601 Employment Information

Certain personal information about employees is not subject to disclosure under the Georgia Open Records Act and will only be released to authorized officials, as indicated in item #2 below. This information includes: an employee’s social security number, home address, phone number, mother’s birth name, debit and credit card information, other banking/financial information, insurance, medical information, and birthdate.

Personal information about current or former DHS employees is accessible without the employee’s consent under the following circumstances:

Employees may have access to their own personal information and may grant access in writing to other individuals or organizations.

OHR should be contacted when requests for access to personal information are received.

The Department of Human Services will verify basic employment information regarding employees' job titles, salaries, and dates of employment. Requests may be received from current or former employees or organizations such as financial institutions, rental or leasing companies and credit card companies.

Requests are to be sent to the appropriate OHR office for response.

Verification of employment information will be provided in writing. The Employment Verification Form may be used for this purpose.

Reference information on current or former DHS employees must be provided by authorized officials to prospective employers.

Reference information must be job-related and factually accurate. Information provided should be supported by performance evaluations, examples of work performance, attendance records or other objective indicators.

Prospective employers may be advised that DHS employees have access to their performance evaluations and attendance records.

Under the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, agencies who disclose to a prospective employer factual information regarding a current or former employee’s job performance or ability to carry out their duties are presumed to be acting in good faith, unless confidential information is disclosed or a preponderance of evidence shows lack of good faith.

When references are requested on employees who have been separated from DHS employment for serious infractions (e.g., disciplinary actions, drug-related offenses, theft, etc.), authorized officials are to discuss the request with OHR prior to releasing any information. The specific information to be released will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

DHS hiring officials or designees should always conduct reference checks prior to making employment offers.

To support effective screening of current and former State employees and to minimize the potential for an agency to hire an applicant with a history of poor performance, employing agencies are responsible for documenting deficiencies in job performance and adherence to employment standards. Examples of appropriate documentation include performance evaluations, corrective and disciplinary action letters, and notes from coaching or counseling sessions.

Effective documentation will alert a prospective employer to a history of poor performance. It can also assist a prospective employer with determining whether the past poor performance would be applicable to the new job.

DHS managers are authorized to provide feedback to schools or organizations that place interns or similar work program participants within DHS. Information should be provided in the format required by the school or organization and may include evaluations of performance and recommendations for improvement. Questions regarding information that can be provided should be directed to OHR.