Archive: March 2001

Placement of Deragatory Material
in Personnel Files
By Steve Kaplan, UniServe Field Organizer

Article 14, Section 14.11 (p.84) establishes a series of procedural steps an administrator must follow prior to placing derogatory material in your personnel files. This applies to both your site file and your file at the central office. There are four basic steps:

1. You must be "notified and given an opportunity to review and comment theron."
2. You must be "given a copy of the material." You will be asked to sign the original. Your signature "indicates only that the material has been read." It does not indicate agreement.
3. The review "will take place during normal business hours, at a mutually agreeable time." Note: When an administrator asks to meet with you, ask what the meeting is about. If the subject relates to anything negative relative to your employment, you have the right to union representation. Activate this right by notifying the administration that you want representation.
4. You have the right to "within a reasonable time, submit written comments which shall be attached... and become a part of the document." It is important that you exercise this right.

E-mail cannot be used to transmit "performance evaluations or materials of a derogatory nature." This is because e-mail is not a confidential medium. (Section 14.11.5, p. 84)

Note: anything you do on your computer at work is not confidential. The district has the ability to and the right to access your work computer. Do not assume that deleted material cannot be accessed. In several cases, material found on work computers has served as the basis for disciplinary action against employees.