An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 3 – Hiring

Schools must make personnel files available for inspection, and, if requested, provide a copy to former employees at the place where the school stores the records, unless the parties mutually agree in writing to a different location. A former employee may receive a copy by mail if the employee reimburses the school for actual postal expenses. 261 However, if a former employee seeking to inspect his or her personnel records was terminated for a violation of law or an employment-related policy involving harassment or workplace violence, the school may comply with the request by either: (1) making the personnel records available to the former employee for inspection at a location other than the workplace that is within a reasonable driving distance of the former employee’s residence, or (2) providing a copy of the personnel records by mail. 262 Employees do not have the right to inspect records relating to the investigation of a possible criminal offense, letters of reference, or ratings. Further, an employee may not inspect records obtained prior to the employee’s employment that identifiable members of an examination committee prepared, or that the school obtained in connection with a promotional exam. 263 Schools must balance an employee’s right of access to private information concerning promotional decisions, salary reviews, and other information affecting employment status against the schools’ right to solicit and keep confidential candid and uninhibited assessments/appraisals of employees so that the schools can make intelligent staffing and advancement decisions. Schools must also protect the privacy rights of those whose confidential communications are in the employee’s personnel files. It is the school’s duty and responsibility to protect and assert third party rights to confidentiality. Examples of information to which schools may deny an employee access may include, but are not limited to, the following:

 Letters of reference;  Test scores/records;  Documents relating to a criminal investigation; and  Other information supplied by confidential sources (e.g., confidential performance appraisals).

J. I NTERNAL D ISCLOSURE Schools have a duty to ensure that information contained in an employee’s personnel files or supervisor’s desk folder is not disclosed to others at the school in ways that are unfair to the employee or prohibited by privacy laws. For example:  Schools should make personnel and payroll records available internally only to authorized users, and on a need-to-know basis.  Schools should maintain security records apart from other records, and need not give the subject employee access to the information unless they incorporate the information into their personnel files or use it for discipline, termination, promotion or evaluation.

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 86