Privacy Act of 1974; Altered System of Records

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2723]

Privacy Act of 1974; Altered System of Records

Notice is hereby given that the Department of State proposes to

alter an existing system of records, STATE-30, pursuant to the

provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a(r)),

and Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-130, Appendix I. The

Department's report was filed with the Office of Management and Budget

on February 2, 1998.

It is proposed that the altered system description include

revisions and/or additions to each section except ``System name'' and

``Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Act.'' These changes

to the existing system description are proposed to reflect more

accurately the Bureau of Finance and Management Policy's record-keeping

practices, a reorganization of its activities and operations, and the

enlargement of its mandate pursuant to the Personal Responsibility and

Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (Welfare Reform Law, 42 U.S.C. 653)

and the disclosure of data from the Personnel Payroll Records to the

Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and

Families, Department of Health and Human Services for use in the

National Database of New Hires.

Any persons interested in commenting on the altered system of

records may do so by submitting comments in writing to Kenneth F.

Rossman, Acting Chief; Programs and Policies Division; Office of

Information Resources Management Programs and Services; Room 1239;

Department of State; 2201 C Street, NW.; Washington, DC 20520-1512.

This system of records will be effective 40 days from the date of

publication unless the Department receives comments which will result

in a contrary determination.

The altered system, the ``Personnel Payroll Records, STATE-30''

will read as set forth below.

Dated: February 2, 1998.

Andrew J. Winter,

Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Administration.

STATE-30

System name:

Personnel Payroll Records.

Security classification:

Unclassified and classified.

System location:

Department of State, Room 1921, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC

20520; Annex 15, 1800 N. Kent Street, Arlington, VA 22209; Charleston

Financial Service Center, Building 646A, 1969 Dyess Avenues,

Charleston, SC 29408; and overseas at U.S. embassies, U.S. consulates

general and consulates.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:

Current and former Civil Service and Foreign Service employees of

the Department of State including those serving under full-time, part-

time, intermittent, temporary, and limited

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appointments; Foreign Service annuitants; and employees of other

agencies for whom the Department provides payroll service.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

Personnel actions, payroll control records, allotment requests, tax

forms, death claims, bond requests, leave records, time and attendance

records, federal, state and city income tax withholding statements,

compensation records, health insurance forms, reconciliation records,

employee payroll authorizations from other agencies, retirement/

separation and transfer forms, and related correspondence.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

22 U.S.C. 2651a (Organization of the Department of State; 22 U.S.C.

3921 (Management of service); 5 U.S.C. 301 (Management of the

Department of State); 22 U.S.C. 4042 (Maintenance of the Foreign

Service Retirement and Disability Fund); 42 U.S.C. 653 (the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996);

Executive Order 11491, as amended (Labor-management relations in the

Federal service); 5 U.S.C. 5501-5584 (Pay Administration); and 31

U.S.C. 901-903 (Agency Chief Financial Officers).

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES

OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

The information in this system is used to prepare accurate and

complete biweekly/monthly payroll and related reports which include:

Entering change data into the computerized personnel payroll system;

producing a variety of machine reports for use by allotment

accountants; issuing biweekly/monthly pay checks and statements;

computing and issuing lump-sum pay checks for personnel separating;

issuing terminal leave payments; confirming time and attendance and

leave data to assist in documenting claims for restored annual leave;

providing leave data to the Bureau of Personnel and the Office of

Personnel Management to facilitate computing retirement cases;

providing appropriate allotments for individuals; issuing salary

advances; reporting wages, compensation and allowances; reporting

federal, state, city and other related taxes; filing information

returns; processing debt collection actions; and processing other

related payroll documents.

Information consisting of the names, social security numbers, home

addresses, dates of birth, dates of hire, quarterly earnings, employer

identifying information, and State of hire of employees may be

disclosed: (1) To the Office of Child Support Enforcement,

Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and

Human Services for the purpose of locating individuals to establish

paternity, establishing and modifying orders of child support,

identifying sources of income, and for other child support enforcement

actions as required by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act (Welfare Reform Law, 42 U.S.C. 653); (2) to the

Office of Child Support Enforcement for release to the Social Security

Administration for verifying social security numbers in connection with

the operation of the Federal Parent Locator System by the Office of

Child Support Enforcement; and (3) to the Office of Child Support

Enforcement for release to the Department of Treasury for purposes of

administering the Earned Income Tax Credit Program (Section 32,

Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and verifying a claim with respect to

employment in a tax return.

The principal users of this information outside the Department of

state are: federal, state, and city governments which are issued tax

reports; the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security

Administration which are sent tax and withholding data; and the Office

of Personnel Management which receives the total record of the Civil

Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System

benefit deductions including life and health insurance. A record from

this system of records may be disclosed to the Office of Personnel

Management in accordance with the agency's responsibility for

evaluation and oversight of federal personnel management. The

Department's Consolidated American Payroll Division (CAPD) of the

Office of Compensation and Pension provides employee payroll services

and data to other U.S. Government agencies pursuant to agreements,

Memoranda of Understanding or other documents authorizing services.

Those agencies include: American Institute in Taiwan; Department of

Agriculture; Department of Commerce; Department of Justice including

the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Naturalization

Service; Department of Defense; Department of Treasury including the

Customs Service and the Secret Service; Department of Transportation

including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Maritime

Administration; Department of Health and Human Services; Department of

Energy; U.S. Trade Representative; Nuclear Regulatory Commission;

Department of the Army; Federal Emergency Management Agency; ACTION

(Peace Corps); United States Information Agency; Agency for

International Development; Social Security Administration; Center for

Disease Control; United States Battle Monuments Commission; National

Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the Board of International

Broadcasting. Information is also made available to officials of labor

organizations recognized under E.O. 11491, as amended, concerning the

identity of Department of State employees contributing dues each pay

period and the amount of dues withheld from each contributor; to

officers and employees of a federal agency or public accounting firm

for purposes of audit; to the Department of Justice when representing

the Department or another U.S. Government agency in litigation; to an

authorized appeal grievance examiner, formal complaints examiner; equal

employment opportunity investigator, arbitrator or other duly

authorized official engaged in investigation or settlement of a

grievance, complaint, or appeal filed by an employee. Information may

also be released on a need-to-know basis to other government agencies

having statutory or other lawful authority to maintain such

information. Also see the ``Routine Uses'' paragraphs of the Prefatory

Statement published in the Federal Register.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING

AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

Storage:

Hard copy, microfiche, electronic media.

Retrievability:

Individual name, Social Security Number.

SAFEGUARDS:

All employees of the Department of State have undergone a thorough

background security investigation. Access to the Department and its

annexes is controlled by security guards and admission is limited to

those individuals possessing a valid identification card or individuals

under proper escort. Annex 15 has security access controls (code

entrances) and/or security alarm systems. All records containing

personal information are maintained in secured file cabinets or in

restricted areas, access to which is limited to authorized personnel.

Access to computerized files is password-protected and under the direct

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supervision of the system manager. The system manager has the

capability of printing audit trails of access from the computer media,

thereby permitting regular and ad hoc monitoring of computer usage.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

Retention of these records varies from 3 to 99 years, depending

upon the specific kind of record involved. They are retired or

destroyed in accordance with published records schedules of the

Department of State and as approved by the National Archives and

Records Administration. More specific information may be obtained by

writing to the Director; Office of Information Resources Management

Programs and Services; Room 1239; Department of State; 2201 C Street,

NW; Washington, DC 20520-1512.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:

Chief, Applications Programming Division, Systems and Integration

Office, Information Management, Bureau of Administration, Room 4428,

Department of State, Washington, DC 20520.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

Individuals who have reason to believe that the Bureau of Finance

and Management Policy's Office of Compensation and Pension (Personnel

Payroll Records) might have records pertaining to themselves should

write to the Director; Office of Information Resources Management

Programs and Services; Room 1239; Department of State; 2201 C Street,

NW; Washington, DC 20520-1512. The individual must specify that he/she

wishes the Personnel Payroll Records to be checked. At a minimum, the

individual must include: name; date and place of birth; Social Security

Number; approximate dates of employment with the Department of State;

current mailing address and zip code; and signature.

RECORD ACCESS AND AMENDMENT PROCEDURES:

Individuals who wish to gain access to or amend records pertaining

to themselves should write to the Director; Office of Information

Resources Management Programs and Services (address above).

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

These records contain information obtained from the individual who

is the subject of these records, the Bureau of Personnel, and other

U.S. Government agencies where an employee was previously employed.

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(4) certain records contained within

this system of records are exempted from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d),

(e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H), and (I), and (f) in accordance with Department

of State rules published in the Federal Register.

[FR Doc. 98-3382 Filed 2-10-98; 8:45 am]

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