13.1 Performance and Evaluation Materials

There will be only one official personnel file and normally one supervisory work file regarding each employee and these files will be maintained as follows:

1. An employee's official departmental personnel file shall be maintained at a location identified by each department head or designee. Upon request, the State shall identify any supervisory files kept on the employee and shall identify the location of each file. Official personnel files shall contain an inspection log where any person reviewing the file shall sign and date the log unless excluded by law.
2. Information in an employee's official departmental personnel file and supervisory work file shall be confidential and available for inspection only to the employee's department head or designee in conjunction with the proper administration of the department's affairs and the supervision of the employee; except, however, that information in an employee's official departmental personnel file and supervisory work file may be released pursuant to court order or subpoena. An affected employee will be notified of the existence of such a court order or subpoena. No rank and file shift lead shall be authorized access to an employee'(s) files, except with prior written approval of the employee.
3. Evaluation material or material relating to an employee's conduct, attitude, or service shall not be included in the employee's official personnel file without being signed and dated by the author of such material. Before the material is placed in the employee's file, the department head or designee, shall provide the affected employee an opportunity to review the material, and sign and date it. An employee signature shall not necessarily constitute agreement to the evaluation. A copy of the evaluation material relating to an employee's conduct shall be given to the employee.
4. An employee or the employee's authorized representative may review the employee's official personnel file during regular office hours. Where the official personnel file is in a location remote from the employee's work location, arrangements shall be made to accommodate the employee or the employee's authorized representative at the employee's work location. Upon request, the employee shall be allowed a copy of the material in the employee's personnel file.
5. The employee shall have a right to insert in the employee's file reasonable supplementary material and a written response to any items in the file. Such response shall remain attached to the material it supplements for as long as the material remains in the file.
6. Any performance evaluation conducted of an employee who is a participant in the Union/State Collective Bargaining negotiations shall recognize the employee's frequent absence from the employee's State job and the impact of such absences on the employee's performance. This is not intended to abrogate the right of the State to take disciplinary action against any employee who happens to be involved in such representational activities.
7. Material relating to an employee's performance included in the employee's departmental personnel file shall be retained for a period of time specified by each department, except that at the request of the employee, materials of a negative nature may either be purged after one year or at the time such material is used in a written performance evaluation. This provision, however, does not apply to formal adverse actions except as defined in applicable Government Code sections. By mutual agreement between a department head or designee and an employee, adverse action material may be removed. When an employee receives written documentation of a negative nature, the supervisor shall note in writing on the documentation the time frame it will remain in the file.
8. Supervisors may keep working supervisory files on the performance and conduct of employees to provide documentation for matters such as, but not limited to, probation reports, performance appraisals, training needs, MSA reviews, bonus programs, adverse actions, employee development appraisals, or examination evaluations. An employee and/or the employee's authorized representative may, upon request, review the contents of the employee's file with the employee's supervisor. Upon request, the employee shall be allowed a copy of the material in the employee's supervisory file.