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Privacy Act System of Records: PeoplePlus, EPA-1

[excerpted from: Federal Register: July 9, 2007 (Volume72, Number 130)]

System Name: PeoplePlus.

System Location: National Computer Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System: Current and former EPA employees, including Health and Human Services Public Health Service Commissioned Officers assigned to EPA.

Categories of Records Covered by the System: This system contains general human resources elements, basic benefits pay and leave records. This includes, but is not limited to, employee identification and employment status data such as: Name(s), records that establish an individual's identity, social security number, date of birth, sex, race and national origin, disability, home and mailing addresses, home telephone numbers and telephone numbers for emergency contacts, type of appointment, education, training courses attended, veteran preference, military service, service computation for leave, date of probationary and trial period began, date of and the annual performance rating, date of and amount of individual cash, time off, rating based, and suggestion, patents and invention awards, date of and amount of group cash, time off, and suggestion, patents, and inventions awards, grievances and adverse actions for performance based reductions in grade and removal actions, and terminations of probationers, date of within-grade increases, Intergovernmental Personnel Act records, union bus codes, employing organization codes, salary, pay plan, grade, step, adjudication of a position classification and appeal, retained grade or pay appeal, or Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim complaints, forms and reports completed during employment as a condition of employment, records and pertaining and resulting from the testing of the employee for use of illegal drugs, reports of on-the-job injuries and medical records, forms, and reports generated as a result of the filing of a Workers' Compensation, number of hours worked, overtime, compensatory time, leave accrual rate, leave usage and balances, Thrift Saving Plans (TSP), TSP loans, Civil Service Retirement and Federal Employees Retirement System contributions, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) withholdings, Federal, State, and city tax withholdings, Federal Employee Group Life Insurance withholdings, Federal Long-Term Care Insurance, Federal Employee Health Benefits withholdings, charitable deductions, allotments to financial organizations, garnishments, savings bonds allotments, union dues withholdings, deductions for Internal Revenue Service levies, court ordered child support levies, Federal salary offset deductions, and information on the Leave Transfer Program and the Leave Bank Program, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), child care subsidy, time compliance technical orders (TCTO), Physicians Comparability Allowances (PCA), uniform allowances, non-foreign cost- of-living allowances, Within Grade Increase, Quality Step Increase, student loan repayment program, recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives, extended assignment incentives, supervisory differentials, post differentials, night pay differential, Sunday premium pay, law enforcement availability pay, administratively uncontrollable overtime pay, regularly scheduled standby duty pay, evacuation payment, hazardous duty.

Authority for Maintenance of the System: 5 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. 5525 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.; 31 U.S.C. 3512; Executive Order 9397 (Nov. 22, 1943); 5 U.S.C. 6362; 5 U.S.C. 6311.

Purpose(s): These records are maintained in PeoplePlus to administer EPA's pay and leave requirements, including processing, accounting and reporting requirements. They also provide the basic source of factual data about a person's Federal employment while in the service and after his or her separation. Records in PeoplePlus have various uses by Agency personnel offices, including screening qualifications of employees; determining status, eligibility, and employee's rights and benefits under pertinent laws and regulations governing Federal employment; computing length of service; and other information needed to provide personnel services. These records and their automated equivalents may also be used to locate individuals for personnel research.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories of Users, and the Purposes of Such Uses:

  1. To the Department of the Treasury to issue checks, make payments, make electronic funds transfers, and issue U.S. Savings Bonds.
  2. To the Department of Agriculture National Finance Center to credit Thrift Savings Plan deductions and loan payments to employee accounts.
  3. To the Department of Labor in connection with a claim filed by an employee for compensation due to a job connected injury or illness.
  4. To the Internal Revenue Service; Social Security Administration; and State and local tax authorities in connection with the withholding of employment taxes and tax levies.
  5. To the State Unemployment Offices in connection with a claim filed by former employees for unemployment benefits.
  6. To the officials of labor organizations as to the identity of employees contributing union dues each pay period and the amount of dues withheld from each employee.
  7. To the Office of Personnel Management and to Health Benefit carriers in connection with enrollment and payroll deductions.
  8. To the Office of Personnel Management in connection with employee retirement and life insurance deductions.
  9. To the Combined Federal Campaign in connection with payroll deductions for charitable contributions.
  10. To the Office of Management and Budget and Department of the Treasury to provide required reports on financial management responsibilities.
  11. To provide information as necessary to other Federal, State, local or foreign agencies conducting computer matching programs to help eliminate fraud and abuse and to detect unauthorized overpayments made to individuals. When disclosures are made as part of computer matching programs, EPA will comply with the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988.
  12. To the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide information on newly hired employees for child support enforcement purposes.
  13. To the Department of Health and Human Services in connection with the master personnel and payroll files for their Public Health Service Officers.
  14. To the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to provide payroll processing services.
  15. To the Federal Retirement Benefit Contractors to enable employees to receive retirement benefit calculations.
  16. To disclose information to Government training facilities (Federal, State, and local) in review of OPM's Go Learn eGov initiative as part of EHRI.
  17. To disclose information to Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) when requested in connection with investigations of alleged or possible discrimination practices in the Federal Sector, and in response to its request for use in the conduct of an examination of an agency's compliance with affirmative action plan instructions and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978).

EPA's General Routine Uses: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K apply to this system.

Policies and Practices For Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, and Disposing of Records in the System:

  • Storage: These records are maintained in hard copy formats and computer processable storage media such as computer tapes and disks. The computer storage devices are located in the National Computer Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Backup tapes are maintained at a disaster recovery site. Data is on CD and fiche--only after it rolls off line in DCPS for use within the PROs to do research. There are actual history tapes kept in the storage facility for the 56 years.

  • Retrievability: These records are retrieved by the employee identification number or name.

  • Safeguards: Computer records are maintained in a secure password protected environment. Access to computer records is limited to those who have a need to know. Permission level assignments allow users access only to those functions for which they are authorized. Paper records are maintained in locked metal file cabinets. All records are maintained in secure, access-controlled areas or buildings.

  • Retention and Disposal: The retention of data in the system is in accordance with applicable EPA Records Schedules #161 and 553 as approved by the National Archives and Records Administration. Employee records are retained on magnetic tapes for an indefinite period. Hard copy records are maintained for varying periods of time, at which time they are disposed of by shredding.

System Manager(s) and Address: Director, Office of Human Resources, Office of Administration and Resources Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., (MC 3601ARN), Washington, DC 20460 and Director, Office of Financial Services, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., (MC 2734R), Washington, DC 20460.

Notification Procedures: Individuals who want to know whether this system of records contains information about them or who want to access, amend or correct their records, should make a written request to the EPA Privacy Act Officer, Freedom of Information Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., (MC 2822T), Washington, DC 20460 or by facsimile to (202) 566-2149. Individuals must furnish the following information for their records to be located and identified:

  1. Full name.
  2. A statement that the request relates to the PeoplePlus system of records.
  3. A statement indicating the reason for the request (i.e., access, amendment or correction) and whether a personal inspection of the records or a copy of them by mail is desired.
  4. Signature.

These requirements and related provisions are set forth in EPA's Privacy Act regulations, 40 CFR Part 16, as amended (2006), which are available on the Agency's Privacy Act Web site.

Record Access Procedure: Individuals wishing to request access to their records should follow the Notification Procedures. Individuals requesting access are also required to provide adequate identification, such as a driver's license, employee identification card, social security card, credit card or other identifying document. Additional identification procedures may be required in some instances.

Contesting Record Procedure: Individuals requesting correction or amendment of their records should follow the Notification Procedures and the Record Access Procedures and also identify the record or information to be changed, giving specific reasons for the change. Complete EPA Privacy Act procedures are set out in 40 CFR part 16, as amended (2006).

Record Source Categories: Information in this system of records is provided by:

  1. The individual on whom the record is maintained.
  2. Agency officials such as managers and supervisors.
  3. Consumer reporting agencies, debt collection agencies, Department of the Treasury, and other Federal agencies.
  4. Federal Retirement Benefit contractors.
  5. Leave Bank.

System Exempted from Certain Provisions of the Act: None.

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