Section 600.630  Personnel Records and Performance Reviews

a)         Personnel Records

1)         A personnel file shall be established for each employee upon his or her entry into employment and shall be maintained by the custodian designated by the Auditor General.  When the following records are maintained, they must be maintained in the personnel file:

A)        Applications for employment, letters of recommendation, resumes and school transcripts

B)        Offers and acceptances of employment

C)        Employee information cards

D)        Personnel transaction forms

E)        Written commendations and disciplinary actions

F)         Annual and probationary performance appraisals

2)         Records not otherwise confidential are not made confidential because of their inclusion in the personnel file.

3)         An employee is entitled to view his or her personnel file during working hours with reasonable notice to the custodian.  The records may be inspected only in the presence of an authorized employee.  Certain records in the personnel file, in accordance with the law, may be withheld from the employee's inspection.  In addition, personnel files may be viewed by the Auditor General, a Deputy Auditor General, the custodian and other employees, at the discretion of the Auditor General, on a need-to-know basis only.

4)         An employee shall be notified of any additions to or deletions from his or her personnel file.  If an employee disagrees with any information contained in a personnel record, the employee may submit a written statement explaining his or her position for inclusion in the personnel file.

5)         Performance records shall constitute material in an employee's personnel file which is relevant to determining the appropriateness of proposed or recommended personnel transactions.

6)         Performance records shall be considered in all cases, unless excepted by this Subpart, of promotion, demotion, discharge, layoff, reinstatement, merit salary increases and certification.  In considering any potential change in an employee's current status, the employee's most recent performance records may be given greater weight than the employee's earlier performance records.

b)         Performance Evaluations:  Performance records shall include an evaluation of employee performance prepared at least annually on prescribed forms. Executive employees shall be evaluated in the time and manner prescribed by the Auditor General.

1)         For an employee serving a six (6) month probationary period, two evaluations shall be prepared and submitted to the personnel file custodian – one at the end of the third month of the employee's probationary period and another before the conclusion thereof.  If the probationary period is extended as provided in Section 600.634, the number and timing of performance evaluations during the extended period will be determined by the Office at the time of extension.

2)         For an employee serving a four (4) month probationary period as a result of a promotion, one evaluation shall be prepared and submitted to the personnel file custodian before the conclusion thereof.  If the probationary period is extended as provided in Section 600.634, the number and timing of performance evaluations during the extended period will be determined by the Office at the time of extension.

3)         Additional performance evaluations of individual employees may be conducted as deemed necessary.

4)         Employees shall be required to sign all evaluation forms to indicate they have read the evaluation and it has been discussed with them.

(Source:  Amended at 33 Ill. Reg. 1704, effective March 10, 2009)