Personnel Records

Personnel records of all employees at North Carolina Central University are maintained by the Department of Human Resources (“HR”) and by the department in which the employee works. For more information regarding the records maintained by HR, contact HR at (919) 530-6334.  Employees should contact the department in which they work for more information regarding the personnel records maintained by the department.

What is the North Carolina Personnel Records Act? (See NC General Statute §126-22, et seq.)

The NC Personnel Records Act is a State law that protects the confidentiality of employee personnel records. It also provides employees with the right to review their own personnel files. Specific rights exist for employees who believe that their file includes inaccurate or misleading records are discussed.  In addition, state agencies are required to provide certain information about state employees upon request to any member of the public.

What information is considered “public” pursuant to the NC Personnel Records Act?

According to N.C.G.S. §126-23, the following information is considered “public”:

• Name;
• Age;
• Date of original employment or appointment to State service;
• The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the agency has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession;
• Current position;
• Title;
• Current salary;
• Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau;
• Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau;
• Date and general description of the reasons for each promotion with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau;
• Date and type of each dismissal, suspension, or demotion for disciplinary reasons taken by the department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau. If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the head of the department setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal; and
• The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned.

For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity.

Are all of my employee records considered public?  Can any of the information in my employee record be maintained as confidential?  If so, what?

No, not all employee records are considered public.  The only information in an employee’s personnel file that is considered public includes the information discussed in the FAQ above.  All of the information in an employee’s personnel file is confidential and cannot be disclosed to anyone without the employee’s permission except in limited circumstances. 

Who is entitled to see the confidential sections of my personnel record?

The following persons are entitled to confidential sections of the personnel file:

• The employee, applicant for employment, former employee, or his properly authorized agent, who may examine his own personnel file in its entirety, except for (i) letters of reference solicited prior to employment or (ii) information concerning a medical disability, mental or physical, that a prudent physician would not divulge to a patient. An employee's medical record may be disclosed to a licensed physician designated in writing by the employee;
• The supervisor of the employee;
  • A potential State or local government supervisor, during the interview process, only with regard to performance management documents;
• Members of the General Assembly who may inspect and examine personnel records under the authority of North Carolina General Statute §120-19;
• A party by the authority of a proper court order may inspect and examine a particular confidential portion of a State employee's personnel file; and
• An official of an agency of the federal government, State government or any political subdivision thereof. Such an official may inspect any personnel records when such inspection is deemed by the department head of the employee whose record is to be inspected or, in the case of an applicant for employment or a former employee, by the department head of the agency in which the record is maintained as necessary and essential to the pursuance of a proper function of said agency; provided, however, that such information shall not be divulged for purposes of assisting in a criminal prosecution, nor for purposes of assisting in a tax investigation.

Can the University release information that is considered confidential from my personnel file?  If so, when?

Yes; the University may disclose confidential information required or permitted by law in response to a subpoena, court order, or to a properly authorized government official.  The University official making such disclosure will notify the employee in writing as soon as practically possible and place a copy of the notice in the employee’s personnel file.

 If I release or allow someone to review information from an employee’s personnel file without the employee’s permission, what are the consequences?

Any public official or employee who shall knowingly and willfully permit any person to have access to or custody or possession of any portion of a personnel file designated as confidential, unless such person is one specifically authorized by North Carolina General Statute §126-24 to have access thereto for inspection and examination, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and upon conviction shall only be fined in the discretion of the court but not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00).