29 C.F.R. § 71.1 – General provisions.

(a) Purpose and scope. This part contains the regulations of the U.S. Department of Labor implementing the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. The regulations apply to all records which are contained in systems of records maintained by, or under the control of, the Department of Labor and which are retrieved by an individual's name or personal identifier. These regulations set forth the procedures by which an individual may seek access under the Privacy Act to records pertaining to him, may request correction or amendment of such records, or may seek an accounting of disclosures of such records by the Department. These regulations are applicable to each component of the Department.
(b) Government-wide systems of records.
1. (1) DOL/GOVT-1 (Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Federal Employees' Compensation Act File):
  1. (i) All records, including claim forms, medical, investigative and other reports, statements of witnesses, and other papers relating to claims for compensation filed under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (as amended and extended), are covered by the government-wide system of records entitled DOL/GOVT-1. This system is maintained by and under the control of the Employment Standards Administration's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), and, as such, all records contained in the OWCP claims file, as well as all copies of such documents retained and/or maintained by the injured worker's employing agency, are official records of the OWCP.
  2. (ii) The protection, release, inspection and copying of records covered by DOL/GOVT-1 shall be accomplished in accordance with the rules, guidelines and provisions of this part, as well as with part 70 of this subtitle, and with the notice of the systems of records and routine uses published in the Federal Register. All questions relating to access/disclosure, and/or the amendment of FECA records maintained by the OWCP or an employing agency, are to be resolved in accordance with this part.
  3. (iii)
    1. (A) While an employing agency may establish procedures that an injured employee or beneficiary should follow in requesting access to documents it maintains, any decision issued in response to such a request must comply with the rules and regulations of the Department of Labor.
    2. (B) Any administrative appeal taken from a denial issued by the employing agency shall be filed with the Solicitor of Labor in accordance with §§ 71.7 and 71.9 of this part.
  4. (iv) No agency other than the OWCP has authority to issue determinations in response to requests for the correction or amendment of records contained in or covered by DOL/GOVT-1. Any request for correction or amendment received by an employing agency must be referred to the OWCP for review and decision.
2. (2) For the government-wide system of records entitled DOL/GOVT-2 (Job Corps Student Records), a system maintained by and under the control of the Employment and Training Administration, the regulations of this Department shall govern, including the procedure for requesting access to, or amendment of the records, as well as appeals therefrom, shall govern.
(c) Definitions. As used in this subpart, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. (1) Agency has the meaning set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552(f).
2. (2) Component means each separate agency, bureau, office, board, division, commission, service, or administration of the Department of Labor, as well as each agency which possesses records covered by a DOL government-wide system of records.
3. (3) Individual Data Subject means the individual by whose name or identifier the subject record is retrieved.
4. (4) Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual which is maintained by any component within a system of records and which contains the individual's name, identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, or photograph.
5. (5) Requester means an individual who makes either a request for access, a request for correction or amendment, or a request for an accounting.
6. (6) Routine use has the meaning set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552a(7).
7. (7) Statistical record has the meaning set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552a(6).
8. (8) System of records means a group of any records under the control of the Department or any component from which information is retrieved by the name of an individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to that individual.
9. (9) Under the control of means those official records for which the agency is officially responsible and either has in its possession or exercises dominion over. This excludes those records which, although in the physical possession of agency employees and used by them in performing official functions, are not, in fact, agency records. Uncirculated personal notes, papers and records which are retained or discarded at the author's discretion and over which the agency exercises no dominion or control (e.g., personal telephone list) are not agency records for purposes of this part.
10. (10) He, his, and him include “she”, “hers” and “her”.