CAUT | ACPPU
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Services
Model Clause on Personnel Files
1There shall be one official personnel file for each member (hereinafter referred to as the personnel file). The personnel file shall be kept in the office of the Vice-President (Academic)1.
The personnel file shall be clearly marked as confidential.
The personnel file shall be the only file used in decisions respecting any and all terms and conditions of employment of a member.
The official documents constituting the personnel file shall be the paper originals or, in the event the original document is received in facsimile or electronic form, a paper version certified in writing as an accurate copy of the original document.
Copies of some or all of the documents may also be kept in a confidential file in the office of the Chair of the Department, the Dean, the President or the Employee Relations Office, where such copies are necessary to satisfy terms of the Agreement. All the restrictions specified in this article which apply to the personnel file apply equally to all copies described in this article.
2
Each item in a personnel file shall be numbered and listed on an inventory sheet. The inventory sheet shall record each item in the personnel file: its number, its title or a brief description of its nature, the number of pages or parts in it, the person who added the item, the date it was added, and an indication of whether a copy has been sent to any of the locations noted in article 1, when the copy was sent, and under what terms of the Agreement. The personnel file shall contain a list of all persons granted access to the personnel file and of the copied material kept in other files.
3
The personnel file of each member shall contain only material pertaining to the employment of the member.
Any material not added to the personnel file within X days of its production shall not be used in any process to the disadvantage of the member.
Any files created for purposes of assessment of a renewal, tenure or promotion application shall be deemed to be an annex to the personnel file. As new documents are created or obtained in the assessment process, they shall be added to the assessment file. All material included in the assessment file must meet the requirements governing inclusion of material in the personnel file as specified in this article.
The assessment file shall be maintained by the academic administrator currently responsible for formulating a recommendation and shall be located in their office, except when signed out by a member of the assessment committee. If working copies are made for committee members, the chairperson of the committee shall ensure their destruction at the conclusion of the assessment process.
4
A true copy of all letters of reference or assessments including the authorship thereof shall be given to the member upon receipt. Such letters, including the authorship, shall be placed upon receipt in the personnel file of the member.
5
All assessments concerning the evaluation of a member shall be in writing and signed, included in the personnel file, and be made available upon receipt to the member.
6
The member shall have the right to have included in their personnel file their written comments on the accuracy, relevance, meaning or completeness of any of the contents of their personnel file. These comments may include supplementary documents considered relevant by the member.
7
Members shall have the right to have removed from their personnel file any material which is false, irrelevant, inaccurate or unsubstantiated. In the case of allegations that the material is false, irrelevant, inaccurate or unsubstantiated, the member shall inform the appropriate senior academic administrator in writing, within 30 working days of the discovery or receipt of the material in question, that the member is seeking its removal under the provisions of this clause and the reasons for the allegation. The appropriate senior administrator shall submit a response in writing to the member and the association within ten working days of the receipt of the member’s request. If the senior administrator’s response does not prove the truth, relevance, or accuracy of the material, it shall be removed immediately.
8
Members shall be informed in writing of any additions of evaluative material, excluding routine financial information, to their personnel files within five working days of such addition. No material shall be deleted from the file without the express written permission of the member.
9
Once each calendar year the Office of the Vice-President (Academic) shall send each member a copy of the inventory sheet of the member’s personnel file.
10
No anonymous material shall be kept in the personnel file or submitted as evidence in any formal decision or action involving a member except as provided in article 11.
11
Student surveys/evaluations shall be made available to any decision-maker, hearing committee or appeal body solely in the form of aggregated statistical analysis provided the survey/evaluation instruments have been approved by the academic staff association. All individual comments shall be excised prior to placing the evaluations in the personnel file. All individual comments shall be transmitted in confidence to the member. Student surveys/evaluations authorized according to this article shall not be deemed anonymous materials when interpreting this article.
The employer shall provide the raw data, whether in paper or electronic form, to the member affected within 30 days of the date of the evaluation. Upon written request, the academic staff association shall receive the raw data with identification markers removed.
12
Any material relating to disciplinary action taken against a member shall be removed from their personnel file according to the provisions of the article on discipline.
13
Members shall have the right, during normal business hours, and upon reasonable notice, to examine all material in their personnel file. The examination may be carried out in the presence of a person designated by the vice-president. Members shall be required to provide identification before access to the personnel file is granted. Members shall not remove the personnel file or any of its contents from the office.
14
An academic staff member shall, on written request, receive a copy of any document in the personnel file.
15
None of the contents of personnel file shall be made available to any person without the express written consent of the member concerned, except when required:
a) by an authorized representative of the employer for purposes of administering the agreement;
b) by the collective agreement;
c) by law.
Receipt of any of the contents of a personnel file shall be accompanied by a written statement informing the recipient(s) of the confidential restrictions on the use of the contents of the personnel file. Access to the contents of a personnel file for (c) above shall be granted only to individuals who show proof that such access is required by law. Such access shall be granted only by the vice-president or someone designated by them in writing. The vice-president shall notify the member concerned immediately, stating the person or persons granted access and the legal reasons for granting this access unless such notification is prohibited by legal statute.
16
The employer shall provide to the association, on request, the full assessment files available to the president at the time the president considered the matter of renewal of probationary appointment, tenure, promotion or dismissal, concerning all members who were considered for renewal of probationary appointment, tenure, promotion or dismissal, during the current academic year and the previous four academic years.
Approved by the CAUT Collective Bargaining Cooperative Board of Directors, January 1993.
Reviewed September 2001.
Revised by the CAUT Collective Bargaining and Economic Benefits Committee, March 2009;
approved by CAUT Council, November 2009.
1. The location may vary from university to university, but it shall be located in a single place negotiated by the academic staff association, and known to the members.
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