NOTE: COMMENTS REGARDING ANY FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE MUST BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS INDICATED IN THE DOCUMENT. ANY COMMENTS ON THE RAPID INFORMATION BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM (RIBBS) ABOUT ANY FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES WILL NOT BE USED OR CONSIDERED IN THE COURSE OF ANY RULE MAKING. [Federal Register: September 19, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 181)] [Notices] [Page 48533-48534] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [[Page 48533]] POSTAL SERVICE Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records AGENCY: Postal Service. ACTION: Notice of new system of records. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The purpose of this document is to publish notice of a new Privacy Act system of records, USPS 120.154, Personnel Records-- Employee Survey Process System Records. The new system contains a collection of statistical data compiled from surveys completed by employees on various topics and issues related to their employment. Some surveys within the system relate directly to individual managers or supervisors whose performance has been rated by the questionnaire respondents. Other surveys concern particular work locations rather than individual managers, but these surveys have the potential for being associated, though indirectly, with the particular manager or supervisor who is responsible for the work location. DATES: This proposal will become effective without further notice October 30, 1995, unless comments are received on or before that date that result in a contrary determination. ADDRESSES: Written comments on this proposal should be mailed or delivered to Payroll Accounting/Records, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Room 8650, Washington, DC 20260-5242. Copies of all written comments will be available for public inspection and photocopying between 8 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the above address. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betty E. Sheriff, (202) 268-2608. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Postal Service has, in various stages of development, a number of employee survey processes that are intended to help improve postal operations, employee-management relations and communications, and the leadership skills of managers and supervisors. These survey processes involve the collection of data from employees by means of printed questionnaires or by telephone interviews, tabulation and analysis of the responses, and feedback of the results to the particular manager or supervisor concerned. The manager or supervisor is then expected to develop and implement plans for improvement based upon the problems identified by the responding employees. While intended primarily for developmental purposes, some information also may be used to evaluate a manager or supervisor's success in improving the survey results over time. Records maintained as a result of the data collection contain primarily statistical information and do not identify individual respondents. They are retrieved by reference to a particular manager, supervisor, or work location. Two examples of surveys that relate to identifiable managers or supervisors are the ``Employee Feedback'' questionnaire, in which employees are asked to rate their supervisors, and the ``360 Degree Feedback'' instrument, which is completed by a manager, and his superiors, peers, and subordinates. Respondents to the 360 Degree questionnaire are asked to rate numerically the extent to which the manager has exhibited certain job-related behaviors. In all instances, respondents participate in these surveys voluntarily and anonymously. The results are tabulated and provided to the manager or supervisor in statistical form. The manager or supervisor is instructed how to use the information as a tool for improving his or her leadership skills. Survey results are reported and maintained by reference to the manager's or supervisor's name and social security number. The Postal Service also periodically asks its employees to complete the Employee Opinion Survey. This survey contains questions that concern a particular work location rather than particular managers or supervisors. The questions cover general topics such as leadership and supervision, communication practices, treatment of employees, working conditions, and attention to quality. As with the other surveys, care is taken to preserve the anonymity of the employees surveyed. Managers and supervisors receive the results in the form of ratings for their own offices. They are instructed to analyze the results, share them with their employees, and prepare a list of strengths and opportunities for improvement from which an action plan may be developed and monitored. Because the results of the Employee Opinion Survey are reported and kept by work location, rather than by an individual manager or supervisor's name or other personal identifier, the information is not maintained or retrieved in a manner that prompts its establishment as a Privacy Act system of records. Since, however, there is the possibility, as noted above, that survey results for a specific work location may become associated with the responsible manager and may also be used in evaluating the manager's progress in implementing an action plan, the Postal Service deems it appropriate to include results of the Employee Opinion Survey in this system of records. Maintenance of these records is not expected to have a significant effect on individual privacy rights. Individual respondents to the various surveys are assured anonymity. Information kept is limited to aggregate ratings and analyses associated with a particular work location or manager or supervisor. Managers and supervisors are provided the survey results that relate to themselves or to the work locations for which they are responsible. Because the survey results are intended for internal, developmental use, only three of the following Postal Service's general routine uses are being applied to this system of records: Disclosure to a Postal Service contractor, litigation, or storage. The information will be kept in a secured environment, with automated data processing (ADP) physical and administrative security and technical software applied to information on computer media. Contractors who maintain information collected by this system will be made subject to subsection (m) of the Privacy Act and be required to apply appropriate protections subject to audit and inspection by the Postal Inspection Service. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(11), interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, or arguments on this proposal. A report of the following proposed system has been sent to Congress and to the Office of Management and Budget for their evaluation. USPS 120.154 Personnel Records--Employee Survey Process System Records, USPS 120.154. Human Resources at Headquarters, and at a contractor site. Supervisors and managers who are rated under an employee survey process or have responsibility for a rated work location. Work location, name and social security number of manager or supervisor, aggregate data and analyses of data, and national feedback reports. 39 U.S.C. 401, 1001. To improve the quality of postal services, employee-management [[Page 48534]] relations, and communication between managers and employees by soliciting employee feedback on job-related issues; to provide management and supervisors with information needed to improve their leadership skills; and to provide information for evaluating manager and supervisor performance. General routine use statements b, f, and g listed in the prefatory statement at the beginning of the Postal Service's published system notices apply to this system. Paper and computer storage media. Some survey information in the system is retrieved only by work location. Other information is retrieved by manager or supervisor name or social security number. Hardcopy records are maintained in a secured environment, with access limited to those individuals whose official duties require such access. Access to automated records is restricted by authorized user identification codes. Information on computer storage media maintained at a contractor site is protected by ADP physical security, technical software, and administrative security subject to audit and inspection by the Postal Inspection Service. a. Employee Opinion Survey Process Records--Retain for 20 years. Destroy paper records by shredding or burning. Destroy computer records by erasure or degaussing. b. Management Development Process Records: (1) Paper Survey Feeder Records--Cut off at the end of the calendar year and destroy by shredding or burning 3 years from cutoff date; (2) Computer Records-- Retain for 20 years and then erase or degauss. Vice President, Human Resources, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant PLZ SW, Washington DC 20260-4200. Individuals wanting to know whether information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries in writing to the system manager. Requests for access must be made in accordance with the notification procedure above and the Postal Service Privacy Act regulations regarding access to records and verification of identity under 39 CFR 266.6. See Notification Procedure and Record Access Procedures above. Postal employees. Stanley F. Mires, Chief Counsel, Legislative. [FR Doc. 95-23134 Filed 9-18-95; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7710-12-P