An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 3 – Hiring

 Written confirmation of employment actions (e.g., salary information, reclassifications, transfers, promotions);  Documents regarding discipline or proposed discipline;  Personal data, including marital status, family members, educational and  employment history, or similar information;  Applicable tax documents;  Notices and letters of commendation;

 Complaints or investigations of complaints concerning an employee’s  conduct, or an event or transaction in which the employee participated;  Fringe benefit information, including authorizations for deduction or  withholding of pay;  Leave records (including attendance records);  Retirement records; and  Other records relating to the employment history with the school. Any of these records could be relied on in the course of making decisions that affect employment status or opportunities of present or former employees. F. W HAT I NFORMATION S HOULD N OT B E P LACED IN P ERSONNEL F ILES The following information should not be placed in “official” personnel files:  Confirmation of counseling or oral reprimand. As a practical matter, placing written confirmation of an oral counseling into the file renders the oral counseling the equivalent of a written reprimand.  Grievance documents (to the extent that a school is unionized). Placing grievance documents into a personnel file may result in retaliation claims.  Employee health records, including medical and psychological information and reports. These documents should be kept in a separate file, as in the case of employee health records, or in a “supervisor’s” file as discussed above. G. I NFORMATION R EQUIRED B Y T HE I MMIGRATION R EFORM A ND C ONTROL A CT The Immigration Reform and Control Act (“IRCA”) of 1986 requires employers to verify and record each employee’s authorization to work in the United States. See section 11 below. Schools should retain copies of the Form I-9 and any supporting documents they use in complying with the Act’s requirements in each employee’s “official” personnel file. We suggest,

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 84