time worked for reporting and compliance 
purposes. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the 
routine uses of these legacy system of records notices have been 
consolidated and updated to better reflect the Department's payroll, 
personnel, and time and attendance record systems. This consolidated 
system, titled Payroll, Personnel, and Time and Attendance Records, 
will be included in the Department's inventory of record systems.

II. Privacy Act

    The Privacy Act embodies fair information principles in a statutory 
framework governing the means by which the United States Government 
collects, maintains, uses, and disseminates individuals' records. The 
Privacy Act applies to information that is maintained in a ``system of 
records.'' A ``system of records'' is a group of any records under the 
control of an agency for which information is retrieved by the name of 
an individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other 
identifying particular assigned to the individual. In the Privacy Act, 
an individual is defined to encompass United States citizens and legal 
permanent residents. As a matter of policy, DHS extends administrative 
Privacy Act protections to all individuals where systems of records 
maintain information on U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and 
visitors. Individuals may request access to their own records that are 
maintained in a system of records in the possession or under the 
control of DHS by complying with DHS Privacy Act regulations, 6 CFR 
part 5.
    The Privacy Act requires that each agency publish in the Federal 
Register a description denoting the type and character of each system 
of records in order to make agency recordkeeping practices transparent, 
to notify individuals about the use of their records, and to assist the 
individual to more easily find files within the agency. Below is a 
description of the Payroll Records System of Records.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), DHS has provided a report of 
this revised system of records to the Office of Management and Budget 
and to the Congress.

System of Records:
    DHS/ALL-019.

System name:
    Department of Homeland Security Payroll, Personnel, and Time and 
Attendance Records.

Security classification:
    Unclassified.

System location:
    Records are maintained at several Headquarters locations; in 
component offices of DHS, in both Washington, DC and field locations; 
and at DHS contractual or other Federal agency payroll service provider 
locations.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Current and former employees of DHS.

Categories of records in the system:
    Categories of records in this system include:
    Payroll
     Taxes;
     Other Deductions;
     Garnishments;
     Salary Data;
     Retirement Data;
     Pay Period;
     Fiscal Year Data;
     Benefits; and
     Direct Deposit Information.
    Personnel
     Social security number;
     Employee's Name;
     Date of Birth;
     Gender, Race/National Origin, and Disability Data;
     Address Data;
     Duty Location;
     Position Data;
     Awards and Bonuses;
     Employment verification information;
     Education and training data; and
     Military and veterans data.

[[Page 63174]]

    Time and Attendance
     Number and type of Hours Worked, (type may for example 
include, regular law enforcement availability pay (LEAP), overtime 
(including administratively uncontrollable overtime (AUO)), night 
differential, and Federal Equal Pay Act (FEPA));
     Compensatory time earned and used;
     Compensatory travel earned;
     Investigative case title and tracking number (used to 
track time worked associated with a specific case);
     Fair labor Standards Act (FLSA) compensation;
     Tour of Duty;
     Leave requests, balances and credits;
     Training time; and
     Military Leave.
    Data Reporting and Personnel and Pay Processing Tables
     Nature of action codes;
     Civil service authority codes;
     Standard remarks;
     Signature block table;
     Position title table;
     Financial organization table; and
     Salary tables.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    5 U.S.C. 301; The Federal Records Act, 44 U.S.C. 3101; and 
Executive Order 9373.

Purpose(s):
    The purpose of this system is to ensure proper payment of salary 
and benefits to DHS personnel and to track time worked for reporting 
and compliance purposes.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a portion of the records or 
information contained in this system may be disclosed outside DHS as a 
routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows:
    A. To the Department of Justice (including United States Attorney 
Offices) or other Federal agency conducting litigation or in 
proceedings before any court, adjudicative or administrative body when 
it is necessary to the litigation and one of the following is a party 
to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation:
    1. DHS or any component thereof;
    2. any employee of DHS in his/her official capacity;
    3. any employee of DHS in his/her individual capacity where the 
Department of Justice or DHS has agreed to represent the employee; or
    4. the United States or any agency thereof, is a party to the 
litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and DHS determines 
that the records are both relevant and necessary to the litigation and 
the use of such records is compatible with the purpose for which DHS 
collected the records.
    B. To a congressional office from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry from that congressional office made at the 
request of the individual to whom the record pertains.
    C. To the National Archives and Records Administration or other 
Federal government agencies pursuant to records management inspections 
being conducted under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    D. To an agency, organization, or individual for the purpose of 
performing audit or oversight operations as authorized by law, but only 
such information as is necessary and relevant to such audit or 
oversight function.
    E. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when:
    1. DHS suspects or has confirmed that the security or 
confidentiality of information in the system of records has been 
compromised;
    2. The Department has determined that as a result of the suspected 
or confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or 
integrity of this system or other systems or programs (whether 
maintained by DHS or another agency or entity) or harm to the 
individual who relies upon the compromised information; and
    3. The disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is 
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with DHS's efforts to 
respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, 
or remedy such harm.
    F. To contractors and their agents, grantees, experts, consultants, 
and others performing or working on a contract, service, grant, 
cooperative agreement, or other assignment for DHS, when necessary to 
accomplish an agency function related to this system of records. 
Individuals provided information under this routine use are subject to 
the same Privacy Act requirements and limitations on disclosure as are 
applicable to DHS officers and employees.
    G. To an appropriate Federal, State, tribal, local, international, 
or foreign law enforcement agency or other appropriate authority 
charged with investigating or prosecuting a violation or enforcing or 
implementing a law, rule, regulation, or order, where a record, either 
on its face or in conjunction with other information, indicates a 
violation or potential violation of law, which includes criminal, 
civil, or regulatory violations and such disclosure is proper and 
consistent with the official duties of the person making the 
disclosure.
    H. To provide information to unions recognized as exclusive 
bargaining representatives under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, 
5 U.S.C. 7111 and 7114.
    I. To designated officers and employees of Federal, State, local or 
international agencies in connection with the hiring or continued 
employment of an individual, the conduct of a suitability or security 
investigation of an individual, the grant, renewal, suspension, or 
revocation of a security clearance, or the certification of security 
clearances, to the extent that DHS determines the information is 
relevant and necessary to the hiring agency's decision.
    J. To a court, magistrate, or administrative tribunal in the course 
of presenting evidence, including disclosures to opposing counsel or 
witnesses in the course of civil discovery, litigation, or settlement 
negotiations or in connection with criminal law proceedings or in 
response to a subpoena from a court of competent jurisdiction.
    K. To a Federal, State, local, or private agency so that the agency 
may adjudicate an individual's eligibility for a benefit.
    L. To the other Federal agencies who provide payroll personnel 
processing services under a cross-servicing agreement for purposes 
relating to the conversion of DHS employee payroll and personnel 
processing services; the issuance of paychecks to employees and 
distribution of wages; and the distribution of allotments and 
deductions to financial and other institutions, some through electronic 
funds transfer.
    M. To Federal, State, or local agencies for use in locating 
individuals and verifying their income sources to establish paternity, 
establish and modify orders of support, and for enforcement of related 
court orders.
    N. To provide wage and separation information to another agency as 
required by law for payroll purposes.
    O. To the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit System 
Protection Board, Federal Labor Relations Authority, or the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission when requested in the performance of 
their authorized duties.
    P. To the news media and the public, with the approval of the Chief 
Privacy

[[Page 63175]]

Officer in consultation with counsel, when there exists a legitimate 
public interest in the disclosure of the information or when disclosure 
is necessary to preserve confidence in the integrity of DHS or is 
necessary to demonstrate the accountability of DHS's officers, 
employees, or individuals covered by the system, except to the extent 
it is determined that release of the specific information in the 
context of a particular case would constitute an unwarranted invasion 
of personal privacy.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    None.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Records in this system are stored electronically or on paper in 
secure facilities in a locked drawer behind a locked door. The records 
are stored on magnetic disc, tape, digital media, and CD-ROM.

Retrievability:
    Data may be retrieved by an individual's name, social security 
number, position, organizational element, pay period, investigative 
case title or tracking number (for time worked associated with a 
specific case), and/or fiscal year.

Safeguards:
    Records in this system are safeguarded in accordance with 
applicable rules and policies, including all applicable DHS automated 
systems security and access policies. Strict controls have been imposed 
to minimize the risk of compromising the information that is being 
stored. Access to the computer system containing the records in this 
system is limited to those individuals who have a need to know the 
information for the performance of their official duties and who have 
appropriate clearances or permissions.

Retention and disposal:
    Time and attendance records are destroyed after a General 
Accountability Office audit or when six years old, whichever is sooner. 
These records are maintained in accordance with National Archives and 
Records Administration General Records Schedule 2, Item 7.
    Individual employee payroll records are destroyed when 56 years old 
in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration General 
Records Schedule 2, Item 1.
    Supervisor personnel files are reviewed annually and destroyed when 
a file is superseded/obsolete, or within 1 year after separation or 
transfer of an employee. Duplicate official personnel records are 
destroyed when six months old. These two types of records are 
maintained in accordance with National Archives and Records 
Administration General Records Schedule 1, Item 18.

System Manager and address:
    For Headquarters of DHS, the System Manager is the Office of the 
Chief Human Capital Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 
Washington, DC 20528. For components of DHS, the System Manager can be 
found at http: //www.dhs.gov/foia under ``contacts.''

Notification procedure:
    Individuals seeking notification of and access to any record 
contained in this system of records, or seeking to contest its content, 
may submit a request in writing to the Headquarters' or component's 
FOIA Officer, whose contact information can be found at https://
www.dhs.gov/foia under ``contacts.'' If an individual believes more 
than one component maintains Privacy Act records concerning him or her 
the individual may submit the request to the Chief Privacy Officer, 
Department of Homeland Security, 245 Murray Drive, SW., Building 410, 
STOP-0550, Washington, DC 20528.
    When seeking records about yourself from this system of records or 
any other Departmental system of records your request must conform with 
the Privacy Act regulations set forth in 6 CFR part 5. You must first 
verify your identity, meaning that you must provide your full name, 
current address and date and place of birth. You must sign your 
request, and your signature must either be notarized or submitted under 
28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to be made under penalty 
of perjury as a substitute for notarization. While no specific form is 
required, you may obtain forms for this purpose from the Director, 
Disclosure and FOIA, https://www.dhs.gov or 1-866-431-0486. In addition 
you should provide the following:
     An explanation of why you believe the Department would 
have information on you,
     Identify which component(s) of the Department you believe 
may have the information about you,
     Specify when you believe the records would have been 
created,
     Provide any other information that will help the FOIA 
staff determine which DHS component agency may have responsive records,
     If your request is seeking records pertaining to another 
living individual, you must include a statement from that individual 
certifying his/her agreement for you to access his/her records.
    Without this bulleted information the component(s) may not be able 
to conduct an effective search, and your request may be denied due to 
lack of specificity or lack of compliance with applicable regulations.

Record access procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Contesting record procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Record Source Categories:
    Information originates from the individual.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.

    Dated: October 14, 2008.
Hugo Teufel III,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. E8-24993 Filed 10-22-08; 8:45 am]
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