Subpart A
The part covers records in Department of Labor systems of records that are retrievable by an individual's name or personal identifier, and the individual named in the record may request access. This is stated in 71.1(a), which implements the Privacy Act of 1974 and explains the procedures for access, correction, and accounting of disclosures.
Yes — the regulations apply to each component of the Department of Labor. The rule explicitly says the regulations are applicable to each component, meaning every separate office or agency unit must follow the procedures in 71.1(b).
All claim-related materials for Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) claims are included, such as claim forms, medical records, investigative reports, witness statements, and related papers. This is specified in 71.1(b)(1)(i).
Protection, release, inspection, and copying of DOL/GOVT-1 records must follow the rules in this part, part 70, and the public notice of systems of records and routine uses in the Federal Register. The regulatory requirement is set out in 71.1(b)(1)(ii).
Yes — an employing agency may establish local procedures for how an injured employee requests access to records it maintains, but any decision responding to that request must comply with the Department of Labor rules and regulations. See 71.1(b)(1)(iii)(A).
An administrative appeal from a denial by an employing agency must be filed with the Solicitor of Labor in accordance with 71.7 and 71.9, as stated in 71.1(b)(1)(iii)(B).
Only the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) has authority to issue determinations on correction or amendment requests for records covered by DOL/GOVT-1. This exclusive authority is stated in 71.1(b)(1)(iv).
The Department of Labor’s regulations in this part govern access, amendment, and appeals for the DOL/GOVT-2 Job Corps Student Records system, as described in 71.1(b)(2).
An employing agency must refer any request for correction or amendment of FECA records to the OWCP for review and decision. The referral requirement is stated in 71.1(b)(1) and 71.1(b)(2).
'Agency' has the meaning set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552(f). The Privacy Act definitions section references that statute as the source of the agency definition in 71.1(c)(1).
A 'Component' is each separate agency, bureau, office, board, division, commission, service, or administration of the Department of Labor, and also any agency that possesses records covered by a DOL government-wide system, as defined in 71.1(c)(2).
A 'Record' is any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual maintained in a system of records that contains the individual's name or an identifying particular (like a number, fingerprint, voiceprint, or photo). That definition is in 71.1(c)(4).
A 'Requester' is an individual who asks for access, a correction or amendment, or an accounting of disclosures of records, as defined in 71.1(c)(5).
Those terms have the meanings given in the Privacy Act statute: 'Routine use' is defined in 5 U.S.C. 552a(7) and 'Statistical record' in 5 U.S.C. 552a(6); the regulations reference those statutory definitions in 71.1(c)(6) and 71.1(c)(7).
A 'System of records' is any group of records under Department control from which information is retrieved by an individual’s name or some identifying particular, as stated in 71.1(c)(8).
'Under the control of' means official records for which the agency is responsible and that it either possesses or exercises dominion over; this definition is in 71.1(c)(9).
No — uncirculated personal notes and papers kept or discarded at an employee's discretion, over which the agency does not exercise dominion or control (for example, a personal telephone list), are not agency records for these rules. That exclusion is in 71.1(c)(10).
It means the record is part of a system of records from which information can be pulled using the person's name or an identifying number/symbol; such retrieval makes the record subject to the Privacy Act rules in 71.1(a) because the Act protects records tied to identifiable individuals.
Yes — copies retained or maintained by an injured worker’s employing agency are official records of OWCP when they are part of the DOL/GOVT-1 system, as stated in 71.1(b)(1)(i), so they are governed by the Department’s Privacy Act rules.