Nebraska Confidential Files
Posted by Tamara
Nebraska employees wonder exactly what type of information is considered confidential, and how their “two-lock” system of maintaining confidentiality works.
There are several federal laws that require certain types of employee data to be kept confidential, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Under these laws, employers are prohibited from discriminating against any worker based on color, rage, age, gender, religion, country of origin, disability and other privileged information.
All privileged information is required by law to be kept separate from the rest of the employee personnel files. In addition, the confidential data must be kept under lock and key. The less these files are viewed, even by managers, supervisors and others with the right to see them, the less the risk of inadvertent discrimination.
To comply, confidential files should never be left on a desk or in an unlocked drawer or cabinet, even for a short period of time. Placing them in an unlocked filing cabinet in a locked office is also insufficient. Once the office is unlocked, other workers and even visitors would have access.
This is where the “two-lock” system applies. Often used to refer to the act of keeping data protected from unauthorized view both inside and outside of a company, the term can also refer to the method of protecting that data. In a two lock system, confidential files are placed in a locked filing cabinet in a locked room.
To view the confidential information, an employee must “pass” through two levels of security. First, the person needs access to the office. Second, he or she needs access to the filing cabinets. Access can be restricted at either of these two points, which results in two levels of security.
Neither federal nor Nebraska law mandates a two lock system. Instead, the law demands that employers do “whatever it takes” to insure that only those with a legal right are permitted to view confidential information, no matter how many locks are required.
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