Confidential Employee Information for Open Records Requests

Overview

Applicable to

State agencies and institutions of higher education.

Summary

The Fiscal Management Division responds to public information requests for payment-related data. Many of these requests are for information directly related to state employees. Public information, including non-confidential employee level data, is published on numerous websites.

Certain employee information is confidential under the Texas Public Information Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 552). Agencies are responsible for:

• Notifying the Comptroller’s office if agency employees qualify for the personal safety exception.
• Setting the data release indicators in the payroll systems to record each employee’s personal information release election.
• Marking employee payments confidential if the payment is exempt from disclosure.

Legal Citation

Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, Sections 552.152, 552.024, 552.117, 552.1175

Personal Safety Exception

Government Code Section, Section 552.152 provides for confidentiality of public employees’ information when it affects personal safety. Fiscal Management reports can be set up to exclude employees who would be under substantial threat of physical harm if information such as work location were made public. Payments made before the notification of the employee’s need for confidentiality must be manually masked from display on public websites or in subsequent public information requests.

Note: The Comptroller’s office maintains that a personal safety exception may require a protective order to be in force. This provision is situation specific.

Employee Personal Information Release Election

Government Code, Section 552.024 provides that state employees may choose whether to allow public access to their own sensitive information, such as:

• Home address.
• Home telephone number.
• Social Security number.
• Information about family members.
• Emergency contact information.

Government Code, Sections 552.117 and 552.1175 allow for the confidentiality of sensitive information (regardless of Section 552.024 election) for these roles:

• Peace officers.
• Security officers.
• Current or former employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
• Certain current or former employees of the Attorney General’s office who perform law enforcement activities.
• Current or former employees of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
• Current or former members of the Texas military forces or U.S. military.
• Statewide elected officials and members of the Legislature.
• District, county and municipal attorneys.
• Firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.
• Judges.
• District, county and municipal attorneys.

The payroll system for your agency records the employee election for each type of information that the employee chooses to protect. For new employees, populate each field with valid values: Yes – release the information, or No – protect the information.

For more information, see the documentation for your agency’s payroll system:

• Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System (CAPPS) HR/Payroll: For employees in a protected class, web services will return the appropriate value upon hire so that the employee information is marked confidential. All other employees may make changes to their release indicators through the Employee Self-Service screen.
• Human Resource Information System (HRIS): How to Enter Records for a New Hire or Transferred Employee in the HRIS Online Inquiry and Entry Guide.
• Standardized Payroll/Personnel Reporting System (SPRS): 210 Record – Employee Descriptive Information in SPRS Personnel Edits Personnel Batch/Transaction Status Layout.

Form Letter Responses to Public Information Requests

Governmental agencies are allowed to redact information on certain types of public information requests. The Attorney General’s office provides form letters for agencies to use for response to requests for protected employee data.

Marking Payments to Employees Confidential

As with any payments exempted from public disclosure, the paying agency must mark employee payments confidential if appropriate. Payments to employees may include travel reimbursements or other expenses.

For more information, see USAS and CAPPS Financials Confidentiality Indicator (FPP E.045).