1A06 Confidentiality of Information

Under current law and regulations, OFCCP is required to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552; the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905; the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a; and Executive Order 12600 and the U.S. Department of Labor’s FOIA regulations at 29 CFR part 70. (See 41 CFR 60-1.20(g), 60-300.81, 60-741.81). These laws govern the disclosure of confidential information, as well as sensitive information, such as personnel records, medical information and salary data. During a compliance evaluation, an Investigator will handle contractor information that is not available to the general public and that may be sensitive (e.g., social security number, date of birth, employee-level salary data) or nonsensitive (e.g., first and last name, business address, email address) in nature. The Investigator must treat all information obtained during a compliance evaluation as confidential and protect the security of records to avoid any unauthorized disclosure. The Investigator is also responsible for the proper handling of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) under the U.S. Department of Labor’s 7 DLMS 1100 (Safeguarding Sensitive Data Including Personally Identifiable Information).

Under FOIA, members of the public may request the release of agency records. If an Investigator receives a request for disclosure of any records obtained from a contractor, the Investigator must immediately refer the request to OFCCP’s designated regional or national FOIA coordinator, as appropriate. The FOIA coordinator must evaluate the request to determine whether any exemptions from disclosure apply or if the agency is required to release records that OFCCP received from a federal contractor. Before releasing any records provided by the contractor, the FOIA coordinator will notify the contractor of its opportunity to object to a release of records.

For instance, OFCCP will notify contractors of any FOIA request for their EEO-1 data. If a contractor objects to disclosure, then OFCCP will not disclose the records if OFCCP determines that the contractor’s objection is valid. FOIA exemption 4 recognizes the confidentiality of this data and, in combination with FOIA exemption 3 and the Trade Secrets Act, provides the necessary tools to protect it from public disclosure, if appropriate.