Archive: March 2004

Personnel Files
By Steve Kaplan, UniServe Field Organizer

Article 14, Section 14.11 addresses the placement of derogatory material into your personnel file. It delineates procedures that must be followed.

First, no derogatory material shall be placed in your file unless and until you have been notified and been given a chance to review and comment. (14.11.1)

Next, you are to be given a copy. You will be asked to sign the original. Your "signature indicates only that the material has been read and does not indicate agreement." (14.11.2)

You are entitled to review the document during work time. If necessary you are to be released from duty without loss of pay for the review. (14.11.3) This means you cannot be required to meet prior to your regular report time for such a review.

You are entitled to submit a written response within a reasonable of time. Your response is attached to the original document and becomes part of the official record. (14.11.4) There is no ten-day requirement for your response.

Finally, email is not a confidential medium. Performance evaluations or other derogatory materials cannot be sent by email. (14.11.5) This means if you receive an email stating you have done something wrong or one stating you have performed poorly in the classroom, then your contractual rights have been violated.

The Contract should always be read as a whole. There are other sections that address the placement of derogatory materials in your personnel file. Two examples are the "Complaint Procedure" in Article 14, Section 14.12 and the "Letter of Reprimand" language found in Article 34, Section 34.2.