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Freedom of Information Act

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What is the Freedom of Information Act and what should federal employers know about it?

The Freedom of Information Act is a federal Act that applies to states across the country. Employers should be aware that, according to the Act, employees will be able to request to view their federal agency records, which may include some of their employment records. Likewise, employers may be able to review the federal agency records for their employees.

Because the Act deals specifically with federal records, the Act may apply to many federal employees that wish review their employment records. Therefore, employers should be aware that some of their employee records may be accessed by their employees (though the Act does not allow permission to view all records).

The Act not only applies to the federal employment records of all federal employees, but also to all federal records that are held by federal agencies as well. Therefore, all employees should be aware that their records could be accessed by their employers, regardless of the type of employer. However, the Act does not include access to records that are held by Congress, the courts, or by the local or state government agencies.

If an employee wishes to review his or her federal record, the Department of Labor requires that the employee file a written request. However, there are nine exemptions to the Act, which require that all agency records should be made available to the public under the Act exempt for the following:

1.    Documents that are properly classified as secret for national defense or foreign policy reasons

2.    Records that are related only to internal personnel rules and practices

3.    Any record that is exempted by another statute

4.    All records that concern trade secrets and commercial or financial information for an employer that are obtained from a person that has the privileged or confidential information

5.    Any privileged intra-agency or interagency memos or letters, in most cases

6.    All personnel and medial files that would be considered too personal for public disclosure

7.    Any investigatory records that were compiled for the purposes of law enforcement

8.    Files that are related to certain examination, operating, or condition reports involving financial institutions

9.    Information about a person’s geological and geophysical date, including maps CB