SORN Govt 7

OPM GOVT-7
System Name:
Applicant Race, Sex, National Origin, and Disability Status Records.
System Location(s):
Records in this system may be located in the following offices:
a. Division for Strategic Human Resources Policy, Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415.
b. Division for Management and Chief Financial Officer, Center for Equal Employment
Opportunity, Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415.
c. OPM's Service Centers, and any register-holding offices under the jurisdiction of the Service
Center.
Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
Current and former Federal employees and individuals who have applied for Federal
employment, including:
a. Applicants for examinations administered either by OPM or by employing agencies.
b. Applicants on registers or in inventories by OPM and subject to its regulations.
c. Applicants for positions in agencies having direct hiring authority and using their own
examining procedures in compliance with OPM regulations.
d. Applicants whose records are retained in an agency's Equal Opportunity Recruitment file
(including any file an agency maintains on current employees from under-represented groups).
e. Applicants (including current and former Federal employees) who apply for vacancies
announced under an agency's merit promotion plan.
Categories of Records in the System:
The records include the individual's name; social security number; date of birth; statement of
major field of study; type of current or former Federal employment status (e.g., career or
temporary); applications showing work and education experience; and race, sex, national origin,
and disability status data.
Note: The race and national origin information in this system is obtained by three alternative
methods: (1) Use of an agency's OMB approved form on which individuals identify themselves
as to race and national origin; (2) by visual observation(race) or knowledge of an individual's
background (national origin); or (3) at the agency's option, from the OPM/GOVT-1 system in the
case of applicants who are current Federal employees. Disability status is obtained by use of
Standard Form 256, "Self Identification of Medical Disability," which allows for a description by
self-identification of the handicap.
Authority for Maintenance of the System:

5 U.S.C. 7201, sections 4A, 4B, 15A(1) and (2), 15B(11), and 15D(11); Uniform Guidelines on
Employee Selection Procedures (1978); 43 FR 38297 et seq. (August 25, 1978); 29 CFR
720.301; and 29 CFR 1613.301.
Purpose(s):
These records are used by OPM and agencies to:
a. Evaluate personnel/organizational measurement and selection methods.
b. Implement and evaluate agency affirmative employment programs.
c. Implement and evaluate agency Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Programs (including
establishment of minority recruitment files).
d. Enable OPM to meet its responsibility to assess an agency's implementation of the Federal
Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program.
e. Determine adverse impact in the selection process as required by the Uniform Guidelines cited
in the Authority section above. (See also "Questions and Answers," on those Guidelines
published at 44 FR 11996, March 2, 1979.)
f. Enable reports to be prepared regarding breakdowns by race, sex, and national origin of
applicants (by exams taken, and on the selection of such applicants for employment).
g. To locate individuals for personnel research.
Note 1: These data are maintained under conditions that ensure that the individual's
identification as to race, sex, national origin, or disability status does not accompany that
individual's application nor is otherwise made known when the individual is under consideration
by a selecting official.
Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories of Users and the
Purposes of such Uses:
a. To disclose information to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in
response to its request for use in the conduct of an examination of an agency's compliance with
affirmative action plan instructions and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection
Procedures (1978), or other requirements imposed on agencies under EEOC authorities in
connection with agency Equal Employment Opportunity programs.
b. To disclose information to the Merit Systems Protection Board or the Office of the Special
Counsel in connection with the processing of appeals, special studies relating to the civil service
and other merit systems in the executive branch, investigations into allegations of prohibited
personnel practices, and such other functions; e.g., as prescribed in 5 U.S.C. chapter 12, or as
may be authorized by law.
c. By OPM or employing agency maintaining the records to locate individuals for personnel
research or survey response and in the production of summary descriptive statistics and
analytical studies in support of the function for which the records are collected and maintained,
or for related workforce studies. While published statistics and studies do not contain individual
identifiers, in some instances the selection of elements of data included in the study may be
structured in such a way as to make the data individually identifiable by inference.

d. To disclose information to a Federal agency in response to its request for use in its Federal
Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program to the extent that the information is relevant and
necessary to the agency's efforts in identifying possible sources for minority recruitment.
e. To provide information to a congressional office from the record of an individual in response
to an inquiry from the congressional office made at the request of that individual.
f. To disclose information to another Federal agency, to a court, or a party in litigation before a
court or in an administrative proceeding being conducted by a Federal agency, when the
Government is party to a judicial or administrative proceeding.
g. To disclose information to the Department of Justice, or in a proceeding before a court,
adjudicative body, or other administrative body before which the agency is authorized to appear,
when:
1. The agency, or any component thereof; or
2. Any employee of the agency in his or her official capacity; or
3. Any employee of the agency in his or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice
or the agency has agreed to represent the employee; or
4. The United States, where the agency determines that litigation is likely to affect the agency or
any of its components, is a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the use of
such records by the Department of Justice or the agency is deemed by the agency to be relevant
and necessary to the litigation, provided, however, that in each case it has been determined that
the disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
h. To disclose, in response to a request for discovery or for appearance of a witness, information
that is relevant to the subject matter involved in a pending judicial or administrative proceeding.
i. To disclose information to contractors, grantees, or volunteers performing or working on a
contract, service, grant cooperative agreement, or job for the Federal Government.

Policies and Practice for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, and Disposing
of Records in the System:
Storage:
These records are maintained in file folders and on magnetic tape and disks.
Retrievability:
Records are retrieved by the name and social security number of the individuals on whom they
are maintained.
Safeguards:
Records are retained in locked metal filing cabinets in a secured room or in a computerized
system accessible by confidential passwords issued only to specific personnel.
Retention and Disposal:
Records are generally retained for 2 years, except when needed to process applications or to
prepare adverse impact and related reports, or for as long as an application is still under
consideration for selection purposes. When records are needed in the course of an administrative

procedure or litigation, they may be maintained until the administrative procedure or litigation is
completed. Manual records are shredded or burned and magnetic tapes and disks are erased.
Note 2: When an agency retains an automated version of any of the records in this system,
maintenance of that record beyond the above retention schedules is permitted for historical or
statistical analysis, but only so long as the record is not used in a determination directly affecting
the individual about whom the record pertains after the prescribed destruction date.
System Manager(s) and Address(es):
Deputy Associate Director, Center for HR Systems Requirements and Strategies, U.S. Office of
Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, NW., Room 6H31, Washington, DC 20415.
Notification Procedure:
Those individuals wishing to inquire if this system contains Information about them should
contact the system manager; OPM's Service Centers covering the locations where the application
for Federal employment was filed; or the personnel, Equal Employment Opportunity, or Equal
Employment Opportunity Recruitment office or other designated office where they took an
exam, filed an application, or where they are employed. Individuals must furnish the following
information for their records to be located and identified:
a. Name.
b. Social security number.
c. Title of examination, position, or vacancy announcement for which they filed.
d. The OPM or employing agency office where they are employed or submitted the information.
e. Signature.
Record Access Procedures:
Individuals wishing to request access to records about themselves should contact the appropriate
office shown in the Notification Procedure section. Individuals must furnish the following
information for their records to be located and identified:
a. Name.
b. Social security number.
c. Title of examination, position, or vacancy announcement for which they filed.
d. The OPM or employing agency office where they are employed or submitted the information.
e. Signature.
An individual requesting access must also follow OPM's Privacy Act regulations on verification
of identity and access to records (5 CFR part 297).
Contesting Record Procedures:
Individuals wishing to request amendment of their records should contact the appropriate office
shown in the Notification Procedure section. Individuals must furnish the following information
for their records to be located and identified.
a. Name.

b. Social security number.
c. Title of examination, position, or vacancy announcement for which they filed.
d. The OPM or employing agency office where they are employed or submitted the information.
e. Signature.
An individual requesting amendment must also follow OPM's Privacy Act regulations on
verification of identity and amendment of records (5 CFR part 297).
Record Source Categories:
Information is provided by the individual to whom the record pertains, on forms approved by the
Office of Management and Budget or is obtained directly from other agency or OPM records
(e.g., race, sex, national origin, and disability status data may be obtained from the OPM/GOVT1, General Personnel Records system).