Article 2A.

Privacy of Employee Personnel Records.

§ 115D-27.  Personnel files not subject to inspection.

Personnel files of employees of boards of trustees, former employees of boards of trustees, or applicants for employment with boards of trustees shall not be subject to inspection and examination as authorized by G.S. 132-6.  For purposes of this Article, a personnel file consists of any information gathered by the board of trustees which employs an individual, previously employed an individual, or considered an individual's application for employment, and which information relates to the individual's application, selection or nonselection, promotion, demotion, transfer, leave, salary, suspension, performance evaluation, disciplinary action, or termination of employment wherever located or in whatever form. (1991, c. 84. s. 3.)

 

§ 115D-28.  Certain records open to inspection.

(a) Each board of trustees shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to each employee:

(1) Name.

(2) Age.

(3) Date of original employment or appointment.

(4) The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the board has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.

(5) Current position.

(6) Title.

(7) Current salary.

(8) Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that community college.

(9) Date and type of  each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that community college.

(10) Date and general description of the reasons for each promotion with that community college.

(11) Date and type of each dismissal, suspension, or demotion for disciplinary reasons taken by the community college. If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the board of trustees setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.

(12) The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity.

(c) Subject only to rules and regulations for the safekeeping of records adopted by the board of trustees, every person having custody of the records shall permit them to be inspected and examined and copies made by any person during regular business hours. Any person who is denied access to any record for the purpose of inspecting, examining or copying the record shall have a right to compel compliance with the provisions of this section by application to a court of competent jurisdiction for a writ of mandamus or other appropriate relief. (1991, c. 84, s. 3; 2007-508, s. 2; 2010-169, s. 18(c).)

 

§ 115D-29.  Confidential information in personnel files; access to information.

(a) All information contained in a personnel file, except as otherwise provided in this Article, is confidential and shall not be open for inspection and examination except to the following persons:

(1) The employee, applicant for employment, former employee, or his properly authorized agent, who may examine his own personnel file at all reasonable times in its entirety except for letters of reference solicited prior to employment;

(2) The president and other supervisory personnel;

(3) Members of the board of trustees and the board's attorney;

(4) A party by authority of a subpoena or proper court order may inspect and examine a particular confidential portion of an employee's personnel file; and

(5) An official of an agency of the federal government, State government or any political subdivision thereof. Such an official may inspect any personnel records when such [an] inspection is deemed by the college of the employee, applicant, or former employee whose record is to be inspected as necessary and essential to the pursuance of a proper function of said agency; provided, however, that such information shall not be divulged for purposes of assisting in a criminal prosecution, nor for purposes of assisting in a tax investigation.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, any president may, in his discretion, or shall at the direction of the board of trustees, inform any person or corporation of any promotion, demotion, suspension, reinstatement, transfer, separation, dismissal, employment or nonemployment of any applicant, employee or former employee employed by or assigned to the board of trustees or whose personnel file is maintained by the board and the reasons therefor and may allow the personnel file of the person or any portion to be inspected and examined by any person or corporation provided that the board has determined that the release of the information or the inspection and examination of the file or any portion is essential to maintaining the integrity of the board or to maintaining the level or quality of services provided by the board; provided, that prior to releasing the information or making the file or any portion available as provided herein, the president shall prepare a memorandum setting forth the circumstances which he and the board deem to require the disclosure and the information to be disclosed. The memorandum shall be retained in the files of the president and shall be a public record.

(c) Repealed by Session Laws 2016-108, s. 2(f), effective July 22, 2016. (1991, c. 84, s. 3; 2008-194, s. 11(c); 2016-108, s. 2(f).)

 

§ 115D-30.  Remedy of employee objecting to material in file.

An employee, former employee or applicant for employment who objects to material in his file may place in his file a statement relating to the materials he considers to be inaccurate or misleading.  An employee, former employee or applicant for employment who objects to material in his file because he considers it inaccurate or misleading, and the material has not been placed there in connection with a grievance procedure established by the board of trustees, may seek the removal of such material from the file through grievance procedures to be established by each board of trustees. (1991, c. 84. s. 3.)